PHP Captcha Solver

reCAPTCHA & image captchas in PHP — updated August 2026

TL;DR: Everything runs over plain HTTPS — the cURL extension is all you need, so this works on any shared host. Image captchas solve synchronously; reCAPTCHA is create-task + poll. 50 free solves on signup, no credit card.

Image Captchas with Native cURL

No Composer, no dependencies — just the cURL extension that ships with PHP. CURLFile handles the multipart upload:

solve_image.php 
<?php
$apiKey = getenv('CAPTCHAKINGS_KEY');

$ch = curl_init('https://captchakings.com/api/process.php');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ["Authorization: Bearer $apiKey"],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => ['captcha' => new CURLFile('captcha.jpg')],
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30
]);

$data = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

if ($data['success']) {
    echo $data['data']['prediction'];        // solved text
    echo $data['data']['confidence'];        // 0-100
    echo $data['billing']['balance_remaining'];
} else {
    echo 'Error: ' . $data['error']['message'];
}

reCAPTCHA v2: Create Task + Poll

reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha and AWS WAF are token tasks — submit the job, then poll until it's ready. This reusable function covers the full flow (payload details on the reCAPTCHA solver page):

recaptcha.php 
<?php
function ckPost(string $url, array $payload): array {
    $ch = curl_init($url);
    curl_setopt_array($ch, [
        CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
        CURLOPT_POST => true,
        CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['Content-Type: application/json'],
        CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode($payload),
        CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30
    ]);
    $data = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
    curl_close($ch);
    return $data;
}

function solveRecaptchaV2(string $pageUrl, string $siteKey): string {
    $apiKey = getenv('CAPTCHAKINGS_KEY');

    $created = ckPost('https://api.captchakings.com/createTask', [
        'clientKey' => $apiKey,
        'task' => [
            'type' => 'RecaptchaV2TaskProxyless',
            'websiteURL' => $pageUrl,
            'websiteKey' => $siteKey
        ]
    ]);

    if (empty($created['taskId'])) {
        throw new RuntimeException('createTask failed: ' . json_encode($created));
    }

    $deadline = time() + 120;
    while (time() < $deadline) {
        sleep(3);
        $result = ckPost('https://api.captchakings.com/getTaskResult', [
            'clientKey' => $apiKey,
            'taskId' => $created['taskId']
        ]);
        if (($result['status'] ?? '') === 'ready') {
            return $result['solution']['gRecaptchaResponse'];
        }
    }
    throw new RuntimeException('Solve timed out');
}

Guzzle Version (Composer Projects)

If your project already uses Guzzle (Laravel, Symfony, Slim...), the same calls get shorter:

guzzle.php 
<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$http = new Client(['base_uri' => 'https://api.captchakings.com']);

// Create task
$created = json_decode($http->post('createTask', [
    'json' => [
        'clientKey' => getenv('CAPTCHAKINGS_KEY'),
        'task' => [
            'type' => 'RecaptchaV2TaskProxyless',
            'websiteURL' => $pageUrl,
            'websiteKey' => $siteKey
        ]
    ]
])->getBody(), true);

// Image captcha via multipart
$img = json_decode((new Client())->post('https://captchakings.com/api/process.php', [
    'headers' => ['Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . getenv('CAPTCHAKINGS_KEY')],
    'multipart' => [[
        'name' => 'captcha',
        'contents' => fopen('captcha.jpg', 'r')
    ]]
])->getBody(), true);

echo $img['data']['prediction'];

WordPress: wp_remote_post

Inside a plugin or theme, use WordPress's HTTP API — it picks the right transport automatically:

wordpress.php 
<?php
function myplugin_solve_recaptcha($page_url, $site_key) {
    $api_key = get_option('captchakings_api_key');

    $response = wp_remote_post('https://api.captchakings.com/createTask', [
        'headers' => ['Content-Type' => 'application/json'],
        'body' => wp_json_encode([
            'clientKey' => $api_key,
            'task' => [
                'type' => 'RecaptchaV2TaskProxyless',
                'websiteURL' => $page_url,
                'websiteKey' => $site_key
            ]
        ]),
        'timeout' => 30
    ]);

    $created = json_decode(wp_remote_retrieve_body($response), true);
    if (empty($created['taskId'])) return false;

    // Poll (same pattern with wp_remote_post on getTaskResult)
    for ($i = 0; $i < 40; $i++) {
        sleep(3);
        $poll = wp_remote_post('https://api.captchakings.com/getTaskResult', [
            'headers' => ['Content-Type' => 'application/json'],
            'body' => wp_json_encode(['clientKey' => $api_key, 'taskId' => $created['taskId']])
        ]);
        $result = json_decode(wp_remote_retrieve_body($poll), true);
        if (($result['status'] ?? '') === 'ready') {
            return $result['solution']['gRecaptchaResponse'];
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Endpoint Recap

Captcha TypeEndpointResult
Image captchacaptchakings.com/api/process.phpSolved text (synchronous)
reCAPTCHA / hCaptcha / AWS WAFapi.captchakings.com/createTaskToken (async, poll getTaskResult)
2Captcha-compatiblecaptchakings.com/in.php / res.phpDrop-in migration format

Best Practices

  • Shared hosting friendly: only outbound HTTPS is needed — no sockets, no custom ports.
  • Store the key in env or wp_options, never hardcoded in versioned files.
  • Poll every 3 seconds with a 120s deadline; typical reCAPTCHA v2 solves take 5–20 seconds.
  • Offload long polls to a cron/queue (WP-Cron, Laravel queue) instead of blocking a web request.
  • Always set CURLOPT_TIMEOUT so a slow network can't hang your PHP worker.

FAQ

Does it work on shared hosting?

Yes. The API only needs outbound HTTPS through the cURL extension, which every shared host enables by default. No Composer, root access, or custom ports required.

How do I solve reCAPTCHA v2 in PHP?

POST a RecaptchaV2TaskProxyless task to createTask, poll getTaskResult every 3 seconds until status is ready, and use the returned gRecaptchaResponse token. Full function above.

Can I use it in WordPress?

Yes — wp_remote_post handles both task creation and polling, and the image API accepts a multipart body the same way. Example above.

Guzzle or native cURL?

Both work. Native cURL = zero dependencies and runs everywhere; Guzzle is nicer in Composer-based projects like Laravel. Both styles shown above.

Integration Guides for Other Languages

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