SixApart Challenges Akismet on the Anti-Spam Front

By Eric Brown | Published Jun 5, 2008

SixApart Creates Anti-Spam Plug-in for TypePad

SixApart, creators of TypePad and the Facebook BlogIt tool (among many other things), is in the news again. This time they have created a blog anti-spam plugin for TypePad. Here’s the kicker, though…it works with WordPress also. Watchout Akismet…here comes TypePad AntiSpam.

SixApart is known for creating great working platforms as well as apps and plugins for a variety of other platforms. With the recent release of a blogging anti-spam plugin, they are proving yet again that they are here to stay as the competition heats up on the social web.

Features of TypePad AntiSpam

TypePad AntiSpam is the newest multi-platform blog antispammer. With spamming on blogs becoming such a problem, bloggers are always on the lookout for ways to combat it. SixApart now offers these features as an antispammer for TypePad or an alternative to the standard Akismet for WordPress.

It’s Free – Like all open source it’s free. Not like some of those out there that create plugins for open source and then charge — SixApart keeps to tradition.
Automatically Adapts – It will auto-adapt to changing spam tactics.
Already Built Into TypePad – TypePad AntiSpam is prebuilt into the code set now.
Plugins for Other Platforms – Has plugins for both Movable Type 3 and 4 and for WordPress 2.5.
Akismet API Compatible – It’s 100% compatible with your Akismet API.

With it still in beta release, SixApart is looking for users to provide valuable information to them during the process to work out any bugs and attempt to provide the public with the best solution possible.

What Others Are Saying

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch said, “Last week we switched to TypePad AntiSpam as a test…After a week I’m pleased to say that as good as Akismet is, the TypePad product has performed as good or better for us.”

While John Ryan from JohnRyan’s Blog says, “Being open source, including the back-end must be a worry to potential users, as its main competitor Akismet is not open source and has proved a success for the most part.” The fact that it is open source will be a legitimate concern for many users.

Still Not Sold?

If you’re still not sold on TypePad AntiSpam…don’t worry. It’s still in beta, there are still bugs to work out, and there is still Akismet. So give it time to prove itself before you shut it down.