Update: It looks like Akismet has always offered pricing options, but the terms are now more obvious than they were before. Read the comments for a full explanation provided by Alex from Automattic.
WordPress is the target of endless gushing praise, reason #1 usually being “omg it’s free!” Don’t tell anyone, there are other free products out there too.
Blogs get spammed. Akismet is pretty much a must-have plugin for WordPress. (PS. It’s not ask-i-met.)
So what’s up with the limitations on the free version of Akismet?
Oh look, subscription options! Yay!
OK, let’s “learn about the difference” between free and paid subscriptions.
You run a personal site and you’ve found the secret to making your passion pay. The lines of commercial and non-commercial personal blogs are hard to draw, so we’re saying if you’re making more than $500/mo from your blog we ask that you use a $5/mo pro-blogger Akismet API key.
Hang on a minute. Wasn’t this supposed to be a free blogging platform? By the time you’ve spent $60/year just on a flipping anti-spam API key (costs add up quickly don’t they?), it is no longer fair to go around listing “it’s free” as a major benefit of WordPress.
Yeah, sure, people should earn something from their work – but this seem like bait-and-switch to me. How many pro blogs are using WordPress + Akismet? How long has this $500/month disclaimer been in place?
If you’re saying, “well, it’s fine for them to charge, I’d pay anyway because I love WordPress” – did you sign up for WordPress knowing that it was a free system or a paid system? If you’re happy to pay, would you have considered other blogging platforms that don’t claim to be free back when you started blogging?
And on a closing note, the next time you see a well-known blogger pushing Thesis, ask yourself if they’d push it quite so hard if it didn’t reward them for all affiliate payments. Maybe ask them if they’d still recommend it if you used someone else’s affiliate link.
Incidentally, if anyone fancies buying Thesis, would you mind waiting while I set up an affiliate link so I can cream a little profit from you?
The world is greedy. That’s why we’re all fat bastards. Pass the doughnuts.
About Ben
Hi Ben,
To answer your question, “How long has this $500/month disclaimer been in place?”
Akismet pricing and terms have been the same since the day Akismet launched nearly 5 years ago, including the $500/month guideline. The only thing we’ve changed is to make the terms more obvious during the signup process.
Akismet is free for personal use. A subscription is required for commercial use. That’s been the case all along, and we have no plans to change it.
If by “free blogging platform” you’re referring to WordPress.com (the free hosted version of WordPress, as opposed to the open source software available from WordPress.org), Akismet is provided free of charge for all WordPress.com hosted blogs.
I hope that helps.
Disclaimer was there for a long time. I think it was there when I started with WP and that was two years ago already.
On other hand I don’t consider Akismet part of WP in any way. Yes, their plugin is bundled but that is like those desktop apps coming with crappy toolbar.
Alex, Rarst – thanks for pointing out when the disclaimer was put there. Free for personal use vs paid for commercial use is a fairly standard model, I just didn’t realise that it was the case with Akismet.
To me it seems like the pricing options were pretty buried. Here’s an example of a post where I’d expect the pay options to be brought up, but they’re not:
http://www.problogger.com/31days/topic.php?id=550
This also occurs in all those top 10 / top 50 plugin posts, although a bit of a search around shows that some people do mention the personal/commercial differentiation.
As for a free blogging platform – I also mean the downloadable version of WordPress. The software itself is constantly pushed (by bloggers) as “free”. This is even quoted by some as a reason to use WP for a MMO blog. A bit silly if you have to pay at a certain threshold. Those bloggers need to realise that Akismet isn’t 100% free. I certainly didn’t realise it before…
Ben,
WordPress (software) is free in every sense. Free as in beer, and free as in open source. Akismet isn’t WordPress. You can use WordPress without Akismet.
Saying that WordPress isn’t free because web hosting or other services cost money, is a bit like saying a recipe isn’t free because you still have to pay for the ingredients. Or that a free concert isn’t free because you have to pay the bus fare to get there.
You’re absolutely right that the Akismet terms and pricing were a bit buried before – we’ve fixed that now.
Out of interest is it OK to use a single API key for multiple WP blogs? This would be easier to manage than having multiple keys – but it raises the question of how the $500 threshold would be affected. Would it become a total across your blogs? Or would it be a case of, if one blog exceeds the threshold, I’d buy an API key for that blog and leave the others on the same key? Interested to hear your views here.
Don’t get me wrong – I accept that paying for a domain and web hosting is what you do if you want to host your own site. These prices will come into play regardless of the platform you choose. I’m going to see if there’s an alternative anti-spam plugin though, as while using WP without Akismet is possible, I’d rather not blog without some decent anti-spam software. Thanks for the replies.
I use Thesis by my own choice. I do not push it, other than the blurb right at the bottom of my blog. I do not have an affiliate link to collect from anyone who chooses to use Thesis after seeing it on my blog. I don’t know why I decided against thing affiliate thing. Most likely I just wanted to keep things simple for myself. I’ve never seen money rolling in from affiliate stuff and I tend to not bother with it any more.
Second, I have used several other blog platforms, other than WordPress. I have a long love affair with Movable Type and Blogger. MT is a bit dusty and needs more community to get it back in development with new stuff, etc. Blogger is lovely and simple for those who want to blog, just blog and not have complications with code and plugins and all that other stuff that gets in the way of a simple type and click. I also use Tumblr which is sort of half blog half bookmark collection. But still handy and a nice place to keep things. (If only I would not be so lazy about using the tags). I have used other lesser known CMS but did not stick with them for various reasons.
Re Akismet, I will not pay for it. I already pay for my domain, web hosting (two things you did not mention as costs for WordPress) and I pay for the Thesis template as stated above. I make $150 a year for WordGrrls.com and that does not depend on which CMS I use or whether or not I manage my spam comments, etc. I could flake right off for six months and then come back and still get paid the same money as long as my Google PR is at 4 by the time the next annual payment is due. Anyway, I see no need to pay for Akismet when there are so many other freebie options. Having tried a few others before and during my time with Akismet, I am not at all afraid to dump Akismet and use something else. Sometimes the well known plugin is NOT the best option, just the most talked about.
Now, are you paying by the word? Thought not!
I have to learn to blab less in comments. Happy Monday.
Re: your comment above. Having a domain and hosting is not something you should assume must be done in order to have your own site. There are other options. People choose to take on these costs for all kinds of reasons, some are just snobby and think less of anyone with a freebie CMS. Anyway, I do think of the cost of domain and hosting as part of running WordPress. True, I would need to do the same for MT but not for Blogger, Tumblr, Vox, LiveJournal and etc.
Laura – thanks for the long comment(s). I didn’t say you have to pay for web hosting and a domain – I said “I accept that paying for a domain and web hosting is what you do if you want to host your own site“. Many people are happy to let someone else take on that side of things; equally, many others would rather have full control. Depends what you’re looking for, really.
I have yet to find ANY blogger who looks down on people for using a free platform for the reason that it’s free.
To get a free key now you have to give them your tax id number? That is just so wrong!
All my old keys I would use for clients stopped working. I would use one key for several blogs.
This totally sucks!
Opps, I got that wrong. You only have to give them that if you are a non profit.
But I will say my old keys stopped working for any new installs, and I wonder how many people will sign up and pay now with this new set up.
It was a shock that is for sure.
Yes, my keys stopped working too, and my clients and I have to contend with a flood of spam.
Capitalism. Isn’t it annoying, sometimes?
Akismet appears to have a database that checks your domain name with whatever it now has on file about your blog…you can’t lie to get a new free number; it appears to somehow know. At least, that’s what appears to be going on with some people. A client of mine is now getting flooded with spam, and has to pay up. Repurchasing a new free key isn’t working for her.
And Alex?
“The only thing we’ve changed is to make the terms more obvious during the signup process.”
More has changed than simply a renovation of your web page layout. Previous numbers that did work now don’t work. That’s more than a design change.
But never mind that. Let’s assume all that changed is that the pricing is “more obvious”. I still find that claim a bit of an understatement, given the layout and the collection of clicks one needs to go through to get a free number makes dealing with getting a simple free number a bit more dubious.
The big giant bold prices are indeed more obvious, however. I’ll stop in again after a while and ask how it’s working for you.
So yes, I agree with the original sentiment of this blog article; after getting in cozy with most WordPress users as a near indispensable tool, Akismet is without a doubt squeezing a corner of the WordPress world with the intent to capitalize, without honoring original key holders.
We are free to seek alternatives, and should. I know I will. It’s not the price that necessarily turns me off. Five dollars a month isn’t so bad. It’s the smarmy tactics Akismet has used to eventually monetize their plug-in that disgusts me.
I use Thesis by my own choice. I do not push it, other than the blurb right at the bottom of my blog. I do not have an affiliate link to collect from anyone who chooses to use Thesis after seeing it on my blog. I don’t know why I decided against thing affiliate thing. Most likely I just wanted to keep things simple for myself. I’ve never seen money rolling in from affiliate stuff and I tend to not bother with it any more
How do they know which blog is making over the $500 limit??
If you have a commercial site you’re in the business of Internet marketing or making money.
Business or commercial operations should expect to pay for services. $60.00 per year for a $500 per month site is peanuts.
Are you really that cheap? Do you really expect to get services for nothing for commercial sites? I mean really, be realistic. It’s like paying for electricity or water or any other utility in a brick and mortar business.
So you pay $60 bucks a year for a commercial site… If your not smart enough to price your products, goods or services to afford $60 per year (a 1% or so cost btw on a site making $500/month.) with a commercial site than you have no business running a commercial site.
It boggles my mind that so many people think everything should be free.
kkg – I pay a lot for server costs, advertising costs and domains. So I’m not averse to paying for stuff. However, while $60 a year may not be a huge amount on its own, all these costs add up. At what point do you stop saying “60 dollars isn’t that much” if you’re already paying a dozen other companies roughly the same amount for their services? You have to cut back somewhere.
I still don’t know if the rule applies if I earn $50 from 10 blogs (i.e. a total of $500) – and I’m also not sure if it would apply if I earned $500 in one month and zero for the next month. A special case perhaps, but it would help to know the position here.
One good thing about WordPress – and many, many other platforms – is that the software itself is free. However, with the volume of spam out there, Akismet is pretty much a must-have. The very fact it comes preinstalled with WordPress is more of a concern than whether I want to pay for an online service. Surely this is anti-competitive, how does any other anti-spam plugin stand a chance?
I have to admit I was surprised to when I went to get an API key for a new site I was starting to develop. It would seem to me that askimet has got everyone hooked in to using it and depending on it, especially as it is bundled with WordPress. WordPress should now remove it from the base install as it is not in the same ‘spirit’ as WordPress is.
I am not against paying for something, but I am against subscription fees, it is an ongoing cost that can get quite costly when you add hosting, domain and other fees.. What they have simply done is that they know many reply on it and have now turned around and said now pay for it. This of course is their choice, but I hope many like us will turn to something else.
GW
Hi gwmbox, thanks for the comment. Thanks also for your input on why subscription fees can be a problem. We can’t give a few dollars to everyone!
Hey,
I was also a bit shocked today when I setup a new disqus account and I noticed the “changes” going on around Akismet. It’s not so much the fact that I migh have to pay, but the fact that I only found this out now. Possibly due to a bit of laziness on my side. But in any case, the wonderful thing about WordPress is the huge developer community which tends to always fill a gap when one presents itself. So in a short while we might have a bigger and better anti-spam plugin from someone else…
Hi icd, thanks for the comment. I’d be interested to know if you find any good alternatives.
I’ve been using GASP http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/growmap-anti-spambot-plugin/
I too am done with paying for things. We have a non-profit site but the fact it is a business website promoting things for our organisation means it would probably not be classed as personal.
I don’t mind paying for things, but I do dislike like being guilt-tripped and the seemingly sneaky kind of way that it’s all been done. And where do we as a not-for-profit draw the line? It costs a lot already on this situation just ot keep the company going let alone another “extra charge” which does add up for someone like us. I would rather give the money to someone else and have also stopped using Akismet.
Thanks Alia, will check it out
I’m in the same boat as many of you. I used to run a WP blog a couple years back and always used Akismet to blog spam. Now I am setting up a new blog and all of the sudden I can’t use Akismet without paying 60 bucks a year just because I intend to use my blog to promote a product I am developing… Bummer deal if you ask me.
Hi Benjamin – thanks for the comment. It’s even more pricey if you have multiple blogs. I’m still none the wiser on the points I raised in an earlier comment.
I am another person who came in to set up a blog & got surprised by the new, more explicit Akismet pricing page. If this pricing policy was always in place, it certainly was buried in a way that I didn’t run across during many installs. The fact that it’s included in WordPress by default made it seem like it was an included part of the software, and I would never have guessed it was subscription-only – really.
In my opinion, WordPress is a little crippled without Akismet. The spam level without it is more than an annoyance – dealing with the flood can lead to my clients becoming discouraged. Many clients aren’t even sure that blogging is for them, and now they have to choose between paying a monthly fee for something they’re unsure of our getting deluged by enthusiasm-sapping spam. Ugh.
It isn’t the cost per month per se, but the $5/month for perpetuity that hurts. Any fixed monthly cost means it just became more expensive to do business – never a welcome thing to find out. I am not complaining about paying for a good product, but when the monthly fee for a blog anti-spam plugin costs half as much as hosting for a client, it’s a factor.
Regardless of how many people reject the new deal or forgo signing up in the first place, their revenue will be greatly improved – so it’s probably time to adjust the way I think about having a WordPress blog and costs. The built-in Joomla/K2 blogging functions work great and don’t receive spam in my experience. In the past I have always recommended adding WordPress to a site because of the ubiquity and ease of use, but I will be seriously investigating recommending the K2 option if it can achieve the same thing and keeps costs low.
Hi SnowGrabber – thanks for the great comment. You make good points. I do enjoy showcasing some of the sillier spam comments over at spamcomment.com, but spam by its nature is difficult to catch reliably every time.
I’m not sure I’m quite ready to move to another platform yet – I haven’t been on WordPress for very long, though I’ve been aware of it for years. For a long time I was using my own CMS, but I found I didn’t have the time to develop or support it on my own. It also needed a major rewrite, and I just didn’t have the time.
If a client wants a blog, WordPress still does the job well – but if they want something more than a blog, WordPress is often not the best choice. I’ve seen too many sites that shoehorn their requirements into WordPress, when a custom build (either in whole or in part) would do the job much more elegantly.
I’d be interested to know how you get on with K2 though, as I haven’t checked it out myself.
I’m on board with this being bogus. I’m happy to pay for services. But they need to take it out of the open source version of wordpress. Unless they are going to allow everyone to package their plugins in the distribution. This is a case of talking out both sides of your mouth. On one hand trumpeting free software and leveraging the open source community to make your platform a success and then maintaining an unlevel playing field by taking on all kinds of commercial tie ins that nobody else contributing has access to.
Pick a camp, either you are participating in a completely open project, or your are creating something proprietary. If they are going to bundle pay services in the open source they need to start paying all the devs and the community that gives them their credibility. Or create an app store or some other way for devs to get paid for their activities.
The simple solution is to remove all reference to any automatic services from the open source. They should be free to provide them, just unbundle them like jetpack.
Better yet, release the askimet code so we can run it ourselves, make it open source since the front end is package with the open source.
Am I wrong, tell me why.
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for the comment.
I agree completely. It’s one thing or the other. Can’t have it both ways!
I think there should have been some sort of grandfather clause. I’m hearing way too much about peoples keys no longer working, but I think it was Askimet’s fault the terms weren’t clear before and shouldn’t punish pre-existing users. Alex says himself says, “You’re absolutely right that the Akismet terms and pricing were a bit buried before – we’ve fixed that now.” Users who existed before the change should not have been affected.
Hi Courtney,
Thanks for the comment.
I see your point, although I must admit I’m not sure why some people have had their keys revoked while others have not.
I think it depends on the way they got their key. I got mine from my original WordPress.COM blog if I remember correctly, but some people with keys through Askimet’s site are losing them.
And I’m not a fan of signing up for a free key for my personal blog because when you drop the contribution to $0 the smiley face gets sad. Demanding money, guilting potential users, and screwing over pre-existing users. Well I’m done with Askimet
I just wanted to say thank you for the akismet post. The really funny thing is that I was searching through google to see if Akismet had an affiliate program!!!
I just thought you would get a kick out of knowing that since you mentioned the part about affiliate promoters.
Personally, Akismet is a great tool and I plan to recommend it whether or not they have an affiliate link. I don’t see any problem with recommending great tools that I personally use…. even if I am financially prospered from it. I just think it’s a win-win-win…. win for me, win for akismet, win for my customer… It just sounds like good business in my mind.
I don’t know any thing of value that can be created without money. If WordPress makes some money for providing one of the best softwares on the planet I say great for them.
It may be that you were just talking about people without integrity who aren’t in integrity recommending things just for another buck. If so, then I completely agree with you.
Seriously, thanks for the post. If I’m of a slightly different opinion it’s certainly respectfully submitted. You are obviously a person of character and you have created a wonderful site.
Thanks!
Joe Shaw
Hi Joe – thanks for the comment.
Funny how people find my blog!
I think you mostly focused on my point at the end of the post, about endorsing products for personal gain. I do think there’s a fine line between a genuine endorsement and only doing it because you get paid for it. But I also believe and hope that most people wouldn’t go out of their way to recommend something they hadn’t used, or they didn’t believe in.
But money makes the world go round, and I think being paid for an endorsement can make us a little biased.
Like you, I respect other people’s opinions – it’s always good to see some healthy discussions
Thanks again for stopping by!