Akismet vs Newsletter
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Akismet v5.7.2 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details | Newsletter v9.4.9 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.6/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 5M+ | 200,000+ |
| Last updated | August 18, 2026 | October 22, 2026 |
| Editions | Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection · Akismet paid plan ($) | Newsletter · Newsletter Professional Addons ($) |
| Pros | Checks comments and contact form submissions against a shared spam database; Works with Contact Form 7 and Gravity Forms; Stats through a dashboard widget and REST endpoints | Subscriber lists with signup forms and double opt-in; Open and click tracking built in; Free core plus free add-ons such as archive and locked content |
| Cons | Needs an Akismet API key from akismet.com; Commercial sites must buy a paid plan; Submitted content is sent to Akismet for checking | Professional add-ons need a paid licence; Sending depends on the site's own mail setup; Tracking adds pixels and redirect routes to emails |
| Mentioned in our posts | 2 | 2 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Checks comments before they are saved, Spam checks for Gravity Forms and Contact Form 7 submissions, Scheduled deletion of old spam and orphaned comment meta, Block statistics dashboard widget, REST endpoints for key, settings and stats, Webhook endpoint for Akismet account updates, Stats ability for the WordPress Abilities API | Subscription forms and newsletter_form shortcode, Single and double opt-in subscription, Open and click tracking routes, Subscriber profile and unsubscribe shortcodes, Cron-driven sending engine, Free add-ons: registration, archive, locked content, Professional add-ons via paid licence ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Plugins | Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Jetpack | Polylang, WPML |
| Other | Akismet | Akismet |
| Requires WordPress | 5.8 | 6.1 |
| Requires PHP | 7.2 | 7.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | rest.akismet.com | www.thenewsletterplugin.com |
| Blocks | — | 1 |
| Shortcodes | — | 11 |
| Custom tables | — | 1 |