Nolgard vs Fingerprint, Turnstile, reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha and Castle
Short answer. Turnstile, reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha check that a visitor is human. Fingerprint gives you a device id and you build the rule. Castle scores user risk per request. Nolgard links a new signup to earlier accounts by device and mailbox and returns how many trial credits to give. Many teams run a human check and Nolgard together.
Competitor cells checked on 2026-10-26 against each vendor's official pages, linked in every cell. "Not stated" means we did not find it on those pages; it does not mean the product lacks it. Last updated 2026-10-26.
Side by side
| Question | Fingerprint | Cloudflare Turnstile | Google reCAPTCHA | hCaptcha | Castle | Nolgard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | Device identification: a visitorId per request. docs | Human check on a form widget. docs | Bot scores, visual challenges, account and transaction defense by tier. tiers | Human check with passive and visual modes. docs | Risk and Filter API for user behaviour, devices and risk scores. pricing FAQ | Repeat signups and bots at signup, with a suggested trial grant. docs |
| Free tier | Up to 1,000 API calls a month. source | Free plan, up to 20 widgets per account. source | Essentials free up to 10,000 assessments a month, per organization. source | Basic free up to 10,000 requests a month. source | $5 of API usage, about 1,000 Risk and Filter requests; no overages. source | 1,000 new accounts a month, no card. pricing |
| Entry paid plan | Pro Plus from $99 a month for 20,000 API calls, then $4 per 1,000. source | Enterprise, contact sales. source | Premium: $8 flat for 10,001 to 100,000 assessments, then $1 per 1,000. source | Pro and Enterprise; price not stated on the plans page. source | Pro includes $200 of usage, about 40,000 requests, then $0.005 each. source | Pro $99 for 15,000 new accounts; Business $299 for 75,000. Repeat checks of one account are free. pricing |
| Shows a puzzle to users | No. docs | Can show a managed challenge; invisible and non-interactive modes exist. source | Visual bot challenges on all tiers. source | Yes when unsure; passive modes on paid plans. source | Not stated | Never. Step-up is your own email confirmation. |
| Links a new signup to earlier accounts | You get an id and build the rule. source | Free: no. Enterprise Ephemeral IDs give a short-lived device id. source | Related accounts API on Enterprise only. source | Not in the documented response. docs | Not stated | Yes. Device, browser visitor id and normalized email, per site, 30 days. details |
| Suggests how many trial credits to give | Not stated | No. Pass or fail. docs | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Yes. grant.share and grant.credits. docs |
| Email alias and disposable checks | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Yes. Alias folding, disposable and new domains. docs |
| Native iOS and Android SDKs | Yes. source | Not stated | Yes, on all tiers. source | Yes. source | Not stated | No. Browsers only. |
Where they are better
- Fingerprint returns a stable
visitorIdyou can use anywhere in your stack, and has iOS and Android SDKs. Nolgard has no per-response visitor id and no mobile SDK. Fingerprint pricing - Cloudflare Turnstile has a free plan If your only problem is scripted form posts, it may be all you need. Turnstile plans
- reCAPTCHA gives 10,000 free assessments a month, mobile SDKs, and paid tiers with password, SMS, carding and chargeback defense that Nolgard does not offer. reCAPTCHA tiers
- hCaptcha gives 10,000 free requests a month and can show a challenge when it is unsure, which Nolgard never does. hCaptcha plans
- Castle prices per request with a Pro plan that includes about 40,000 Risk and Filter requests for $200, and offers SLAs and MTU-based pricing on Enterprise. Castle pricing
- Nolgard has no SOC 2 report and no SLA. See security.
Which to pick
- Only scripted spam on a form: a free human check such as Turnstile, reCAPTCHA Essentials or hCaptcha Basic.
- You want a raw device id to build your own rules, including on mobile: Fingerprint.
- Real people taking your free trial or credits again with new emails: Nolgard, next to a human check if you already have one. Test it in Observe mode first; see the methodology for what we miss.