ALTCHA v3 heads up (free features from v2.x removed)
I have a few sites running ALTCHA, the frictionless proof-of-work plugin that combats spam, and a few days ago the new ALTCHA v3 dropped. I personally prefer this CAPTCHA-less and interruption-free approach, and I bet my site visitors do, too.
The v3 update announcement mentions breaking changes (specific to supported PHP versions), and I looked deeper into it. Compared to v2.x, the new v3 now puts support for third party plugins like WPForms, Contact 7, etc. behind their $266 / year “professional” plan.
This functionality used to be included via custom paths in the free version of v2.x, and the new v3 changelog doesn’t mention anything about it. I’m staying with v2.6.1 as long as I can. Link: https://github.com/altcha-org/altcha-wordpress-next/releases/download/v2.6.1/altcha.zip
tl;dr: Updaters beware! ALTCHA v3 removes previously free support for third party plugins. Stick with 1.x or 2.x if you use third party plugins and don’t want to pay $266 / year.