Cap vs hCaptcha

hCaptcha is the privacy-positioned, puzzle-based competitor to reCAPTCHA. The free tier shows image puzzles aggressively; the paid Pro tier ($99/mo annual, $139/mo monthly, 100k evaluations) unlocks a mostly-passive mode and analytics. It's the most aggressive of the major CAPTCHAs about visible puzzles on the free plan.

Quick verdict

If you're using hCaptcha primarily because you wanted to leave Google, Cap is the simpler step. You don't trade Google for a different third party; you stop having a third party at all. And you stop charging your users a "puzzle tax" on every form submission.

Where hCaptcha makes sense

You specifically need hCaptcha Enterprise's threat-intel feed and risk-scoring at scale, and you have the budget for it.
You're already deeply integrated and the migration cost outweighs the benefits.
Your compliance program specifically requires a visible-puzzle human-verification step for regulated actions.

Where Cap is the better choice

No image puzzles. hCaptcha's drop-off rate on puzzles ranges from 5% to 15% depending on difficulty. That's real conversion you're losing on signups, checkouts, and contact forms. Cap never shows a puzzle. (Hcaptcha Pro's passive mode reduces this, but it's a paid plan.)
Bundle size. hCaptcha's client is 600 KB+. Cap is ~20 KB, about 30× smaller.
No quota or overage. hCaptcha Pro starts at $99/mo for 100k evaluations and bills $0.99 per 1k after that. Cap is free at any scale, runs on a $5 VPS, no per-request fee.
Self-hosted. No third-party dependency. Cap doesn't load anything from hcaptcha.com.
No fingerprinting. hCaptcha relies on browser fingerprints and behavioral signals; that hurts users on privacy browsers. Cap's proof-of-work works the same regardless of browser.
Open source. Apache 2.0. Audit it, run it on air-gapped infra, fork it.

Where they're similar

Both run an instrumentation/behavioral layer in addition to the visible challenge. Both have invisible modes available. Both work with the standard form-submission pattern.

Migration

Cap's /siteverify is API-shape compatible with hCaptcha's. Most backend changes are a URL swap. On the client, replace <div class="h-captcha"> and https://js.hcaptcha.com/1/api.js with Cap's <cap-widget>; see the quickstart.

If you want to migrate gradually, run Cap on new forms first, keep hCaptcha on legacy ones, and watch the conversion delta.

Cap vs hCaptcha ​

Quick verdict ​

Where hCaptcha makes sense ​

Where Cap is the better choice ​

Where they're similar ​

Migration ​

See also ​