WordPress plugin comparison

Akismet Anti-spam vs Friendly Captcha for WordPress

Akismet Anti-spam

by Automattic

5M+ installs4.7

Friendly Captcha for WordPress

by Friendly Captcha

10K+ installs3.9

At a glance

Akismet Anti-spam has more active installs: 5M+, against 10K+ for Friendly Captcha for WordPress.
On a typical day, Akismet Anti-spam is downloaded about 41,811 times, Friendly Captcha for WordPress about 217.
Akismet Anti-spam is rated higher: 4.7 out of 5 from 1,187 reviews, against 3.9 from 18 reviews.
Friendly Captcha for WordPress was updated more recently: Oct 20, 2026, against Aug 18, 2026 for Akismet Anti-spam.
Both are tested up to WordPress 7.1.4.
Akismet Anti-spam has been around longer: since 2005, against 2009 for Friendly Captcha for WordPress.

Akismet Anti-spam leads on 5 of 6 comparable lines.

Metric	Akismet Anti-spam	Friendly Captcha for WordPress
Popular rank	#8	#2,143
Active installs	5M+	10K+
Downloads, last 30 days	1.2M	10.4K
Rating	4.7(1.2K)	3.9(18)
Support threads resolved	0%	0%
Tested up to	7.1.4	7.1.4
Search multiplier	×2.05	×0.77
Last release	2 months ago	20 days ago
Requires PHP	7.2	7.3

From WordPress.org's public data, refreshed every night. Downloads are WordPress.org's official daily figures for the last 30 days.

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