List of the Best WordPress Antispam Plugins
Top 5 Best WordPress Antispam Plugins. While there are plenty of ways to prevent spam, these free anti-spam plugins are a great place to start.
1. Akismet
The number one WordPress antispam plugin in the repository, developed by the Automattic team – Akismet brings enterprise-level spam protection to your WordPress site. With Akismet, the user installs and activates plugin using an API key (signup required). The plugin works by uploading all incoming comments to the Akismet server. Comments then undergo hundreds* of antispam algorithms (* we really don’t know the exact number). Correct comments are published, while the rest are thrashed to the spam queue.
Notes:
- Akismet is free for non-profit and personal use (up to 50,000 monthly spam checks)
- Commercial licenses start at $5/month
- Compatible with top WordPress plugins such as Jetpack and Contact Form 7
- View every comment’s status history to see which were spammed by a moderator, or put in the spam folder automatically
2. Stop WP Comment Spam by Fullworks
Clean up your comments section with the Stop WP Comment Spam plugin. It’s a quick, easy and free way to keep spam from taking over your posts. With the plugin installed, you can automatically prevent spam and hold flagged comments for review in the “spam” tab (where you can manually review and approve or delete comments). Or you can enable a setting to automatically delete all spam – either immediately, or after being held for a set number of days.
Notes:
- Automated spam filters
- Option to delete or hold for reviews
- Works well with other WordPress security plugins
And you can upgrade to Stop Spam Pro for added features such as human spam recognition and machine learning, form protection, fake WordPress & WooCommerce user registration prevention, spam statistics and more.
3. Anti-Spam Bee
The next best choice after Akismet would be Anti-Spam Bee. This free plugin is full of great features, and doesn’t require registration like Akismet does. Anti-Spam Bee is free for personal and commercial use, so no matter your website you can be spam free.
Notes:
- Block comments from specific IP addresses, countries or with different language
- Logs spammers using Fail2Ban
- Clear WordPress database of spam after a specified number of days (spam purging)
- Displays monthly statistics on the dashboard with spam numbers
Advanced anti-spam configuration measures of Anti-Spam Bee
4. WP-SpamShield Anti-Spam
WP-SpamShield Anti-Spam handles comment spam, registration spam, trackback spam and contact form spam. That’s a lot of spam! The plugin does not allow spam to enter the WordPress database using a multitude of methods, one being an advanced comment logging and blacklisting features which helps block persistent spammers. And with WP-SpamShield Anti-Spam you can also block comments for visitors using a proxy server
2 Layers Of Protection:
- The JavaScript/Cookies Anti-spam Layer which blocks all automated spam bots
- The Algorithmic Anti-spam Layer contains 100+ algorithmic filters to block human and trackback spam
Plugin Compatibility:
- Comment form plugins like Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, and JetPack
- Social plugins like BuddyPress and bbPress
- E-commerce plugins like WooCommerce
- Membership plugins like s2Member and WP-Members
5. WordPress Zero Spam
Based on a concept by Mozilla developer David Walsh, the WordPress Zero Spam Plugin uses server and client-side JavaScript key validation to prevent bots from spamming. Essentially, users cannot comment without JavaScript enabled.
Notes:
- No external services/servers required for anti-spam checking
- Does not guard against human spammers
- Free for both personal and commercial use
