Works with your stack

Cookie consent for Akismet

checked on the server

Akismet sets no cookie and keeps nothing in the visitor’s browser. The browser never contacts Akismet. The check happens on your server when a comment or form is sent, so it belongs in your privacy policy, not in the banner.

By Automattic · akismet.com · WordPress.org

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Akismet

WordPress plugin

Tested

Tested version: 5.7.2
How: Tested automatically around each Cookie Rocks version
Last test: 7 November 2026
Latest version: 5.7.2 tested
Active installs: 5,000,000+

See it on WordPress.org

What Akismet adds to your visitors’ browser

No trackers In our test of Akismet 5.7.2 on 7 November 2026, the plugin itself added no tracker and no cookie. What you place in your pages with it, such as a video or a map, still counts.

What matters for consent with Akismet

Nothing in the browser

Akismet sets no cookie and uses no browser storage. Its small script is served by your site, only on pages with a comment or supported form, once a key is set.

The check runs on your server

When a comment or form is sent, your server sends Akismet the visitor’s address, browser details and the submitted fields. A banner cannot hold that.

Say it in your privacy policy

Akismet’s own notice under the comment form is off by default. Mention Akismet in your privacy policy, or switch that notice on.

What our tests found on Akismet

Good to know · Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, All in One SEO, Wordfence, Really Simple SSL, WP Armour, AkismetSeven SEO and security plugins set nothing for visitors by default
by default: Default settings
Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, Wordfence, Really Simple SSL, WP Armour and Akismet set no cookie, use no storage and load no known third-party tool.
Seen in our tests, 17 October 2026, Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, All in One SEO, Wordfence, Really Simple SSL, WP Armour, Akismet 28.7, 1.0.280, 5.0.3, 9.0.2, 9.8.3, 2.4.02, 5.7.2. Source
Full detail
On a fresh WordPress home page with default settings, Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, All in One SEO, Wordfence, Really Simple SSL, WP Armour and Akismet set no cookie for the visitor, keep nothing in the browser's storage and load no known third-party tool, after Accept all.
Sent from your server · Akismet Anti-spamAkismet sends form data and visitor details from the server
setting “Privacy notice under the comment form” · by default: hidden
When a comment or supported form is sent, the server sends Akismet the visitor's IP, browser details, all headers except Cookie and every field. No banner can hold this.
What to do: Mention Akismet in the privacy policy.
Read in its code, 16 October 2026, Akismet Anti-spam 5.7.2.
Full detail
When a comment or a supported form (Jetpack, Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, Formidable, Fluent Forms) is sent, the site's server sends rest.akismet.com the visitor's IP address, user agent, referrer, every HTTP header except Cookie, the request URI and all submitted fields. A banner cannot hold this. Akismet's one-line privacy notice under the comment form is off by default.
Good to know · Akismet Anti-spamAkismet sets no cookie but records key press and mouse timings in forms
Its script, served by the site, runs only on pages with a supported form, once an API key is set. It adds counts and timings to the form, without the typed text.
Read in its code, 16 October 2026, Akismet Anti-spam 5.7.2.
Full detail
Akismet sets no cookie and uses no browser storage on visitor pages, and the visitor's browser contacts no Akismet host. Its script, akismet-frontend.js, is served by the site (defer) only on pages with a comment form or a supported form shortcode and only once an API key is set; it records counts and timings of key presses, clicks, mouse, touch and scroll and adds them as hidden ak_* fields when a form is sent, without the typed text. A compatibility run of 5.7.2 without an API key observed nothing.

How we test it

Around each version, with its latest release

Around each Cookie Rocks version, a fresh WordPress installs its latest version from WordPress.org next to Cookie Rocks and runs the same checks. A new version joins the next run on its own.

Akismet 5.7.2, tested on 7 November 2026.
The banner shows, the trackers of the test page wait for consent and load after it, and Cookie Rocks raises no PHP error.
Settings of the test: Default settings after activation.
Last run: Akismet 5.7.2 on 7 November 2026, with WordPress 7.1.3.

Anti-spam

Other plugins of the same kind.

CleanTalkA bot detector on every page, before the visitor chooses.tested 6.91Adds: CleanTalk Anti-Spam and Bot Detector Advanced Google reCAPTCHAGoogle on every protected form, or a captcha from your own site.tested 5.42 Simple Cloudflare TurnstileTurnstile classed as necessary, so forms keep working.tested 1.44.5 Spam protectionServer checks, captchas and bot detectors, each in its place.WP ArmourSpam protection with no cookie and no question.tested 2.4.02

Every plugin and theme we test →

Questions

What happens after the 30-day trial?

The banner, your visitors’ choices and your proofs of consent keep working. Without a key, most settings lock, updates and support stop. Take a key at any time and everything opens again.

For sites with Akismet

Spam stays out, consent stays clear.

nothing to hold

Every feature of the complete plugin for 30 days, no card. Akismet keeps working as it does today.

During the trial: everything, including the full settings and the scans
After 30 days without a key: the banner, your visitors’ choices and your proofs of consent keep working
What waits for a key: most settings, updates and support

How the trial works, in detail

Get your trial key

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