ESN Guardian › Guides

Captcha.bot alternative

A Captcha.bot alternative with anti-nuke built in

By ESN Systems, makers of ESN Guardian. Updated November 2, 2026.

Captcha.bot is a popular, focused verification bot: new members verify through a web page before they can talk, and it can kick people who never finish. If verification is the only thing you need, it does that well. People look for a Captcha.bot alternative when they want verification plus anti-nuke and raid protection in one bot, more verified roles without paying, or a flow without ads.

🛡️ Not sure how safe your server is? Grade it in 2 minutes →

What Captcha.bot does well

Captcha.bot's docs cover account verification, time limits that kick or ban members who do not verify, anti-phishing, button panels, linked roles, logging and server analytics. Its Premium page lists the differences: the free tier gets one verified role and web verification with time limits up to an hour, while Premium adds up to five verified roles, an image verification method, time limits up to a day, and 30 days of analytics with export. The same table lists advertising as “Full” on both the free and Premium tiers, and the docs explain that ads help cover the cost of running the bot.

Where Guardian is different

• Verification is one part of security. A captcha stops bot accounts joining. It does not stop a phished moderator deleting every channel. Guardian adds anti-nuke, a raid shield, lockdown and /rewind to undo damage.
• Two ways to verify. Guardian has an in-Discord captcha and a web verification page with a VPN/proxy check, and a rules-quiz gate. Set it up with /captcha or /config verification.
• No ads and no paid verification features. Every protection works on every server. Premium only changes Guardian's name, avatar, banner and bio.
• Fewer bots with power. Verification, scam links, automod and anti-nuke in one bot means fewer bots that need high permissions.

Captcha.bot vs Guardian at a glance

✓ = listed · 💎 = paid tier only · — = not listed on their public pages (which is not the same as “does not exist”). Checked Nov 2, 2026. Captcha.bot: Captcha.bot docs and Premium perks table.

Guardian side of every table: every protection is included on every server. Guardian Premium ($1.99/month or $19.90/year) only changes the bot's name, avatar, banner and bio in your server.

Trying Guardian without risk

1. Add Guardian and drag the ESN GUARDIAN role near the top of your role list. It can only act on roles and members below it.
2. Run /guardian setup and pick a preset, or answer four quick questions. Guardian makes a log channel and checks its own permissions.
3. Trust your admins with /antinuke trust and take a first snapshot with /snapshot take so /rewind has something to restore from.
4. Run both bots side by side for a few days and compare the logs. Then keep the one you prefer and remove the other bot and its role, so it no longer holds permissions.

Only run one verification gate at a time, otherwise new members have to verify twice. Turn off the old gate once Guardian's is live.

When Captcha.bot alone is enough

If you already run a separate anti-nuke bot and only want a verification page, Captcha.bot is a reasonable pick. Check the rest of your setup with the 2-minute security check.

Questions

More guides and tools