Is Akismet free? Akismet pricing explained

Is Akismet free?

The plugin is free to download, and the service can be. Akismet, launched in October 2005 and run by Automattic, has 5,000,000+ active installs on WordPress.org, but it only works with an API key, and the key is where pricing comes in.

Akismet's terms of use say "Free keys are for personal, non-commercial sites only." If your site qualifies, you choose the Personal plan, which is "Name your price" / "Pay what you can." The price slider runs from $0 to $120 a year in $6 steps and starts at $36; Akismet says "The average person pays $36.00 per year."

Before you get a Personal key, the signup form makes you tick three boxes: "I don't have ads on my site," "I don't sell products/services on my site" and "I don't promote a business on my site."

Akismet plans and prices

Here's the lineup on Akismet's pricing page as of October 2026. Paid prices are shown per month but billed yearly; there's no month-to-month option on the page.

Pro at $9.95 a month works out to $119.40 a year. Nonprofits can apply for free non-commercial licenses with 60,000 checks a month, but "Educational institutions (schools and universities), student organizations affiliated with or operating under an educational institution, and government entities do not qualify for nonprofit licenses."

What counts as commercial use?

This is where bloggers get caught out. Akismet's free-or-paid support doc, updated March 26, 2026, says: "Free keys that come with Akismet Personal plans do not support commercial activities." Its examples of commercial activity are:

• "Loading code on your site for ad services like Google AdSense, Taboola, Infolinks, or ExoClick."
• "Affiliate links."
• "Using live chat plugins or services."
• "Promoting a business or service."
• "Using a domain recognized as commercial."
• "Accepting donations or using donation plugins."
• "Running on e-commerce plugins or platforms."

So a hobby blog with a few affiliate book links or a tip jar is commercial in Akismet's eyes.

Note: Don't put a commercial site on a Personal key. The same doc says: "Noncompliance with these terms will result in immediate suspension of services without notice."

Spam check limits and what happens when you go over

"A spam check (also called an API call) happens each time Akismet checks a comment, form submission, or other content for spam." Each check typically sends Automattic the commenter's IP address, user agent and referrer, plus their name, email, website and comment text.

Personal plans have unlimited checks. Paid plans have monthly allowances, but the pricing page says "Your spam protection keeps working even if you occasionally go over your monthly allowance." The usage limits doc spells out the rules:

• First time over: no action is taken.
• Three consecutive months over: additional calls are denied until the month ends or you upgrade.
• Reset: usage resets at the end of each calendar month.

The terms add that Automattic "reserves the right to restrict or throttle your API calls" if you exceed your limit. Plans also stack: buy another plan, and every site on the same API key draws from one combined pool.

Which plan do you need?

With CommentCamp, there's no plan to pick: spam filtering is built into the comment system and site owners pay $0. On Akismet, pick by site type:

• A personal blog with no ads, affiliate links, donations or shop: Personal, at whatever you choose to pay, including $0.
• One monetized blog with up to about 500 checks a month: Pro at $9.95 a month, billed yearly.
• Two to four small commercial sites: the larger Pro tiers, $19.90 to $39.80 a month for 1,000 to 2,000 checks.
• A network, multisite install or busy store: Business at $49.95 a month for 5,000 checks, or Enterprise from $135 a month for 15,000.

Free alternatives to Akismet

Akismet claims "99.99%" spam detection accuracy and "100+ million" websites on its homepage. But if your site is commercial and you don't want a $119.40 yearly bill, these options cost less or nothing. Our WordPress anti-spam plugins guide compares more, and best WordPress plugins covers other essentials:

• CommentCamp (free): the comment system we're building, with automated spam filtering and a moderation queue built in, so there's no anti-spam plugin or key to buy. Site owners pay $0, commercial or not, and it will launch with an official WordPress plugin. It's in private early access: join the waitlist for an invite.
• WordPress core settings (free): by default, WordPress holds comments with 2 or more links and holds first-time commenters until you approve them.
• Antispam Bee (free): 700,000+ active installs; local rules, with no personal data sent to third parties by default.
• WP Armour (free): 400,000+ active installs; a honeypot that makes no external server calls.
• Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile (free): 200,000+ active installs; Turnstile's free plan includes unlimited challenges.
• CleanTalk (paid): 200,000+ active installs; a cloud filter with a 7-day free trial, then $12 a year for 1 website.

Tip: WordPress's built-in link hold plus WP Armour and Antispam Bee costs $0 on a commercial site and keeps commenter data on your own server. Our comment spam guide shows how to layer them.