Akismet is Charging a Fee?
Akismet is a lovely service that protects website publishers from spam. It’s a must-have application for bloggers. Recently I was walking a client through the registration process and was stopped in my tracks when I was directed to this page:
This really threw me for a loop. Akismet is a fantastic product. I don’t begrudge the company for wanting to make some money in return for all their hard work. The fees are reasonable. And yet I felt as though my mother just announced she was going to start charging me for dinner.
I emailed Akismet and asked them about this change. As it turns out, this isn’t a change at all. This is what they had to say:
We haven’t changed our terms or pricing. Akismet has always required a paid subscription for commercial use.
Free API keys are still available – just click the Free API Key tab near the top: https://akismet.com/signup/#free-api-key
The terms are the same as before. That is, free API keys are provided for personal and hobby sites; commercial use needs a commercial subscription. The only thing we’ve changed is our signup process, which now makes the terms and fees clearer.
So this just represents a change in the way the signup information is presented, not a change in pricing.
UPDATE: The link to the free personal site option is now under the paid services. 
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