Most WordPress anti-spam plugins promise the same thing: no more junk comments, no captcha, nothing for visitors to do. Underneath, they work in quite different ways, and the differences decide which one suits a website.
This compares five: Rabbitproof, Akismet, CleanTalk, Antispam Bee and OOPSpam. Everything about the other four comes from their own websites and wordpress.org pages, checked on 27 October 2026. Prices change, so check before buying.
Side by side
| Rabbitproof | Akismet | CleanTalk | Antispam Bee | OOPSpam | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price for one business website | A$5 a month, 25,000 requests | A$15.95 a month billed yearly, 500 checks | A$17 a year, no check limit | Free | $23 a month, 25,000 checks (currency not stated) |
| Free option | No. The first 5,000 requests are not billed | Personal websites only (pay what you like) | Free trial | Yes, free for everyone | 40 checks a month |
| Captcha or puzzle | No | No | No | No | No |
| Checks the message text | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, by rules you set | Yes |
| Checks the visitor's browser | Yes | Not stated | Yes, a JavaScript test | No (hidden field and timing) | No (hidden field and timing) |
| IP reputation | No. A shared list of machines, not addresses | Yes, a global spam database | Yes, 5.8 million IP addresses and more | No, this website's own spam only | Yes, 500 million IP addresses and emails |
| Comments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contact form plugins named | 5 | 6 | About 80 | None | 20+ |
| WooCommerce | Checkout | Product reviews | Orders, sign-ups, reviews | Not stated | Orders, sign-ups, card testing |
| Sign-ups | Yes | Not stated | Yes | No | Yes |
| Password guessing on sign-in | Yes | Not stated | A separate product | Not stated | Sign-in form checked, no lockout named |
| Scanners looking for private files | Yes | Not stated | Aggressive scanners, by IP list | Not stated | No |
| IP blocking on every page | No (Bot Management does) | No | Yes, by IP list | No | No |
| Where caught messages go | Comments to Spam; other messages kept 30 days | Comments to Spam; forms in each form plugin | Comments to Spam (15 days) or deleted | Spam folder, or deleted | A spam list in WordPress |
| What is sent to the service | Visit and browser details, never what was typed | IP address; usually the message, name and email | IP, email, message and every form field | Nothing by default | Message, IP and email (IP and email can be left out) |
| Accuracy claim on its own page | None | 99.99% | Up to 99.998% | None | 99.9% |
| Active installs | New | 5+ million | 200,000+ | 700,000+ | 6,000+ |
Price for one business website
- Rabbitproof
- A$5 a month, 25,000 requests
- Akismet
- A$15.95 a month billed yearly, 500 checks
- CleanTalk
- A$17 a year, no check limit
- Antispam Bee
- Free
- OOPSpam
- $23 a month, 25,000 checks (currency not stated)
Free option
- Rabbitproof
- No. The first 5,000 requests are not billed
- Akismet
- Personal websites only (pay what you like)
- CleanTalk
- Free trial
- Antispam Bee
- Yes, free for everyone
- OOPSpam
- 40 checks a month
Captcha or puzzle
- Rabbitproof
- No
- Akismet
- No
- CleanTalk
- No
- Antispam Bee
- No
- OOPSpam
- No
Checks the message text
- Rabbitproof
- No
- Akismet
- Yes
- CleanTalk
- Yes
- Antispam Bee
- Yes, by rules you set
- OOPSpam
- Yes
Checks the visitor's browser
- Rabbitproof
- Yes
- Akismet
- Not stated
- CleanTalk
- Yes, a JavaScript test
- Antispam Bee
- No (hidden field and timing)
- OOPSpam
- No (hidden field and timing)
IP reputation
- Rabbitproof
- No. A shared list of machines, not addresses
- Akismet
- Yes, a global spam database
- CleanTalk
- Yes, 5.8 million IP addresses and more
- Antispam Bee
- No, this website's own spam only
- OOPSpam
- Yes, 500 million IP addresses and emails
Comments
- Rabbitproof
- Yes
- Akismet
- Yes
- CleanTalk
- Yes
- Antispam Bee
- Yes
- OOPSpam
- Yes
Contact form plugins named
- Rabbitproof
- 5
- Akismet
- 6
- CleanTalk
- About 80
- Antispam Bee
- None
- OOPSpam
- 20+
WooCommerce
- Rabbitproof
- Checkout
- Akismet
- Product reviews
- CleanTalk
- Orders, sign-ups, reviews
- Antispam Bee
- Not stated
- OOPSpam
- Orders, sign-ups, card testing
Sign-ups
- Rabbitproof
- Yes
- Akismet
- Not stated
- CleanTalk
- Yes
- Antispam Bee
- No
- OOPSpam
- Yes
Password guessing on sign-in
- Rabbitproof
- Yes
- Akismet
- Not stated
- CleanTalk
- A separate product
- Antispam Bee
- Not stated
- OOPSpam
- Sign-in form checked, no lockout named
Scanners looking for private files
- Rabbitproof
- Yes
- Akismet
- Not stated
- CleanTalk
- Aggressive scanners, by IP list
- Antispam Bee
- Not stated
- OOPSpam
- No
IP blocking on every page
- Rabbitproof
- No (Bot Management does)
- Akismet
- No
- CleanTalk
- Yes, by IP list
- Antispam Bee
- No
- OOPSpam
- No
Where caught messages go
- Rabbitproof
- Comments to Spam; other messages kept 30 days
- Akismet
- Comments to Spam; forms in each form plugin
- CleanTalk
- Comments to Spam (15 days) or deleted
- Antispam Bee
- Spam folder, or deleted
- OOPSpam
- A spam list in WordPress
What is sent to the service
- Rabbitproof
- Visit and browser details, never what was typed
- Akismet
- IP address; usually the message, name and email
- CleanTalk
- IP, email, message and every form field
- Antispam Bee
- Nothing by default
- OOPSpam
- Message, IP and email (IP and email can be left out)
Accuracy claim on its own page
- Rabbitproof
- None
- Akismet
- 99.99%
- CleanTalk
- Up to 99.998%
- Antispam Bee
- None
- OOPSpam
- 99.9%
Active installs
- Rabbitproof
- New
- Akismet
- 5+ million
- CleanTalk
- 200,000+
- Antispam Bee
- 700,000+
- OOPSpam
- 6,000+
"Not stated" means the product's own pages don't say, not that it can't. A check is one message checked; a Rabbitproof request also counts each visitor checked, so the numbers aren't like for like.
Two ways to spot spam
Most anti-spam plugins read the message. They send it, with the sender's details, to a service that has seen billions of messages and decides whether this one looks like spam. That's good at catching junk a person typed by hand.
Rabbitproof looks at the visit instead: whether the browser is a real one run by a person, whether the connection adds up, and whether that machine has been caught on another website. It never reads what was typed. That's good at catching bots, and it keeps messages on your website, but it won't catch spam a real person types in. For that, keep a content filter alongside it.
Which one fits
- Antispam Bee if you only need comments covered and want it free, with nothing sent away.
- Akismet if you run a personal blog: it's free for personal websites and has the longest track record.
- CleanTalk if price matters most and you use a less common form plugin: it names about 80.
- OOPSpam if you want message scoring across many form plugins and memberships.
- Rabbitproof if your spam comes from bots, and you also want scanners and password guessing turned away, with every request listed and a one-click unblock.
Looking for an Akismet alternative?
The usual reasons are the business price, the check allowance (500 a month on the cheapest business plan), or not wanting messages sent away to be read. CleanTalk and OOPSpam allow far more checks for the money. Antispam Bee and Rabbitproof don't send what visitors type.
Sources
- Akismet: akismet.com/pricing, akismet.com/features, akismet.com/developers (comment check), wordpress.org/plugins/akismet
- CleanTalk: cleantalk.org/price, cleantalk.org/help/introduction, cleantalk.org/help/cleantalk-gdpr-compliance, wordpress.org/plugins/cleantalk-spam-protect
- Antispam Bee: antispambee.pluginkollektiv.org/documentation, wordpress.org/plugins/antispam-bee
- OOPSpam: oopspam.com/pricing, oopspam.com/docs, wordpress.org/plugins/oopspam-anti-spam
Checked 27 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and it will be corrected.
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