If you’ve just started a blog, then you may not aware of comment and trackback spamming. But these things can destroy your blog with spam comments and trackbacks.

Now the good news is, WordPress comes up with a pre-installed plugin called Akismet which stops spam.

You need to activate the plugin and set up an API key to get started with Akisment.

Many folks thought that they have to pay money to get the API key. But you can get it for FREE if you are running a personal blog, not a corporate blog/site.

Here I’ll show you how to setup Akismet plugin with a free API key.

Before going to the tutorial, here are some FAQs about Akismet.

Now let’s dive to the tutorial.

How To Setup Akismet Plugin For Free

Setting up Akismet plugin is very easy. Just follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Sign Up for Akismet

At first, visit Akismet Signup Page and select the first plan (Personal).

Here Akismet will ask you pay some money to get started. But it’s not essential. You can set it to $0/year.

Now enter your email address, name, and site URL; and check the boxes. Then click on the ‘Continue With Personal Subscription’ button.

Akismet will send you a confirmation code to your email address. Copy and paste the code. And click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Akismet will send you an API key. Go to your email inbox and copy that code.

Now go to WordPress Dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins and click on ‘Settings’ under the Akismet Anti-Spam.

I hope this post helped you to get started with the Akismet WordPress plugin. If you have faced any difficulties, feel free to let us know via comment. However, if you found this post useful, help me by sharing this post on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.