2 anti spam alternatives for Akismet

Each and every WordPress installation comes standard with 2 plugins. One of them is called Hello Dolly and probably only Matt (Mullenweg) really knows why that plugin is still there.

The other plugin WordPress ships with by default is the Akismet plugin. Its function is to combat spam, but basically it is a premium plugin. People running a personal blog get the choice to pay a monthly fee, but can adjust the slider all the way to USD 0.00; companies however will have to pay a from rate of USD 5.00 per site per month. Of course you can always choose to “pretend” that your company is running a personal blog, but going in that direction is a slippery slope.

Because most of our clients run businesses and we here at Eggplant Digital certainly do, we have decided to use a free anti spam alternative. Fortunately there are two great plugins to choose from and the decision to choose which one largely depends on whether you like Settings or not.

The Antispam Bee has been released a while back already and sees regular updates. It has been downloaded no less than 252,425 times (at time of writing) and comes with all kinds of options and handy statistics that tell you exactly how much spam has been caught.

Recently another plugin called Spam Destroyer was released; with “only” 1,189 downloads it is clear that this one still needs to gain popularity among users. One way to get users to switch to Spam Destroyer can very well be the lack of Settings. After you have uploaded the plugin and activated it, there is nothing more for you to do than every now and then to clean your spam box.

Which antispam plugin do you use on your site? Let us know in the comments!