Akismet Anti-spam vs WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam
Updated 6 Oct 2026. 46 features compared side by side.
Automattic's cloud spam filter for WordPress comments and many form plugins; free keys for personal sites, paid plans for commercial use.
Honeypot anti-spam plugin that blocks bots on comments and many form plugins with no CAPTCHA, API key or external calls; Extended adds more forms…
Choose Akismet Anti-spam if…
- You need cloud spam filtering and skip for logged-in users
- You also want scripts load only where needed and wpDiscuz
- You prefer the more widely used option
Choose WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam if…
- You need login & password reset and contact form 7
- You also want registration and block and allow lists
- You want the more complete feature set (67/100 vs 43/100)
- You want the lower entry price ($19.99/yr vs $119.40/yr)
Akismet Anti-spam includes 4 features that WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam lacks, including Cloud spam filtering, Skip for logged-in users and Scripts load only where needed; WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam has 20 that Akismet Anti-spam lacks, including Login & password reset, Registration and Block and allow lists. Both include 11 of the 46 features we track. 4 features are not yet verified for one or both plugins.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Akismet Anti-spam WP Armour – Honeypot Anti SpamProtection methods3/72/7
No CAPTCHA providers; Akismet filters in the background instead of challenging visitors.
Honeypot-only; no Google reCAPTCHA.
Cloudflare Turnstile is not offered.
Honeypot-only; no Cloudflare Turnstile.
hCaptcha is not offered.
Honeypot-only; no hCaptcha.
No built-in image or math CAPTCHA.
No visible CAPTCHA of any kind.
Adds a hidden honeypot textarea and a JavaScript timestamp field to protected forms.
JavaScript-injected hidden field with a unique name per site.
Every submission is checked against Akismet's global spam database in the cloud.
Readme states it uses no external API such as Akismet or CleanTalk.
Works with no visitor interaction; nothing to solve or tick.
Honeypot is invisible to visitors; no challenge to solve.
Where it protects5/77/7
Core purpose: filters comments, pingbacks and trackbacks automatically.
WordPress comments are protected in the free version.
Akismet checks submitted content, not login or lost-password forms.
Hooks into WordPress and WooCommerce login and lost-password forms.
Vendor docs state Akismet does not check WordPress user registrations.
WordPress registration is free; WooCommerce registration needs Extended.
Filters WooCommerce product review spam only; no checkout, login or registration checks.
Free covers Woo login and lost password; checkout and registration need Extended.
Integrates with CF7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Fluent Forms, Formidable, Forminator, Ninja Forms and more.
CF7, WPForms, Gravity Forms (non-Ajax), Formidable, Fluent and more; Extended adds others.
Elementor Pro forms have a built-in Akismet option; other builders not documented.
Elementor and Divi forms free; Bricks and Beaver Builder in Extended.
BuddyPress and bbPress include native Akismet checks for activity and forum posts.
bbPress is free; BuddyPress, BuddyBoss and Ultimate Member are Extended.
Rules & controls2/53/5
No IP, email or word block lists in the plugin (WordPress core's disallowed keys still apply).
Extended blocks repeat-spammer IPs and filters spam keywords.
No country or language filtering.
No country or language blocking in free or Extended.
Comment status history plus a stats dashboard of spam caught over time.
Free dashboard counts blocked attempts; Extended records submissions and IPs.
No challenge to hide; moderators are not flagged, other logged-in users are still checked.
No logged-in bypass; the honeypot is invisible so there is nothing to skip.
No visitor-facing challenge or error text to customise.
Spam error message is configurable; there is no visible challenge to style.
Privacy & performance3/42/4
Optional privacy notice under comment forms and a GDPR page, but data goes to Automattic.
Readme says no tracking, cookie storage or external server calls.
Requires an API key and Automattic's cloud service for every check.
All checks run on your own server with no API calls.
Its small front-end script is enqueued from form output hooks, not on every page.
The small honeypot script is enqueued on every front-end and login page.
Works on multisite; the Business plan covers unlimited sites for networks.
Multisite support is not documented.
Form & plugin integrations2/1714/17
Contact Form 7 has built-in Akismet support, enabled by adding Akismet options to form fields.
Contact Form 7 is protected in the free version.
WPForms has its own Akismet toggle per form; works with a free Personal Akismet key.
WPForms is protected in the free version.
Via Gravity Forms' own Akismet Add-On, configured per form.
Free covers non-Ajax single-page forms; Ajax and multi-step need Extended.
Elementor Pro forms include their own Akismet integration (paid Elementor plan).
Elementor forms are protected in the free version.
Ninja Forms provides an Akismet Anti-spam action you add to each form.
Ninja Forms protection needs WP Armour Extended.
Formidable Forms has a built-in Akismet option, enabled per form.
Formidable Forms is protected in the free version.
Fluent Forms has a built-in Akismet setting in its global settings.
Fluent Forms is protected in the free version.
Forminator has a built-in Akismet option, configured per form.
Forminator protection needs WP Armour Extended.
Divi's contact form spam protection supports only reCAPTCHA and a basic captcha; Akismet's list omits Divi.
Divi theme contact form is protected in the free version.
Akismet checks content, not checkout, login or registrations, and lists no EDD integration.
EDD checkout and registration need WP Armour Extended.
BuddyPress ships its own Akismet checks for activity updates; registrations are not checked.
BuddyPress and BuddyBoss protection needs WP Armour Extended.
bbPress has a built-in Akismet extension that checks new topics and replies.
bbPress forum is protected in the free version.
Akismet does not check user registrations or logins, which is what Ultimate Member forms are.
Ultimate Member protection needs WP Armour Extended.
Akismet does not check user registrations or logins, so MemberPress signups are not covered.
MemberPress is not in the free or Extended supported lists.
MC4WP sign-up forms need WP Armour Extended.
wpDiscuz saves normal WordPress comments and documents use alongside Akismet's comment filter.
wpDiscuz is not in the free or Extended supported lists.
Custom forms can call the Akismet API; vendor points to PHP examples and libraries.
Advanced protection3/64/6
No bot firewall; Akismet only checks submitted content after it is posted.
No bot firewall; Extended only blocks IPs after repeated spam submissions.
No disposable email blocking; Akismet classifies submitted content instead.
No email address checks; Extended adds a keyword filter only.
Vendor says WooCommerce order fraud needs a separate anti-fraud solution.
Extended covers WooCommerce checkout including card-testing orders.
Filters spam pingbacks (sent via XML-RPC); no wider REST API or XML-RPC protection.
Spam is kept in the Spam folder; marking it Not Spam restores it and trains Akismet.
Extended records spam submissions for viewing; approving false positives is not documented.
Test with the name or email 'akismet-guaranteed-spam' to confirm filtering works.
Admins see a WP Armour test widget under protected forms to confirm it works.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Akismet Anti-spam Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Personal | Free per year, 1 site |
| Pro | $119.40 per year, 1 site |
| Business | $599.40 per year, Unlimited |
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free lifetime, Unlimited |
| Extended Personal | $19.99 per year, 1 site |
| Extended Business | $49.99 per year, 5 sites |
| Extended Corporate | $99.99 per year, 100 sites |
Downloads trend
Akismet Anti-spam
303,616 downloads last week
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam
8,558 downloads last week
Verdict
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam scores higher on our feature checklist (67/100 against 43/100) and includes login & password reset, contact form 7 and registration that Akismet Anti-spam does not. Akismet Anti-spam still has the edge on cloud spam filtering and skip for logged-in users. Paid plans start at $119.40/yr for Akismet Anti-spam and $19.99/yr for WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Akismet Anti-spam: included. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: not included. Every submission is checked against Akismet's global spam database in the cloud.
Akismet Anti-spam: not included. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: included. Hooks into WordPress and WooCommerce login and lost-password forms.
Akismet Anti-spam: third-party. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: included. Contact Form 7 is protected in the free version.
Akismet Anti-spam: not included. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: included. WordPress registration is free; WooCommerce registration needs Extended.
Akismet Anti-spam: not included. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: paid version (Extended). Extended blocks repeat-spammer IPs and filters spam keywords.
Akismet Anti-spam: third-party. WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam: included. WPForms is protected in the free version.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Akismet Anti-spam or WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam?
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam scores higher on our feature checklist (67/100 against 43/100) and includes login & password reset, contact form 7 and registration that Akismet Anti-spam does not. Akismet Anti-spam still has the edge on cloud spam filtering and skip for logged-in users. Paid plans start at $119.40/yr for Akismet Anti-spam and $19.99/yr for WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam includes 32 of the 46 features we track, against 18 for Akismet Anti-spam. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Akismet Anti-spam free?
Akismet Anti-spam has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $119.40/yr.
Is WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam free?
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $19.99/yr.
Feature data last changed 6 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Akismet Anti-spam or WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.