There is no single best FiveM anticheat for every server. A 30-player whitelisted roleplay server and a 200-player public server face different cheaters and run different scripts. Six checks show which one fits yours, and you can run each of them before you pay.
How to choose a FiveM anticheat: six checks
1. Which cheats it detects, by name
FiveM cheats come in three groups. Internal cheats run inside the game: Lua executors, mod menus and NUI DevTools. External cheats, such as some executors and aimbots, run as separate programs on the same PC. DMA cheats run on a second machine that reads the game's memory through a hardware card, so nothing runs on the player's PC.
Ask each vendor which of these it detects, and which menus and executors it names. A public detection list is easy to check. Be careful with a claim to detect DMA hardware outright, because the hardware sits on a machine the game cannot see.
2. Client and server detection together
A client-only anticheat misses abuse of your server events, which is how most money and item exploits work. A server-only one misses silent aim and noclip. Ask what happens when a player fires a server event they should not be able to fire. The answer should be that the server refuses it and logs who tried.
3. What happens after a false ban
Any anticheat can ban a real player, usually because of a custom script. Each false ban costs you an appeal and sometimes the player. Ask how a wrong ban gets reversed, and whether anything stops the same setting from banning the next player.
To test it, install the anticheat on a copy of your server with your usual scripts, set the actions to kick, and play through a normal session. Whatever fires there will fire on your live server too.
4. Evidence on every ban
A ban you cannot explain is hard to defend in a ticket. Open a few bans in a trial or a demo and check that you can tell what fired, which setting caused it and who the player is in under a minute.
5. Resmon at your player count
Resmon depends on your resources and how many players are online, so a figure from someone else's server tells you little. Watch resmon on your own server at peak, with the anticheat running.
6. A dated changelog and real support
Cheat authors ship new builds often, and an anticheat that stops shipping falls behind. Look for a public changelog with a date on every release, and read the last three months of it. Then ask where support happens and try it with a real question before you buy.
How Raven does on the six
- Cheats it detects. 74 detections in seven categories. Raven detects internal cheats, including Lua executors, mod menus and NUI DevTools, and external executors and aimbots. The external executor check ships switched off. DMA hardware runs on a second machine, so Raven has no direct check for it. Its aim and action detections still apply to what a DMA user does in your server. The detections reference lists every one.
- Client and server. Both run at once. Server event protection refuses events a player should not fire and ships set to ban.
- False bans. Detections Raven is less sure of ship switched off or set to kick. Of the 74, 12 ship off and 3 ship on kick. After a ban, Raven Mind reverses false-positive waves by itself and suggests a fix for the rest.
- Evidence. Each ban carries the detection, the setting behind it and every identifier, plus the capture when there is one. The dashboard also shows each player's trust score, a number from 0 to 100 that starts at 50, rises with play time and drops with bans.
- Resmon. Raven publishes no figure. Check it on your own server at peak.
- Updates and support. A new build usually ships within a week, and every release is dated on the changelog. Support is in Discord.
Raven is a standalone resource, so the install is the same on ESX, QBCore, QBox, vRP or a custom framework. You download your server's build, add three lines to server.cfg and restart, which takes about two minutes. It costs $20 a month, $50 for 90 days or $100 once for Lifetime. Every plan has every detection and dashboard feature. Installation by the Raven team is included with Lifetime and is a one-time add-on on the other plans. How much a FiveM anticheat should cost covers the pricing models in more detail.
See the shortlist side by side
The FiveM anticheat comparison puts Raven next to FiveGuard, WaveShield, Electron AC, XeroShield, Fiveuxe, FiniAC, Parity and FireAC on these checks. Each vendor column comes only from that vendor's own pages. To see Raven's panel before you shortlist it, open the live demo. It needs no signup.