EU Sovereignty Score
EU sovereignCaptcha & Bot DetectionHeadquarters: AT

Captcha.eu: sovereignty score and 8 European alternatives

Captcha.eu is a managed CAPTCHA service that aims to block bots and spam without image puzzles. It offers invisible protection that runs in the background as well as a simple one-click widget. According to the vendor, it combines proof-of-work with contextual signal analysis per request, sets no cookies for the CAPTCHA function and collects no user data. Website operators add a JavaScript widget and an API key; official plugins exist for WordPress, TYPO3 and Keycloak. The service is closed source and delivered as SaaS, so no server deployment is needed. The vendor states that its WCAG 2.2 AA conformity is certified by TÜV Austria.

Captcha.eu is operated by Captcha GmbH, registered in Vienna, Austria. Verification requests are processed in Austria on all commercial plans, and the vendor states that there are no US data transfers. Customers can sign a data processing agreement that names Austria as the processing location. Because the service is closed-source SaaS, there is no self-hosting option, and organisations depend on the provider for availability and updates.

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Sovereignty score
71 / 1000 = high exposure
100 = sovereign
  • Jurisdiction SOV-2100
    Headquartered in the EU: European law applies
  • Data residency SOV-3100
    EU-only hosting
  • Cryptographic key sovereignty SOV-360
    Key management with a European vendor
  • Freedom from lock-in SOV-640
    Closed source: switching requires data migration
  • Source & runtime sovereignty SOV-4 · SOV-655
    Closed source, runtime with the vendor

SOV codes: the matching objective in the European Commission's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Official source

How the score is calculated

Facts and evidence

Last checked October 1, 2026
HeadquartersAT (EU)Verified by hand
Sovereignty modelVendor-hosted (EU)Verified by hand
Data hostingEUVerified by hand
Open-sourceNoVerified by hand
GDPR-compliantYesVendor-stated
Hosting signalAKAMAI-ASN1 - Akamai International B.V., NL (US)Technically measured
CategoryCaptcha & Bot Detection
TypeProduct
Websitecaptcha.eu ↗

The hosting signal shows the network that serves the vendor's website, often a CDN, and not necessarily where the service or your data is hosted. How we verify · Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to Captcha.eu

The European alternatives to Captcha.eu come from our knowledge base of over 6,200 vendors. We only list vendors headquartered in the EU or the EEA; fully European-owned vendors rank before vendors with a foreign owner. For each alternative you see the country, the open-source status and a short description.

Score per alternative: 0 = high exposure, 100 = sovereign

15 European Captcha & Bot Detection vendors are in the catalogue. View the whole category · Submit an alternative · View category on the map

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Why digital sovereignty matters with Captcha.eu

Captcha.eu is headquartered in AT and therefore falls under European law: the GDPR, NIS2 and the Data Act. No foreign legislation can compel access to your data.

Data is hosted exclusively in the EU, so Captcha.eu scores best on data residency.

Captcha.eu is closed source and hosted by the vendor. The encryption keys and the runtime sit with the vendor and switching requires data migration. Ask about bring-your-own-key, export options and open standards.

What this means for your organisation depends on your whole stack and context. The free assessment weighs Captcha.eu together with your other vendors and gives a total score, a heatmap and the main risk drivers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to Captcha.eu?

It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to Captcha.eu include ALTCHA, ALTCHA Sentinel and Atmosvere. On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.

Are there open-source alternatives to Captcha.eu?

Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to Captcha.eu include ALTCHA, CaptchaService (Stad München) and Gregwar Captcha Bundle. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.

Is Captcha.eu GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?

Captcha.eu is headquartered in AT (EU) and hosts data in EU. That makes Captcha.eu an EU-sovereign choice in its own right; the EU alternatives on this page are comparable European tools.

Details and sources

Verified by handHeadquarters, owner, hosting locations and licence have been checked by us against public sources. Free of charge and for every vendor, not a paid label. Nothing in this knowledge base is taken over automatically. Last checked on October 1, 2026.

Sources

Public sources used in the latest check of this record.

Compliance evidence

The links below point to the vendor's own public documents. We only record what we found: a missing link means "not found publicly", not "not compliant".

No public compliance evidence has been recorded for this vendor yet. Do you know its DPA or subprocessor list? Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Digital sovereignty in Captcha & Bot Detection

Captcha & Bot Detection: Services that detect whether a real user or bot is visiting a website. In this category the choice of vendor determines who has legal access to your data, where that data lives and how easily you can switch later.

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8 European alternatives to Captcha.eu — GDPR-compliant & EU-hosted · EU Sovereignty Score