Glossary
What is hCaptcha?
hCaptcha is a CAPTCHA service by Intuition Machines that positions itself as a privacy-focused alternative to reCAPTCHA. It typically shows image-selection challenges and offers passive and enterprise modes. It's less common than Turnstile or reCAPTCHA on directory forms: 3 of the 352 flows we recorded.
Comparison
| hCaptcha | reCAPTCHA | Turnstile | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Intuition Machines | Cloudflare | |
| Default experience | Image challenge | Checkbox or invisible score | Mostly invisible |
| Privacy pitch | Strong | Weaker | Strong |
Some sites switched from reCAPTCHA to hCaptcha for privacy reasons or to avoid sending data to Google.
For agents
Image challenges are designed to need a person. A submission agent should pause and let you solve it, then continue.
Example
One directory in a founder's list uses hCaptcha with an image grid. Her agent fills the form, stops at the challenge, she clicks the images, and the agent submits.
Accessibility
hCaptcha offers an accessibility option that lets eligible users skip visual challenges through a cookie after signing up. Sites using any CAPTCHA should make sure people using screen readers can still complete their forms.
FAQ
Is hCaptcha free?
It has a free tier; enterprise plans are paid.
Is hCaptcha harder than reCAPTCHA?
Its image challenges can be more frequent, depending on the site's settings.
Does Cloudflare use hCaptcha?
Cloudflare used hCaptcha in the past before building Turnstile.
How do I know a site uses hCaptcha?
The challenge shows the hCaptcha logo; the page loads scripts from hcaptcha.com.
Should an agent try to solve hCaptcha?
No. Hand it to the user.