The Ultimate List: Top 16 Anti-Spam Plugins for WordPress 2023

Have you been searching for the best WordPress anti-spam plugin for your website? Look no further! Spam can be a major headache for website owners, but with anti-spam plugins, you can protect your site from bulk comments and form submissions. In this article, we've selected the top WordPress anti-spam plugins to help you combat spam and safeguard your website. Be sure to read on to the end.

Why Use WordPress Anti-Spam Plugins?

Here are several benefits of using anti-spam plugins for your comments and forms:

• Prevention is better than cure: Anti-spam plugins help you prevent spam attacks before they occur.
• Removes existing spam: Some plugins can detect and remove spam comments that have already been posted.
• Saves time: Anti-spam plugins automatically block spam, saving you time that would otherwise be spent filtering comments and marking them as spam.
• Saves resources: The worst spam is discarded, freeing up storage space on your website.
• Keeps comments open: Anti-spam plugins allow you to engage with your audience while keeping spambots at bay.
• Protects SEO: Spam comments with bad links can harm your website's credibility, but anti-spam plugins can remove them, safeguarding your search engine rankings.

What Are Spam Comments?

Spam comments are the bane of a blogger's existence. These comments, which are often related to the topic of your blog post, can not only waste your time but also pose a serious threat to your website. Without adequate protection, your blog could be inundated with these comments on a daily basis.

What makes spam comments particularly dangerous is that they often contain malicious links that can cause damage to your website and even your computer. These comments can come from bots or scammers looking to gain access to your website and use ransomware to extort money from you.

To spot spam comments, look out for generic sender names and bizarre-looking email addresses that don't match the sender. Don't let spam comments take over your blog – take steps to protect your website and keep your content safe.

Spambots not only waste your time and server resources, but they can also skew your website's performance metrics and make it appear less professional to your visitors. Fortunately, using a WordPress anti-spam plugin is an easy and effective solution to prevent spam attacks on your website.

The Ultimate List: Top 16 Anti-Spam Plugins for WordPress 2023

Fortunately, there are a number of great anti-spam plugins available for WordPress, ranging from free solutions to premium options. Here is a list of the top 16 WordPress anti-spam plugins that you can use to protect your forms and blog comments:

1. Spam Protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk

CleanTalk's Spam Protection, AntiSpam, FireWall is the most well-rated anti-spam plugin on the WordPress directory with over 2,000 five-star ratings. The plugin uses a spam firewall to protect your site from spammers by blocking spam entry from all possible gates, including comments, login, contact, and WooCommerce forms. One of the best things about this plugin is that it doesn't use CAPTCHA, so your visitors won't have to solve any puzzles or math problems.

Key Features:

• Works with mobile devices
• Spam firewall for advanced protection
• Checks validity of email addresses in real-time
• Compatible with major forms and marketing plugins
• Daily and weekly spam reports
• Price: Free or $8/year

Get it via https://wordpress.org/plugins/cleantalk-spam-protect/

2. Akismet Spam Protection

Akismet, the most widely used plugin for guarding WordPress sites against spam, has been downloaded over five million times. The plugin scrutinizes comments and contact form submissions by cross-checking them with its extensive global spam database, and discards any that appear to be spam. Any comment spam can be reviewed in your dashboard, and those deemed non-spam can be restored. Please note that this plugin requires an API key to activate it.

Key Features:

• To prevent potential threats, it eliminates the most severe spam.
• Any hidden or deceptive URLs are shown in the comment body
• Discard feature to conserve disk space
• Status history for every comment
• Moderators can spam or unspam blocked comments
• Price: Free or $10/month (Plus Plan)

Get it via https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/

3. WP Cerber Security, Anti-Spam & Malware Scan

WP Cerber Security, Anti-spam & Malware Scan is one of the best WordPress security plugins available. It has its own anti-spam engine that protects your forms and automatically detects spam comments and either denies their submission or moves them immediately to trash.This plugin utilizes the invisible ReCaptcha to prevent spambots from submitting forms such as login, registration, password recovery, comment, and WooCommerce forms. By upgrading to the premium version, users can access additional features such as layered spam protection and automated website scans and file recovery.

Key Features:

• Detects and deletes spam comments
• Protection against DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks
• restricts the number of login attempts that can be made by an IP address or subnet.
• Filter and inspect activities of users
• Weekly reports are available
• Price: Free or $99/year

Get it via https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-cerber/ or Download the latest version of WP Cerber from the official website to your computer using this url: https://downloads.wpcerber.com/plugin/wp-cerber.zip

4. Titan Anti-Spam & Security

Titan Anti-spam & Security is a comprehensive security plugin that can hide spam from your site using algorithms and a global spam database. More than 100,000 sites have actively installed the free version of this plugin. However, upgrading to the premium version provides additional protection against spambots and other malicious actors by preventing spammy form submissions and offering more advanced security features.

Key Features:

• 24/7 technical support
• Protects registration forms from spam
• Detailed statistics for comments and logins
• Scheduled security scans
• No captcha required
• Price: Free or $55/year

Get it via https://wordpress.org/plugins/anti-spam/

5. Antispam Bee

If you're looking for a reliable and free anti-spam WordPress plugin, Antispam Bee is a great option to consider. This plugin effectively mitigates comment spam on your website without requiring a captcha. Once enabled, Antispam Bee automatically blocks all spam comments and trackbacks, and notifies you by email whenever spam is detected.

One of the standout features of Antispam Bee is that it automatically deletes spam comments after filtering, with the option to set a specific time for deletion in the settings. You can also set indicators for specific types of spam that should be sent directly to the trash without further action.

Additional key features of Antispam Bee include access to spam statistics, the ability to allow comments from specific languages and restrict comments from certain countries, and GDPR compliance.

Antispam Bee is a free plugin that you can download directly from the WordPress plugin repository. To get started with this powerful anti-spam tool, visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/antispam-bee/.

6. All In One WP Security & Firewall

All In One WP Security & Firewall is primarily a security plugin for WordPress, but it also includes features designed to prevent spam comments on your website. In addition to blocking spam comments, this plugin allows you to block IP addresses from which spam has originated.

All In One WP Security & Firewall includes captcha protection in the comment form, which helps distinguish between human users and automated activity. The plugin also offers captcha protection for login and registration forms through either Google reCaptcha or simple math captcha.

Other key features of All In One WP Security & Firewall include monitoring of account activity for all users, manual approval of each registration to reduce spam, the ability to ban users by IP address, and regular updates for uncompromised security. Additionally, this plugin is compatible with major WordPress plugins.

All In One WP Security & Firewall is a free plugin that you can download directly from the WordPress plugin repository. To take advantage of its anti-spam features and boost your website's security, visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/.

7. WordPress Zero Spam

WordPress Zero Spam utilizes AI along with proven spam detection techniques and databases of known malicious IPs from around the world to identify and block spambots from submitting forms on your WordPress site. By using JavaScript, WordPress Zero Spam is capable of preventing spambots from completing a submission without requiring valid site visitors to prove they're not spambots by answering questions or completing CAPTCHA fields.

This plugin also allows you to block IP addresses temporarily or permanently, as well as block entire countries, regions, and cities if necessary. WordPress Zero Spam can be integrated with other popular plugins and provides WooCommerce registration form protection.

Key Features:

• No admin moderation required
• Block IP addresses manually or automatically
• Allows integration with popular plugins
• Geolocates IP addresses
• Protects WooCommerce registration forms

Price: Free

Get it from https://wordpress.org/plugins/zero-spam/

8. Stop Spammers

Stop Spammers is a plugin designed to prevent spam comments, user registration, and emails on your WordPress site. You can block suspicious users, emails, and IP addresses, and manually approve the rest. Stop Spammers also enables you to block users based on their country. With over 50 configuration options, you can customize the plugin to fit your site's needs. The premium version provides additional features such as Contact Form 7 protection and server-level firewall protection.

Key Features:

• Export and import settings
• Blocks based on specific spam words
• GDPR-compliant
• Restrict guest visitors with Members-only Mode
• Notification control options for admins

Price: Free or $29/year

Get it from https://wordpress.org/plugins/stop-spammer-registrations-plugin/

9. Disable Comments

Disable Comments is a free WordPress plugin that removes and protects your site from spam comments. You can delete existing comments on your site in bulk or by type and configure the plugin to allow or disable comments on specific post types, including pages, posts, media, and docs.

Get it from https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-comments/

10. Stop WP Comment Spam

Stop WP Comment Spam is a WordPress spam blocker plugin designed to protect your site from spam comments. Detected spam is sent to the spam folder for manual deletion or automatic removal after a period of time. The premium version offers anti-spam services for contact and registration forms, and is GDPR compliant.

Key Features:

• Fast and lightweight
• Spam statistics reports available
• Affordable pro plans
• No API key required
• Compatible with other security plugins
• Price: Free or $8.99/year

Get it from https://wordpress.org/plugins/fullworks-anti-spam/

11. WP Armour

WP Armour is a powerful WordPress anti-spam plugin that utilizes the honeypot technique to prevent spam submissions. It automatically inserts extra javascript fields to your forms, which spambots can't detect. When they unknowingly submit incomplete forms on your website, the plugin identifies it as spam and blocks it from being submitted. WP Armour works with all your site’s comments, registration, and other forms and keeps a log of all IP addresses that have sent spam. This feature helps you permanently block IPs sending multiple spams.

WP Armour supports popular form plugins like Gravity Forms, is easy to install without any setup, and offers dedicated support. WP Armour is available for free or for a lifetime purchase of $19.99.

Get WP Armour via https://wordpress.org/plugins/honeypot/

12. BulletProof Security

BulletProof Security is an all-in-one security solution that guards registrations, logins, and comments on your WordPress website against spam. This plugin is speed-optimized, so it doesn't slow down your site or make unnecessary database calls that strain the page loading time. However, configuring this plugin might be a bit challenging for beginners because of the extensive settings.

BulletProof Security offers login security and monitoring, GDPR compliance option, performance optimization, manual or scheduled database backups, and malware scanning. BulletProof Security is available for free or for $69.95.

Get BulletProof Security via https://wordpress.org/plugins/bulletproof-security/

13. Hide My WP

Hide My WP is a best-selling security plugin in the CodeCanyon marketplace that includes anti-spam protection. You can enable the anti-spam option on the plugin settings page to automatically block spam in the comments section of your site. Additionally, you can use Hide My WP to change the file name of yourwp_comments_post.php file, which WordPress uses to receive comments from visitors by default. Renaming this file can also help prevent spam comments on your site.

Get Hide My WP via https://codecanyon.net/item/hide-my-wp-amazing-security-plugin-for-wordpress/4177158

14. Captcha Plus

Captcha Plus is a premium plugin designed to protect your WordPress forms from spam entries.  This versatile plugin can be implemented across a variety of forms on your website, including login, registration, password reset, comments, contact, and custom forms. Users can customize the CAPTCHA settings by selecting from options such as invisible reCAPTCHA, simple arithmetic questions, character recognition, or a slider button. Additionally, users can create an “allow list” to conceal the reCAPTCHA field for trusted IP addresses.

To acquire Captcha Plus, visit https://codecanyon.net/item/captcha-plus/9656420.

15. reCAPTCHA Plugin

The reCaptcha WordPress plugin is an effective way to prevent robots from attacking your website’s registration, login, comment, and forgotten password pages. It adds a CAPTCHA to any form and lets visitors verify they are not robots prior to registering, resetting passwords, adding comments, or contacting your site.

The plugin is easy to use and manage, and ensures that your forms and data are maintained. You can also enable the CAPTCHA to be hidden for certain IP addresses by adjusting the settings. The Pro version of the plugin has also been tested to function correctly with a wide selection of WordPress form plugins, including Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, and WPForms. However, only the Pro version is supported. reCAPTCHA Plugin is available for free for the Lite version, and for $24 for the Pro version.

Get reCAPTCHA Plugin via https://wordpress.org/plugins/recaptcha-by-bestwebsoft/

16. The Captcha by BestWebSoft

The Captcha by BestWebSoft is a plugin designed for WordPress to safeguard your website against spam. It provides reliable protection for various features including comments and forms, registration pages, and password reset pages. The plugin also features an extensive range of CAPTCHA types such as Math CAPTCHA, invisible CAPTCHA, slide CAPTCHA, and character recognition.

One of the standout features of this plugin is the ability to hide CAPTCHA from registered users, which helps enhance user experience. While WPForms is an excellent option for form protection, Captcha by BestWebSoft is an ideal choice for other site sections.

Captcha by BestWebSoft is free to use and can be downloaded from https://wordpress.org/plugins/captcha-bws/.

My Final word on The Ultimate List: Top 16 Anti-Spam Plugins for WordPress:

My final words for you are, spam comments can be a significant issue for WordPress site owners, but thankfully there are several anti-spam plugins available in the WordPress directory to choose from. These top anti-spam plugins mentioned in this blog post are Spam Protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk, Akismet Spam Protection, WP Cerber Security, Anti-Spam & Malware Scan, Titan Anti-Spam & Security, Antispam Bee, All In One WP Security & Firewall, WordPress Zero Spam, etc.

All of them provide a range of features to protect your site from spammers and other malicious actors, with some offering additional security features, such as malware scans, DDoS protection, IP blocking, and more. Ultimately, the best anti-spam plugin for your site will depend on your specific needs and preferences, but all of the plugins mentioned here have received high ratings from users and are worth considering to improve the security and reliability of your WordPress site.