reCAPTCHA is Changing Its Terms of Service

Visit any site protected by Google reCAPTCHA these days and you will quite often run into the message, "reCAPTCHA is changing its terms of service. Take action."

Sites featuring this message are using old Google cloud keys, and, at the time of this article publication, even the Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise demo is affected.

What does "reCAPTCHA is changing its terms of service" mean?

The error message "reCAPTCHA is changing its terms of service" relates to the reCAPTCHA implementation using outdated Google cloud keys. According to Google:

all Google reCAPTCHA keys will need to be migrated to a Google Cloud project by the end of 2025. This will unite all reCAPTCHA customers under a single set of terms, a consistent pricing structure, and provide access to advanced security features.

In a nutshell, Google has decided to tie all reCAPTCHA implementations to a Google Cloud project so that they can properly bill accounts and enforce their new pricing structure. We previously reported on how they increased their pricing - this is just the next step in that process.

What do site owners need to do to remove the "reCAPTCHA is changing its terms of service" message?

Site owners using old admin console keys will need to migrate their account to use a Google Cloud project, which comes with some consequences. Instead of having access to unlimited v2/v3 reCAPTCHA assessments, site owners are now limited by the Google reCAPTCHA free tier of 10K assessments. Any assessments above this quota will be rejected:

Once upgraded, this key will be managed from Google Cloud console. You won't be able to transfer this key to a different project. If the selected project does not have a linked billing account, any request above the free quota will return an error.

Migrating will not require any code changes. Site owners will simply have to change their reCAPTCHA site key and secret key by migrating any sites, as pictured below:

What price implications are there when migrating reCAPTCHA to Google Cloud Platform?

Previously, old reCAPTCHA keys allowed site owners to send unlimited assessments. Now, all reCAPTCHA users will be limited by the free tier quota of 10K assessments. This will suffice for most smaller websites but larger websites will pay the following prices:

I got 99,908 problems and reCAPTCHA is definitely one.

You can calculate these prices for yourself using our Google reCAPTCHA Pricing Calculator.

This is quite a jump from the unlimited free tier associated with old reCAPTCHA keys!

What if I don't want to migrate to Google Cloud Platform?

If you don't want to migrate to Google Cloud Platform, you can consider alternative bot mitigation solutions that offer similar functionality without the need for a Google Cloud account. One such alternative is Prosopo, which provides a privacy-focused bot mitigation service without the complexities - no cloud platform account, better pricing, and easy integration. Prosopo ranks up there with the likes of other bot mitigation providers like Datadome, Arkose Labs, and HUMAN Security but without the high costs and complexity.

If you're interested in migrating from Google reCAPTCHA to Prosopo, please get in touch using the form below. We're happy to help you make the switch and avoid the high costs associated with Google reCAPTCHA.