Introduction: What is the Problem with Spammers & How Can It Affect Your Website?
Spam messages are unwanted emails that are sent without consent or permission to recipients. These messages are usually sent in bulk and contain offers that the recipient may find tempting.
There are many types of spam messages, which can affect your website’s reputation, influence the way you run it, cause you to miss out on potential revenue opportunities, etc. The problem is that spam messages are difficult to block because they come from different sources and vary in content.
What starts as a single spammer can quickly turn into an army of spammers attacking your website.
As a site owner, it is important to have a plan in place. If you don’t, you might find yourself overwhelmed with spammer requests.
How to Choose the Best WordPress Anti-Spam Plugin That Fits Your Needs?
WordPress is one of the most popular CMS in the world. The WordPress spam problem has always been an issue for both the users and plugin developers. And it’s no surprise that there are many WordPress anti-spam plugins to choose from.
But how do you know which plugin is best for you?
This post will give you a guide on how to choose the right plugin for your needs. We’ll look at some of the features that make these plugins different, what they’re used for, and which ones are best suited for your site based on your specific needs.
There are many WordPress anti-spam plugins available in the market. But not all of them are equally effective in blocking spam. So, in order to make your WordPress blog free from spam, you need to use a premium WordPress plugin to block spammers and other bots.
The below list includes the top 10 best WordPress anti-spam plugins of 2021, reviews, and comparisons of each plugin that will help you in choosing the best one for your blog.
WordPress anti-spam plugins are an important tool for all businesses that want to avoid black PR and negative reviews on their blogs created by malicious bots.
So what are the top WordPress anti-spam plugins?
Spamming is a growing problem in the WordPress community. The anti-spam plugins below are picked based on their performance.
The following plugins are picked according to their performance in different categories:
* Filter spam comments
* Block comment spam
* Stop comment spammers from registering new accounts on your site.
* Block user registration requests from known spambots and other suspicious sources.
There’s a bunch out there, but we’ve narrowed it down to these:
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Akismet
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Anti-Spam by
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CleanTalk
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Anti-Spam Bee
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Cerber Security and Anti-Spam
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Wordfence Security
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Spam Destroyer
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Sucuri Security
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WPBruiser
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Spam Master
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Anti-Spam by CreativeMotion
You’re probably dealing with spammers whose only intention is to overload your inbox.
There are a number of ways spammers can hurt your online presence. One typical approach is to spam websites with spam links in order to boost their “master’s” rank. Bots are sometimes just trying to sell you something. Sometimes they’ll try to redirect you somewhere else by sharing false/dangerous info.
Spammers have a habit of leaving your site unattended and unchecked, which can seriously damage your reputation. For instance, they may promote other sites on your content which results in spam getting sent to the people who follow you. They may also post spam communities to your messenger that steal attention from legitimate conversations.
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Your rankings can still be found even if your site’s position on the SERPs has decreased.
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The possibility of getting blacklisted is a major concern.
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A decrease in page load times due to an increase in bot traffic is not a cause for alarm.
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Spambots are dangerous because they have the ability to collect personal user information.
The bad bots work round the clock, never stopping for food or water. To beat them, you’ll need the best spam protection plugin for WordPress to stop spammers before they do any serious damage.
There are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to WordPress anti-spam plugins. Below, you’ll find a list of free or otherwise premium options.
1. Akismet Anti-Spam
Akismet is a popular WordPress Plugin with over 6,000,000 active installs. It automatically checks your blog against a global database of spam and stops the majority of them from getting through to you. The Akismet system is particularly useful in that it can catch malicious web content before it does any lasting harm. The process of getting started with Akismet is fairly straightforward and requires taking a few easy steps such as signing up for a free or paid plan and acting on its suggestions. That’s pretty much it. Here are some additional noteworthy points:
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The plugin is compatible with some of the most popular plugins out there, including Jetpack and Contact Form 7.
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Here’s a detailed log of every comment that the anti-spam plugin cleared or flagged Note: Our engine protects over 250 million websites, rejecting over 3 billion spam comments per week.
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In order to track spam, there is the ability to see the number of comments that have been approved for each user.
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Automatically display WORDS in the comment body instead of hiding them behind the text
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Automattic has been providing excellent support all year.
To use Akismet for commercial purposes, you’ll need to subscribe to one of their paid plans (starts at $5/month)
2. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk
CleanTalk is another popular anti-spam product with over 400,000 active customers. The software screens comments and bots pretending to be human and it does this in a cloud-based server.
Content that fails validation are put in the spam queue where moderators can check for legitimacy
It also automatically censors inappropriate language, and they’ve even made a mobile app for notifications.
The developer has thrown in some more features to offer, but other than that it’s almost the same as the Akismet plugin.:
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Easy to use, the initial setup takes only 5-10 minutes…
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This plugin provides a full solution for making WordPress safe from spam comments, contact forms, registration pages, etc…
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Real-time email validation means you can spot bots before they sign up for your account. That way, you don’t need to worry about them pretending to be human and sending out promotional messages…
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Analytics – you can review the moderation activities as you please.
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We aim to ensure all queries are answered within 12 hours and offer excellent customer support…
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There’s nothing to lose for trying for free. Just sign up and get your first 7 days on CleanTalk.
This is a paid subscription with various pricing plans, starting at $8/year.
3. Anti-Spam Bee
Antispam Bee is one of the best plugins out there with over 500,000 active installs. This free plugin has decent support via their official WordPress.org forum which is a good place to start troubleshooting. It’s a free and easy alternative to Akismet spam filters as it doesn’t require you to provide any personal information to external parties.
You can set this product to work the way you want by ticking the boxes corresponding to the functions you want to be activated. For instance, you can program it to trust any submissions with Gravatars.
It lets you do other things:
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Blocks spam and trackbacks.
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Blocks comments by specific countries.
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You will get alerts for spam-related activities in your inbox.
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Compatible with many WordPress plugins, for example, Jetpack and WooCommerce
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Automatically keeps spam folders clear for you.
4. Cerber Security and Anti-Spam
Cerber Security and Anti-Spam feature an anti-spam engine that provides protection against spam in comment sections, registration forms, WooCommerce checkout, and pretty much all forms on your website.
The WordPress anti-spam function is straightforward to use with its user-friendly interface. You can even protect yourself against spam by using additional technologies like reCAPTCHA if desired.
Other features it offers are related to spamming:
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Choose how Cerber handles detected spam.
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By adding a simple whitelist and blacklist to your spam filter, you’ll be able to stop or let through messages easily…
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Set country-based rules.
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These form plugins allow for a more user-friendly experience on your site while maintaining a level of security…
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The free version of Cerber can be used on an unlimited number of websites.
Cerber Security and Anti-Spam offer more than just protection against unwanted spam: you can also secure your devices and networks against malicious programs and other threats with their personal, premium plans for as little as $29 quarterly.
5. Wordfence Security
Wordfence is a comprehensive security solution that includes anti-spam and other important functions. It has over 3 million active installs, with regular updates from developers which ensure its usability.
It handles spam by following the same method that any anti-spam system would. This includes holding onto messages with links in them and allowing messages from verified accounts to be published automatically.
Wordfence also has many other security features. One of the best ones is that it can check your site for threats like malware and other potentially malicious programs, which make it even more secure.
WordPress.org provides support that is free for all, but you can get more support features & benefits if you choose to pay for the premium version. It’s also extremely affordable, starting at $99/year.
6. Spam Destroyer
Spam Destroyer continuously protects your website against spam without interfering with the user’s browsing. It was built to be unobtrusive to webmasters and end-users alike.
Spam Destroyer uses two common techniques to keep your site safe from spam. The first is a hidden input field that’s verified with javascript; the second is a cookie created with javascript.
When bots infiltrate your WordPress website, they will require the capability to interact with your cookies and javascript.
The Spam Destroyer is a free anti-spam plugin for WordPress and it’s constantly being updated with new features to keep cybercriminals away.
7. Sucuri
Sucuri is a complete security service that can provide more than a generic WordPress spam shield.
Sucuri specializes in eliminating unsolicited and harmful or blacklisted SEO spam before it gets a chance to harm your website’s reputation. Its approach involves the automatic analysis of your web environment as soon as it gains access via an FTP or SSH connection.
When cleaning up your site, our technicians will provide you with a copy of what they found. Sucuri also submits reviews to blacklists, which means their bots will recrawl your site.
Sucuri has a range of security options that your site can use to defend itself against malicious attacks and bad bots. The most affordable plan starts at $199/year
8. WPBruiser
WPBruiser is a free anti-spam plugin for WordPress users. Unlike many other CAPTCHA alternatives, it utilizes algorithms to detect spam and bot activities. Users’ data is kept safely within their boundaries without the need to send it to third parties. It does deep analyses and cleanups, a few tasks which may be a hassle for many people.
This plugin is perfect for blocking bad bots and preventing them from signing up. It can also be configured to block specified IP addresses and even protect against brute force attacks.
WPBruiser is a solid choice for new webmasters. With over 30,000 active users and regular updates from developers, you can’t go wrong with this software provider.
9. Spam Master
Spam Master is a plugin designed to protect your site against spam registrations and bot comments. It’s lightweight & only loads when needed to help you keep your site protected, this way it won’t use up your system resources.
They claim to have one of the world’s top 5 real-time spam databases. It’s constantly learning so it can provide other spam fighters with an adequate amount of protection
Some other notable features are:
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Security fixes should be a priority. Implementing a firewall to block hacker attacks can be one of the first lines of defense for your WP-spam shield…
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Protect against brute force and DDOS attacks.
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This article discusses the need to use reCAPTCHA options for registration forms, logins, and comment sections…
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A Threat Alert Level tells you what sort of threats are being done to your website, at what severity…
The plugin is freely available for download, but they charge 9 Euros (about $10) per year for the license.
10. Anti-Spam by CreativeMotion
Anti-Spam by CreativeMotion has over 200,000 active installations and recent software updates, which tells us that it’s a product that won’t disappear from the repository anytime soon.
Plugins make adding new functionality to websites easy for beginners. All you need to do is install the plugin and it’s ready for use with its default settings in place (no API key required).
As mentioned, there are many other features worth mentioning.:
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Anti-spam software uses algorithms and its global database to help you save time & effort by preventing spam from publishing on your website.
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Publish as many posts as you want without having to take a CAPTCHA test (school is hard enough)…
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User email and IP address are shared with CreativeMotion (occasionally, some people might feel uncomfortable about this- sorry!).
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The common phrase ‘free for personal and commercial use’ may sound too good to be true, but it does exist. This only means you are only granted the right to use the vector for your personal or commercial projects.
The free version should cover a lot of things for most users & people new to blogging. If you want additional features, the pro version starts at only $9.99/year and has a much better customer support and spam protection
Conclusion: The Final Verdict on the Best WordPress Spam Protection Plugin of 2022
With so many spam protection plugins out there, it can be difficult to choose the best one.
We have compiled a list of the most popular WordPress spam protection plugins and we’ll do our best to help you find the one that suits your needs and budget.