FiveM Anti-Cheat Compared 2026: WaveShield vs FiveGuard vs FiveAC vs Asphalt
Anti-Cheat for FiveM is part-arms-race, part-snake-oil. Most servers ship with 2-3 conflicting AC layers, suffer false-positives, and still get cheated on. This guide cuts through the marketing and ranks the 4 anti-cheats that actually work in 2026 — plus what to NOT buy.
Every server owner eventually faces the cheater problem. The most-asked Discord question after "best hoster" is "best anti-cheat". And it's nearly impossible to get a straight answer because every anti-cheat vendor claims they catch everything.
Reality: there is no silver bullet. The best anti-cheat is a combination of one good paid AC + active admins + proper logging. This post breaks down which AC to actually pay for in 2026.
The 30-second answer
- WaveShield — best all-rounder for most DACH/EU servers. Good detection, German support, fair pricing.
- FiveGuard — most aggressive, catches cheats others miss, also has most false-positives.
- FiveAC — Cfx.re's own offering. Free, basic, less effective against custom cheats. Use as foundation, not as your only line.
- Asphalt — newer, hardware-fingerprinting-focused. Good for banned-player-detection across multiple servers.
If you're starting from zero: FiveAC (built-in) + WaveShield (paid). That stack catches 85-90 % of real-world cheats.
What anti-cheat can and can't do
What it CAN do
- Detect known cheat patterns (public Eulen scripts, leaked cheats, well-known modmenus)
- Catch obvious behavior (god mode, super speed, weapon spawning)
- Hardware-fingerprint banned players to make ban-evasion harder
- Log suspicious actions for admin review
What it CAN'T do
- Stop sophisticated private cheats (paid menus updated weekly to bypass AC)
- Detect cheats that mimic legitimate player behavior
- Replace active admin presence
- Catch cheaters who only use cheats sparingly during low-attention hours
If a vendor promises "100% detection" — they're lying. Anti-cheat is layered defense. You combine AC + behavior-monitoring + admin response.
WaveShield
What it is
Popular paid AC, founded by alva98. Active development since 2021. The default recommendation in most DACH FiveM communities.
Strengths
- Solid detection of public + leaked cheats (Eulen, Redengine, etc.)
- Active update cycle — new cheat signatures within days of cheat releases
- German-language support and documentation
- Reasonable false-positive rate (low enough that admins don't ignore alerts)
- Decent performance impact (~0.3-0.7 ms client-side resmon)
- Fair pricing — typically one-time license, no monthly subscription
Weaknesses
- Private/expensive cheats still slip through (no AC catches everything)
- Some legitimate scripts trigger false-positives (especially custom UI scripts that hook game functions)
- Configuration requires reading the docs — not zero-friction
Who should pick WaveShield
Most DACH/EU servers. Our default recommendation if you can only run one paid AC.
FiveGuard
What it is
The other major paid AC. More aggressive detection logic, more invasive. Has a reputation for catching cheats WaveShield misses — at the cost of more false-positives.
Strengths
- Very aggressive cheat detection — catches things others don't
- Strong reverse-engineering team — fast at adding new signatures
- Good logging and admin tools
Weaknesses
- False-positives. Legit players get flagged more often. Requires active admin to triage.
- Higher performance impact (~0.8-1.5 ms client-side resmon).
- Can conflict with some custom client-side scripts.
- Pricing tends to be higher than WaveShield.
Who should pick FiveGuard
Established servers with very active admin teams who can handle the false-positive load. Servers that are specifically being targeted by sophisticated cheaters.
FiveAC (Cfx.re built-in)
What it is
The anti-cheat Cfx.re ships built-in with FXServer. Free. Basic but real.
Strengths
- Free, zero setup.
- Catches the most basic cheats (public modmenus from script-kiddies).
- Integrated with Cfx.re's ecosystem (global ban hammer).
- Zero conflicts with anything (it's part of FXServer).
Weaknesses
- Limited detection compared to paid options.
- Updates slowly relative to cheat-developer iteration.
- Customization options minimal.
Who should use FiveAC
Everyone. Run it always as a base layer, on top of whatever paid AC you choose. It's free and catches stuff your paid AC might miss.
Asphalt
What it is
Newer entrant focused on hardware fingerprinting and cross-server cheat detection. Has gained traction in 2025-2026 as the answer to "ban-evading cheaters."
Strengths
- Strong HWID-based banning (harder for cheaters to come back on new accounts).
- Cross-server cheater database — share ban data with partner servers.
- Lightweight client-side footprint.
- Modern dashboard / log UI.
Weaknesses
- Smaller signature database than WaveShield/FiveGuard.
- Newer = fewer reviews / less battle-tested.
- Cross-server bans only work if other servers also use Asphalt.
Who should pick Asphalt
Servers with chronic ban-evading cheater problems. Pair with WaveShield/FiveGuard for detection + Asphalt for HWID-based ban enforcement.
Side-by-side
WaveShield FiveGuard FiveAC Asphalt
Type Paid Paid Free (Cfx) Paid
Detection rate ★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★ ★★★
False-positive rate Low Medium Very low Low
Performance overhead ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★
HWID banning Basic Basic No ★★★★★
Cross-server bans No No Cfx global Yes (partners)
DACH support Yes Limited Cfx en Yes
Configuration ease ★★★ ★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★
Pricing Mid High Free Mid
Best for All-rounder Advanced Foundation Ban-evasionOur recommended AC stack for 2026
- FiveAC (built-in, free) — always on as base layer.
- WaveShield (paid) — main detection layer.
- Asphalt (optional, paid) — if you're fighting ban-evading cheaters.
That stack costs around 30-50 €/month total. Catches 85-90 % of real-world cheats. The remaining 10-15 % needs active admin response.
What you should NOT buy
- "Triple-A" Anti-Cheat bundles selling on shady marketplaces — most are repackaged free scripts.
- "AI-powered detection" — marketing fluff. Real AC uses signatures + behavior heuristics.
- Free anti-cheat scripts from random GitHub repos — they catch nothing modern and often inject vulnerable code into your server.
- "Lifetime" deals that look too cheap — usually fly-by-night vendors who disappear in 6 months.
Admin workflow matters more than the AC
Even the best anti-cheat is useless without:
- Active admin presence — at least one admin online during peak hours.
- Properly-configured logging (PlayerJoined, Death, Money transactions, weapon usage).
- A report-system players actually use (your devCon Discord Bot can handle this).
- A ban-policy document so admins ban consistently.
- txAdmin set up properly for fast investigation/ban actions.
Hosting & infrastructure also matter
Some cheats exploit slow server response times. A properly-hosted server (we recommend Avoro for the CPU performance — see our FiveM hosting comparison) has noticeably fewer "lag-switch" type exploits because the server stays responsive.
Per-script vulnerability — your scripts matter too
Most "cheats" in FiveM aren't actually using AC-bypassing modmenus — they're exploiting badly-written server scripts. Examples we see weekly:
- Server-side event that gives money based on client-claim ("I sold 10 items, give me $5000")
- Trust-the-client teleport events
- Inventory transfers that don't validate ownership server-side
Our scripts at devCon Studio are written with server-authoritative validation as default — events check ownership and bounds before taking action. Compare with the average free script and you'll see the difference.
Bringing it together
Anti-cheat in FiveM is layered defense, not a single silver bullet. For 2026:
- Run FiveAC (it's free, always-on, no reason not to).
- Pay for WaveShield as your main detection layer.
- Add Asphalt if ban-evasion is your specific pain point.
- Invest in admin tooling and active admin presence.
- Audit your scripts for server-authoritative validation.
- Use a hoster that doesn't lag (we recommend Avoro) so cheats don't exploit slow response.