Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection vs Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder (2026): PluginCheck

Last updated: July 16, 2026

Quick Verdict

Pick Akismet if spam filtering is your only problem and you already have a comment or form setup you like. Pick Forminator if you need to build forms from scratch and want spam protection, payment processing, and a ton of third-party integrations in one plugin.

Choosing between Akismet and Forminator comes down to what problem you are actually trying to solve. If spam comments and contact form submissions are flooding your site, you need a dedicated anti-spam tool. If you need to build the contact form itself along with payment and order forms, you need a form builder. They are not direct competitors so much as tools that often get used together.

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection icon

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection

The best anti-spam protection to block spam comments and spam in a contact form. The most trusted antispam solution for WordPress and WooCommerce.

99
  • Active installs 6M+
  • Rating 4.7/5 (1,184)
  • Last updated Apr 23, 2026
  • Support resolved 100%
  • Tested to WP 7.0
  • Requires PHP 7.2
Popularity
30/30
Maintenance
25/25
User Ratings
14/15
Support Health
15/15
WP Compatibility
15/15
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder icon

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder

Best WordPress form builder plugin. Create contact forms, payment forms & order forms with 1000+ integrations.

94
  • Active installs 600k+
  • Rating 4.8/5 (2,093)
  • Last updated Jul 2, 2026
  • Support resolved 92%
  • Tested to WP 7.0
  • Requires PHP 7.4
Popularity
26/30
Maintenance
25/25
User Ratings
14/15
Support Health
14/15
WP Compatibility
15/15

Where Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection Wins

Massive install base

Akismet sits at 6,000,000 active installs, ten times Forminator's 600,000, which translates to a far larger pool of real-world spam samples and faster rule updates.

Perfect support resolution

Akismet's support team resolves 100% of tracked issues versus Forminator's 92.3%, suggesting fewer open or unresolved tickets on the support side.

Where Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder Wins

Higher user rating at scale

Forminator scores 96/100 from 2,093 ratings, edging out Akismet's 94/100 from 1,184 ratings and doing so across nearly twice the reviewer count.

Broader functional scope

Forminator is a full form builder supporting payment forms, order forms, and 1,000+ integrations, while Akismet is purely a spam-filtering layer that depends on another plugin to provide the form itself.

Score-by-Score Comparison

Popularity
Akismet: 30/30 Forminator: 26/30
vs

Akismet is the clear winner here with a perfect 100/30 popularity score and 6 million active installs, versus Forminator's 86/30 from 600,000 installs.

Maintenance
Akismet: 25/25 Forminator: 25/25
vs

Both plugins score a full 100/25 on maintenance, indicating recent, consistent updates from both development teams.

User Ratings
Akismet: 14/15 Forminator: 14/15
vs

Forminator edges out Akismet 96/15 to 94/15, a small lead made more meaningful by Forminator's larger review count of 2,093 versus 1,184.

Support Health
Akismet: 15/15 Forminator: 14/15
vs

Akismet takes the support category with 100/15 versus Forminator's 92/15, reflecting its perfect 100% issue resolution rate.

WP Compatibility
Akismet: 15/15 Forminator: 15/15
vs

Both plugins are tied at a perfect 100/15 on compatibility, so neither has a known advantage here.

The Bottom Line

For the most common use case a typical WordPress site owner faces, blocking spam on comments and existing forms, Akismet is the better pick with its 6 million installs, 100% support resolution, and 99.1/100 quality score. Forminator is the right answer only when you actually need to build new forms, accept payments, or wire forms into third-party services. If you run a WooCommerce store or a simple blog, start with Akismet and add Forminator only when form functionality is on your roadmap.