This article provides a complete overview of KillBot. I'll explain its main advantages, integration options, traffic filtering technology, system reliability, and the tools you'll get after connecting your website. You'll also see what information is available inside the dashboard.
KillBot is a full reverse proxy protection service that sits in front of your website. Every visitor request first passes through the KillBot servers, where it is analyzed and filtered before being forwarded to your website. This allows bots to be stopped before they ever reach your server.
KillBot can also work as a simple JavaScript integration. However, this is NOT website protection. It only provides bot analytics. JavaScript alone cannot block bots. If you want bots to be physically prevented from accessing your website, you need to use KillBot DNS Protection.
Today, KillBot is the only publicly available service that can detect all modern behavioral bots. The dashboard clearly explains why each visit was classified as a bot. For every website, you can instantly see the number of bots, real visitors, CAPTCHA challenges shown, and successfully solved CAPTCHAs. Even the overall statistics demonstrate how accurately KillBot filters traffic:
The screenshot above shows the overall KillBot statistics. Out of more than 5,000 CAPTCHA challenges, only 22 were solved. This means CAPTCHAs are almost always shown to bots rather than real users. The quality of the remaining traffic can easily be verified through conversions and visitor behavior in your analytics platform.
Unlike Other Anti-Fraud Services, KillBot Doesn't Hide Its Detection Logic
Most anti-fraud platforms do not provide detailed CAPTCHA statistics or explain who was actually blocked—a real visitor or a bot. Their usual response is simply: "Every anti-fraud solution blocks some legitimate users. That's normal."
KillBot is completely transparent. If you notice too many CAPTCHA solutions, it's a clear signal that your settings should be adjusted. Before blocking any visitor fingerprint, you'll always know whether it contains only bots or may also include legitimate users.
Good protection should be transparent, predictable, and constantly improving—not dependent on keeping its detection methods secret.
Detailed Information About Every Visit
After connecting your website, KillBot provides detailed technical information for every visitor.
For each visit, the system collects and generates dozens of parameters that are used to determine whether the visitor is a real person or an automated bot.
Here's an example:
The screenshot above shows only a small portion of the technical parameters collected by KillBot.
You can also create your own detection rules using PHP and any available parameters. The example below marks every visitor from China as a bot:
if ($data['net']['country'] == 'CN') {
return true; // Show CAPTCHA to visitors from China
}
return false;
You can find the complete list of available KillBot parameters and examples of custom rules here: https://my.kill-bot.net/node/44.
KillBot Creates a UserID That Doesn't Depend on Cookies
One of the most useful features in the Visits page is UserID. Each visitor receives a stable pseudo-unique identifier. In most cases, even if the visitor clears cookies or opens your website in Incognito mode, the same UserID will still be assigned.
This UserID is more than accurate enough to identify visitors within a single website.
KillBot UserID is especially useful for blocking persistent human spammers. Showing them a CAPTCHA is pointless—they'll simply solve it. Blocking their UserID is much more effective.
If KillBot determines that a particular UserID is not unique enough, it will clearly warn you so you know that blocking it may affect multiple visitors.
See Exactly Why Every Visit Was Blocked or Allowed
For example, in the dashboard you only need to move your mouse over the "Bot" label to see a detailed explanation of why this specific visit was classified as a bot:
In the same way, you can move your mouse over the CAPTCHA icon, and KillBot will show exactly why the CAPTCHA challenge was displayed:
Instead of a "black box" approach, KillBot always lets you understand why a certain decision was made.
Clean Analytics After Installing KillBot
Another advantage of KillBot becomes visible immediately after installation.
Before protection is enabled, Yandex Metrica and Google Analytics often contain a large amount of suspicious traffic: high bounce rates, direct visits, unusual search engine traffic, and suspicious advertising clicks.
After connecting KillBot, bot traffic simply stops appearing in your analytics. You only need to enable the appropriate setting or use an AI subscription plan, and KillBot will handle this automatically.
A Single Website Can Use Multiple KillBot Servers
This approach significantly increases system reliability and fault tolerance.
If one IP address becomes temporarily unavailable for any reason (government blocking, local firewall restrictions, server failure, or another issue), the browser will automatically use another available KillBot server and the visitor will still be able to access the website.
Your website continues working without interruption. If one KillBot server goes offline, you may not even notice it. The screenshot below shows an example of connecting a website to two KillBot servers:
Read how to connect your website to multiple KillBot servers here: https://my.kill-bot.net/node/74
Deploy KillBot on Your Own Server
If you want full control over your own infrastructure, you can deploy KillBot on your own server.
Self-hosted installation allows you to:
- Customize the KillBot Verification Page design;
- Create your own CAPTCHA design and change the link to KillBot's general user agreement;
- Increase traffic limits (shared servers already provide high limits, but some large projects may need more);
- Run KillBot inside your own infrastructure (for example, behind your own load balancer);
- Add your own custom code if you need functionality that is not available by default.
Read how to install KillBot on your own server here: https://my.kill-bot.net/node/46
See How a Bot Passes CAPTCHA With Your Own Eyes
One of the most interesting KillBot features is the ability to watch how bots interact with CAPTCHA pages through Yandex Webvisor. Everything is recorded:
-
The CAPTCHA page itself;
-
How the bot moves the mouse cursor or taps on the CAPTCHA area;
-
How the bot clicks hidden links (yes, the CAPTCHA page contains hidden links).
This is direct proof that an automated bot accessed your website. For marketers and analysts, this is one of the most valuable traffic analysis tools.
Below is a Webvisor recording showing a bot clicking hidden links on a CAPTCHA page:
Make Bots Spend More CPU Resources
KillBot can do more than just block bots. It can also make automated traffic much more expensive for attackers to operate.
KillBot includes a special option called "CPU Load". When enabled, the bot receives a resource-intensive JavaScript code. This causes high CPU and memory usage on the device where the bot browser is running.
As a result, one bot starts consuming significant computing resources, reducing the number of bots that can run simultaneously on the attacker's server.
This approach can sometimes be more effective than simple blocking because the bot operator may decide to remove your website from their automation list to avoid wasting server resources.
Below is an example of increasing CPU usage for a bot:
Maximum Protection. Minimum Cost.
Another important advantage of KillBot is accessibility. Anti-fraud protection should not be expensive. You can connect KillBot completely free of charge.
Even with the free plan, you can see how many bots visit your website and understand exactly why these visits are classified as bots.
You only need to pay when you want more than traffic analysis — for example, when you want to block bot traffic, remove bots from analytics systems, create custom rules, and use advanced protection features.