CleanTalk Spam Protection
CAPTCHA-free cloud anti-spam for comments, registrations, WooCommerce and 100+ form plugins, with a firewall for known bots. From $12/year.
85
Antispam Bee
Free, privacy-focused comment and trackback spam filter that runs on your own server with no CAPTCHA, account or API key.
Free installs700K+WordPress.org, active
Rating4.8/5226 reviews
Price fromFreeFree
Last updated23 Aug 2026Version 2.11.13
Overview
Antispam Bee is a free, open-source plugin maintained by the German volunteer group pluginkollektiv. It focuses on one job, stopping spam in WordPress comments, pingbacks and trackbacks, and it does that without CAPTCHAs, without an account and without sending commenter data to a third-party spam database. That makes it a popular choice for European sites that want to keep GDPR paperwork simple.
Out of the box it adds a hidden honeypot to the comment form and checks how quickly a comment was submitted. You can then switch on further rules: trust commenters with an approved comment or a Gravatar, treat BBCode links as spam, match regular expressions, compare against your own local database of past spam, and allow comments only in certain languages or from certain countries. Each blocked comment records a spam reason, and you can choose to delete spam for specific reasons straight away or clear the spam folder after a set number of days.
- Dashboard widget with daily detection rate and total blocked spam
- Email notifications for incoming spam
- Optional log file for Fail2Ban integration
- No front-end JavaScript; all scripts are admin-only
Privacy is the standout strength. The core checks run locally. The optional country check sends a shortened IP to iplocate.io, the language check sends only the comment text, and the Gravatar check sends a hash of the email address, so you can leave those off if you want nothing to leave your server. There is no paid tier, no site limit and no upsell.
The limits are just as clear. The developers say it does not protect form plugins or stop spam registrations, it does not cover login or WooCommerce checkout, and it cannot reach comment systems that load in an iframe such as Jetpack Comments or Disqus. Sites behind a proxy also need to pass the real visitor IP for the country check to work.
Choose Antispam Bee for blogs and content sites that mainly suffer from comment spam and want a free, self-hosted filter. Pair it with a CAPTCHA or form-level anti-spam plugin if you also need to protect registrations, logins or contact forms.
Best for: Blogs and EU-based content sites that want free, self-hosted comment spam filtering without sending data to a spam service.
Antispam Bee is an excellent free comment filter with a strong privacy story and sensible, configurable rules. Its scope is narrow, though, so anyone needing to protect forms, logins or registrations will need another plugin alongside it.
Pros
- Completely free for commercial use on unlimited sites
- Core checks run locally with no account or API key
- No CAPTCHA and no front-end JavaScript
- Country, language, regex and local spam database rules
- Each blocked comment records a clear spam reason
Cons
- Comments and trackbacks only; no contact form plugin support
- Does not protect registrations, login or WooCommerce checkout
- Incompatible with iframe comment systems like Jetpack Comments and Disqus
- Country check needs extra setup behind proxies or CDNs
Key features
What Antispam Bee highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Blocks comment and trackback spam
- No CAPTCHA and no API key
- Hidden honeypot and comment-time check
- Trust approved or Gravatar commenters
- Allow or block by country
- Allow comments in chosen languages
- Regular expression and BBCode rules
- Local spam database lookup
- Spam reasons and email alerts
- Auto-delete old spam
- Dashboard spam statistics
- Free for commercial use
Feature checklist
11 of 46 features we track in CAPTCHA & Spam, feature score 25/100
Protection methods 2/7
Google reCAPTCHA Key
Supports Google reCAPTCHA (v2 checkbox, invisible or v3 score-based).
No CAPTCHA providers; filters comments without challenges.
Not included
Cloudflare Turnstile Key
Supports Cloudflare Turnstile, the privacy-friendly CAPTCHA alternative.
No Cloudflare Turnstile support.
Not included
hCaptcha
Supports hCaptcha challenges.
No hCaptcha support.
Not included
Built-in CAPTCHA
Own image, math or puzzle CAPTCHA with no third-party service.
No image or math CAPTCHA.
Not included
Honeypot fields
Hidden fields and timing checks that catch bots without a visible challenge.
Hidden honeypot field plus a check on how fast the comment was submitted.
Included
Cloud spam filtering Key
Submissions checked against a cloud spam database of known spammers.
Uses a local database of your own past spam, not a shared cloud database.
Not included
No challenge for real users
Blocks bots without asking visitors to solve anything.
Blocks spam without any visible challenge to commenters.
Included
Where it protects 1/7
Comments Key
Protects WordPress comments from spam.
Core purpose: comment, pingback and trackback spam filtering.
Included
Login & password reset Key
Protects the login and lost-password forms.
Login forms are outside its scope.
Not included
Registration
Protects the user registration form.
FAQ states it does not prevent spam registrations.
Not included
WooCommerce checkout & account Key
Protects WooCommerce checkout, login and registration forms.
No WooCommerce checkout, login or registration protection.
Not included
Form plugin support Key
Works with popular form plugins such as Contact Form 7, WPForms or Gravity Forms.
FAQ states it does not protect form plugins.
Not included
Page builder forms
Protects forms built in Elementor, Divi or similar builders.
Builder forms are not covered.
Not included
Community & membership plugins
Protects BuddyPress, bbPress, Ultimate Member or similar.
Limited to WordPress comments; no forum or community plugin support documented.
Not included
Rules & controls 3/5
Block and allow lists
Block or allow specific IPs, emails, words or user roles.
Regex rules, local spam database and trusted-commenter options, but no plain IP/email list UI.
Partial
Country & language filters
Block submissions by country or language.
Allow or block countries and restrict comments to chosen languages.
Included
Spam log & statistics
Log of blocked submissions with counts and reasons.
Spam reasons per comment, dashboard stats and an optional log file for Fail2Ban.
Included
Skip for logged-in users
Hide the challenge for logged-in or trusted users.
Not verified
Custom labels & error messages
Change challenge text, errors, theme or language.
No visitor-facing challenge or message to customise.
Not included
Privacy & performance 3/4
Privacy & GDPR options
No tracking cookies, data minimisation or a documented GDPR mode.
No cookies and no personal data stored; developers describe it as GDPR compliant.
Included
Works without an external service
Core protection runs entirely on your own server.
Core checks run locally; only optional country, language and Gravatar checks call outside.
Included
Scripts load only where needed
CAPTCHA scripts are only loaded on pages that have a protected form.
No front-end scripts at all; plugin scripts load only in the admin dashboard.
Included
Multisite support
Works across a WordPress multisite network.
Not verified
Form & plugin integrations 0/17
Contact Form 7 Key
Protects Contact Form 7 forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
WPForms
Protects WPForms forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Gravity Forms
Protects Gravity Forms forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Elementor Pro forms
Protects Elementor Pro form widgets.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Ninja Forms
Protects Ninja Forms forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Formidable Forms
Protects Formidable Forms forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Fluent Forms
Protects Fluent Forms forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Forminator
Protects Forminator forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Divi contact forms
Protects Divi contact form modules.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
Easy Digital Downloads
Protects EDD checkout, login or registration.
Only checks WordPress comments; no checkout, login or registration protection.
Not included
BuddyPress
Protects BuddyPress registration and activity.
Only checks WordPress comments and does not prevent spam registrations.
Not included
bbPress
Protects bbPress topics and replies.
Only checks WordPress comments; bbPress topics and replies are not covered.
Not included
Ultimate Member
Protects Ultimate Member login and registration.
Does not prevent spam registrations, so Ultimate Member forms are not covered.
Not included
MemberPress
Protects MemberPress signup and login.
Does not prevent spam registrations, so MemberPress signups are not covered.
Not included
Mailchimp for WP (MC4WP)
Protects MC4WP newsletter sign-up forms.
FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Not included
wpDiscuz
Protects wpDiscuz comment forms.
FAQ says it is not compatible with wpDiscuz, which loads its own comment form.
Not included
Custom forms & developer API
Protect any custom form via shortcode, function or hooks.
No API for custom forms; only a filter to run on AJAX comment requests.
Not included
Advanced protection 2/6
Bot firewall
Blocks known spam bots before pages load.
No firewall; it only filters comments and trackbacks as they are submitted.
Not included
Disposable email blocking
Rejects throwaway or fake email addresses.
No disposable email check among its spam filters.
Not included
Card-testing protection
Stops bots testing stolen cards at WooCommerce checkout.
No WooCommerce checkout protection.
Not included
REST API & XML-RPC protection
Blocks spam or abuse through the REST API or XML-RPC.
Checks incoming pingbacks (via XML-RPC) and trackbacks; no wider REST or XML-RPC blocking.
Partial
Spam review & false-positive recovery
Review blocked submissions and approve false positives.
'Mark as spam, do not delete' keeps spam in the Spam folder with the reason for review.
Included
Test mode & debugging
Test keys, debug logs or a test mode to check setup safely.
Not verified
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
FreelifetimeUnlimited
Free for personal and commercial sites with no site limit.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Antispam Bee?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
700K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
—
The vendor does not publish a total.
Estimated Pro / paid installs
n/a
There is no paid version.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
16,933 downloads last week, 13.2M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 2.11.13 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 23 Aug 2026 (72 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 4.6+, PHP 5.2+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 0 of 2 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 10 Jan 2009 |
Antispam Bee compared
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FAQ
Is Antispam Bee free?
Yes. Antispam Bee has a free version on WordPress.org.
How many sites use Antispam Bee?
WordPress.org reports 700K+ active installations of the free version.
Does Antispam Bee have google recaptcha?
No: not included. No CAPTCHA providers; filters comments without challenges.
Does Antispam Bee have cloudflare turnstile?
No: not included. No Cloudflare Turnstile support.
Does Antispam Bee have cloud spam filtering?
No: not included. Uses a local database of your own past spam, not a shared cloud database.
Does Antispam Bee have comments?
Yes: included. Core purpose: comment, pingback and trackback spam filtering.
Does Antispam Bee have login & password reset?
No: not included. Login forms are outside its scope.
Does Antispam Bee have woocommerce checkout & account?
No: not included. No WooCommerce checkout, login or registration protection.
Does Antispam Bee have form plugin support?
No: not included. FAQ states it does not protect form plugins.
Does Antispam Bee have contact form 7?
No: not included. FAQ says it does not protect form plugins; it only checks WordPress comments.
Is Antispam Bee really free?
Yes. It is free for personal and commercial projects on any number of sites, with no paid version.
Does Antispam Bee protect contact forms or registrations?
No. The developers state it works best with default WordPress comments and does not protect form plugins or stop spam registrations.
Does it send data to external services?
The core checks are local. Optional country, language and Gravatar checks contact external services with a shortened IP, the comment text or an email hash respectively.
Does it work with Jetpack Comments or Disqus?
No. Those load the comment form in an iframe, so Antispam Bee cannot see or protect it.
Last updated 6 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.