Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools vs SpamAnvil – AI Anti-Spam & Comment Spam Protection

All in one solution to fight blog comment spammers and improve comment quality. Tired of deleting useless spammy comments from your WordPress blog posts? Comment Link Remove WordPress plugin removes author link and any other links from the user comments among other features. If you run a blog or WordPress website with comments enabled, there is no getting away from comment spammers. Captchas help with bot spamming. But how do you prevent a human who is willing to put in a moment to pass the captcha and write a spam comment just to push a link in your website? 🚀 Upgrade to Comment Tools Pro now! 🚀 Support, Bug Report, Feature Requests | Pro version Live Demo | ++ Upgrade to the Comment Tools pro version and Increase Interactivity with features like AI Auto Comment reply, adding a Voice record to the comments or Upload files, Images and Videos. Ability to Subscribe to newsletters, UpVote/DownVote comments or send eMail notifications and reminders to your commenters grow relationship with your users. Supports comment username mention, quote, collapsing comments and tons of other options. //-> Try our FREE ChatBot for WordPress with AI – WPBot. It is an easy to use, Native, No coding required, AI ChatBot to provide Automated Live Chat Support. Use ChatBot to answer user questions and also collect information from the users using conversational forms. It can be also be powered by DialogFlow, Tavily or OpenAI ChatGPT or simply use the built-in features to provide Live support and collect data. ++ Check out the ChatBot for WordPress Demo. Usually the comment spammers’ main goal is to get a do-follow or no-follow link from your website. Comment Link Remove WordPress plugin empowers you with the options to remove author website hyperlink and cleaning up any links from the comment itself. The URLs will still be visible but they just won’t be hyperlinked. This will greatly discourage comment spammers. You can individually choose to turn on/off the following options to discourage and comment spams or take actions against spammy comments: Remove WEBSITE Field from Comment Form Remove hyper-link from comment AUTHOR Disable turning URLs into hyper-links in comments Remove HTML Link Tags in comments Disable Comments Globally Hide Existing Comments Open Comment Links in New Tab Delete pending comments with one click Delete all comments with one click Delete All Spam Comments in One Click Display post update date in blog post Everything you need to discourage spammers from leaving useless comments in your precious blog posts. Empower Your Blog Comments with Comment Tools Pro Comment Tools Pro adds an arsenal of practical tools for your WordPress Blog’s comment section including an AI auto reply feature! Increase Interactivity with features like adding a Voice message record to the comments or Upload files, Images and Videos. Ability to Subscribe to newsletters, UpVote/DownVote comments or send eMail notifications and reminders to your commenters to grow relationship with your users. Increase quality of the comments by reducing spammy and low quality comments. Export commentator eMail addresses as CSV or Integrate with Zapier and MailChimp. Analyze the sentiment of a Comment – discern and moderate commentator’s emotion automatically. AI Auto Comment Reply Never have a comment go unanswered! Use ChatGPT AI to automatically reply to your user comments. Just add your OpenAI API key to the comment tools settings and it can reply to all Approved comments automatically from now on. You can set it to Auto reply to only the top comments or all the child comments. You can control the length, imagination and verboseness of the AI comments. Increase Interactivity An interactive community is a vibrant community. Comment Tools Pro helps your site users become more interactive by adding unique features like Voice comments. Users can record and attach a voice messages with each of their comments. Allow users to Upload and attach files, Images and Videos (define allowed file types). UpVote/DownVote comments is also supported. Site admins can send eMail notifications and reminders to the commenters to create a more intimate relationship with the website users. Collect eMails and grow eMail List for Your Newsletters! Get more out of your blog users. They love your blog and leave comments on your articles. Why not give them the option to subscribe to your newsletter while they are leaving a comment? You can do just that with Comment tools pro. Subscribed users’ name and emails can be exported as CSV or you can directly integrate with a MailChimp List! You can also use Zapier to integrate with almost any major mailing List platform! Create new Zap on your Zapier Account and connect with this plugin. Improve and Moderate Comments Automatically Enable Comment Sentiment setting to Show the commentator’s Emotion with icon. Filter comments by Emotion (positive, negative or neutral) in the Front and Backend! Auto moderate comments for profanity by setting a threshold for negative comments! Commentator will be shown warning message you define and asked to rephrase her comments to adhere to the community rules! ++ View Demo of Comment Tools Pro Version All the Pro Version Features for WordPress Comment Tools Pro Comment Tools ⭐ Remove WEBSITE Field from Comment Form ⭐ Remove hyper-link from comment AUTHOR Bio ⭐ Disable turning URLs into hyper-links in comments ⭐ Remove HTML Link Tags in comments ⭐ Disable Comments Globally ⭐ Hide Existing Comments ⭐ Open Comment Links in New Tab ⭐ Delete or Mark Comments as Spam from the front end (for users with Privilege) AI Auto Reply to User Comments ⭐ Supports Auto Comment Reply Using OpenAI GPT 3, 4 and ChatGPT ⭐ Auto Reply only for Approved Comments ⭐ Reply only to the Top Comment or all the Child Comments also ⭐ Options to Select Max Tokens, Temperature, Presence Penalty, and Frequency Penalty Voice Recording Message with Comments ⭐ Enable option to Record a Voice Message with each comment ⭐ View and listen Voice records in the WordPress dashboard ⭐ Change all languages Discourage Spam Comments ⭐ Remove WEBSITE Field from Comment Form ⭐ Remove hyperlink from comment AUTHOR ⭐ Disable turning URLs into hyperlinks in comments ⭐ Remove HTML Link Tags in comments ⭐ Open Links in Comment on New Tab ⭐ Minimum Time Between Comments ( Set Time Interval Required Between Comments by same user to Avoid Spamming ) ⭐ Custom Message for too quick comments Prevent Bot and Spam Comments Comment Tools Pro provides an advanced feature to completely prevent commenting by Spam Bots by adding a stylesheet or image to the source code. When a Human loads your blog in a browser that stylesheet or image a cookie is added. If that user then leaves a comment the cookie is checked. If the cookie does not exist the comment is marked as spam by Bots. Auto Moderate Comments with keywords or keyphrases. Define a list of keywords. When any new comment include any of these keywords, it will be automatically marked as Spam or Deleted Get eMail Subscriptions from Comments ⭐ eMail subscription opt-in checkbox in comment field ⭐ Edit subscribe Language ⭐ List of subscribed users in the plugin back end ⭐ Export subscribed user list as CSV file ⭐ Integrate with your MailChimp account and add emails directly to your mailing list ⭐ Integrate with your Zapier account and create new zap for all major mailing platforms like aweber, drip, getresponse, contact contact etc. and dozens more! Image, Video, Document Attachment with Comments Comment Tools Pro allows your visitors to attach images, videos, audios, documents and other files with their comments. They will also be able to automatically embed links from Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and other services in the comment text. ⭐ Limit the maximum file upload size. ⭐ Make an attachment required. ⭐ Specify whether the attachment will be embedded or displayed as a link. ⭐ Enable/Disable autoembed links (like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in the comment text. ⭐ Select an attachment image size from thumbnails available in your WordPressl. ⭐ Link a thumbnail to a full-size image with lightbox plugins support ⭐ Open a full-size image in a new tab or link thumbnail to the attachment page. ⭐ Enable/Disable multiple upload. ⭐ Combine images to gallery. ⭐ Select an attachment image size for the images gallery. ⭐ Restrict attachment file types. ⭐ Decide who will be able to upload attachments: all users or only logged users. ⭐ Manually moderate comments with attachments. You can also: ⭐ Add, replace or delete an attachment from a comment on Edit Comment screen. ⭐ Attach an unlimited number of attachments to the comment in the admin panel. ⭐ Delete an attachment on Comments screen. Discourage Low Quality Comments ⭐ Define Minimum Length of Comments ( Avoid Low Value Comments ) ⭐ Alert Message for Minimum Comments Length ⭐ Maximum Length of Comments – (Prevent lengthy copy pastes) ⭐ Define Alert Message for Maximum Comments Length Sentiment Analysis to Prevent Spams and Improve Quality ⭐ Sentiment and Emotion analysis for English Language ⭐ Show Comment Sentiment Icons by each comment ⭐ Filter comments by Sentiment (positive, negative or neutral) ⭐ Automatically prevent comments with Profanity or too many negative words based on a score you define ⭐ User Upvote/Downvote a comment ⭐ Comment emotion and score display in the backend for admin Improve Interactivity with Your Followers ⭐ Tag a user (mention @name) to send notification. Supports drop down auto populate to choose username ⭐ Quote another Comment ⭐ Notify a user when their comment is approved by email ⭐ Collapse Comment Replies and show Comment Number ⭐ Redirect First Time Commenters to a Page for a special offer or thank you message ⭐ Send a private email to an individual commenter from Dashboard ⭐ A button in the WP toolbar to email all the commenters on a post ⭐ Option to Notify All Commenters of a Post when there is a New Comment on that post ⭐ Notify All Users of the site when there is a New Comment on Any Post Bulk Manage Your Comments ⭐ Disable Comments Globally ⭐ Hide Existing Comments ⭐ Show All Comments on a single page with a convenient shortcode. ⭐ Delete all pending comments with one click. ⭐ Delete All Spam Comments in One Click. Other Features ⭐ Sidebar Widget to Display the Top Commenters ⭐ Add Vertical scroll in recent comments widget ⭐ Pin a Comment to Show the Comment at the Top Position ⭐ Mark a Comment as Private (only admin and commenter will see) ⭐ Enable Read More option in Comments (show more comments at once) ⭐ Set rel UGC, “follow” , “nofollow” to Comment Links ⭐ Display post update date in blog post. Some more interesting plugins to help your website: Simple Link Directory plugin | Simple Business Directory plugin with maps | ChatBot for WordPress WPBot | Infographic Maker plugin – iList | Slider Hero WordPress Slider Plugin Woocommerce related plugins WooCommerce One Page Store Express Shop | Woocommerce Shop Assistant | Woo Tabbed Category Product Listing | ChatBot for WooCommerce WoowBot | Bargain Bot to Increase Sales More Useful Plugins: WordPress Portfolio plugin | Easy Charts and Graphs plugin iChart | KnowledgeBase Helpdesk Plugin with ChatBot Use Download the plugin zip file. Extract and upload the folder to your wp-content/plugins folder. From the wp-admin panel goto plugins and activate “Comment Link Remove” Tune the plugin settings from (Settings –> QC CLR Settings) You are done.

SpamAnvil is a free, open-source WordPress anti-spam plugin — and a genuine Akismet alternative — that uses artificial intelligence to block comment spam. Unlike Akismet (which requires a paid plan for commercial sites) or simple keyword-based filters, SpamAnvil leverages large language models (LLMs) to actually understand your comments and detect even the most sophisticated spam. It layers a honeypot, a time trap and per-IP rate limiting in front of the AI, so obvious bots are blocked for free. Traditional spam filters rely on static word lists and link counting. Spammers have evolved. SpamAnvil fights back with AI that understands context, intent, and language patterns – catching spam that looks legitimate and approving real comments that others would flag. Why SpamAnvil? Set up in about a minute – Activation opens a wizard that asks for one API key and verifies it before saving. Nothing is stored unless the test passes. 100% Free – No premium tier, no subscription, no hidden costs. Bring your own API key (free options available). Smarter Than Rules – AI understands context. A comment about “buying a new home” won’t be flagged just because it contains “buy”. Defense in Depth – Honeypot, time trap, per-IP rate limit and heuristics block obvious bots for free, so the AI is only spent on the subtle cases. Open Mode – Because the filtering is invisible and automatic, you can drop the usual barriers (name/email, login, moderation) and get more real comments – even anonymous ones – without opening the door to spam. Works With Free AI Models – Use OpenRouter’s free models for $0 cost, or connect premium models for maximum accuracy. Privacy-First – Your data stays between you and your chosen AI provider. IP addresses are stored as salted, keyed hashes (HMAC-SHA-256), not recoverable without your site’s secret. GDPR/LGPD compliant by design. No Cloud Lock-in – Choose from 6+ AI providers. Switch anytime. Your anti-spam, your rules. Supported AI Providers OpenAI (GPT-4o-mini, GPT-4o, etc.) Anthropic Claude (Claude Sonnet, Haiku, etc.) Google Gemini (Gemini 2.0 Flash, Pro, etc.) OpenRouter (100+ models, including FREE ones) Featherless.ai (Open-source models) Any OpenAI-compatible API (LM Studio, Ollama via proxy, vLLM, etc.) A Swiss-Army-Knife of Defenses SpamAnvil layers several spam defenses so cheap, invisible filters catch obvious bots for free and the AI only handles the subtle cases. Every layer is optional and runs before any paid API call: Honeypot – A hidden field bots fill but humans never see. Instant, free block. Time trap – Comments submitted faster than a human could type are flagged. Tamper-proof (signed) and fails open, so it never blocks a real visitor. Per-IP rate limit – Throttles comment floods from a single IP before they even reach the database. Heuristics engine – Regex/statistical pre-analysis (URLs, spam words, gambling/SEO author names, language mismatch, prompt-injection patterns) that auto-spams the obvious cases with no API call. AI verdict – An LLM scores the rest 0-100 in context. Key Features AI-Powered Spam Detection – Each comment is analyzed by an LLM that scores it 0-100 for spam probability. Works with reasoning models (their thinking is parsed correctly). Layered Bot Defense – Honeypot, time trap and per-IP rate limiting block obvious bots for free, before any AI call. Model Picker – Browse and search each provider’s live model list right from the settings page (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Featherless). OpenRouter shows a “free” badge and context size. “Open Mode” – One toggle removes WordPress comment friction (no required name/email, no login, no moderation hold) so leaving a real, even anonymous, comment is effortless. Comments appear instantly and spam is removed in the background. Verdict Cache – Identical repeated spam reuses a recent AI verdict instead of calling the API again, cutting cost during floods. Intelligent Heuristics Engine – Pre-analyzes comments to catch obvious spam without API calls. Async Background Processing – Comments are queued and processed via WP-Cron so your site stays fast. Smart IP Blocking – Automatically blocks repeat offenders with escalating ban durations (24h, 48h, 96h… capped at 30 days). Automatic Retry with Backoff – Failed API calls retry with exponential delays; a real “Test Connection” verifies actual classification, not just the HTTP status. Encrypted API Key Storage – Authenticated AES-256-GCM encryption, or wp-config.php constants for maximum security. Statistics Dashboard & Logs – Track spam caught by each layer, API usage and errors, with the AI’s reasoning for every comment. An admin warning surfaces silent failures (no provider, or a backlog of failed items). Customizable AI Prompts, Fallback Providers, Prompt-Injection Defense, Configurable Threshold, Moderator Bypass. How It Works A visitor submits a comment. Rate limit – too many comments from this IP too fast? Throttled with an HTTP 429 (before anything is stored). IP block – is the IP already banned for repeat spam? Blocked. Form traps – was the hidden honeypot filled, or the comment submitted implausibly fast? Marked as spam instantly, no API call. Heuristics – a quick regex/statistical pre-analysis; obvious spam is auto-marked with no API call. Otherwise the comment is queued for AI analysis (or processed immediately in sync mode). Identical repeated content reuses a cached verdict. The AI analyzes the comment in context (post title, author info, heuristic data) and returns a spam score. Comments above your threshold are marked spam; clean comments are auto-approved. Repeat-offender IPs are escalated. With Open Mode on, comments publish instantly and any spam is removed in the background instead of being held for moderation. Use Cases Blogs receiving hundreds of spam comments per day WooCommerce stores where comment spam affects SEO and credibility Membership sites that need to protect community discussions Multilingual sites – AI understands comments in any language, unlike keyword-based filters High-traffic sites – Async processing handles any volume without slowing down your site Sites tired of Akismet – Free alternative with no cloud dependency and full data control Security SpamAnvil follows WordPress security best practices throughout: Authenticated AES-256-GCM encrypted API key storage wp-config.php constant support for API keys (never touch the database) Configurable trusted IP header (default REMOTE_ADDR) so a forged X-Forwarded-For cannot bypass IP blocking or rate limiting Nonce verification on all forms and AJAX requests Capability checks on all admin actions Prepared SQL statements on every database query Output escaping on all rendered content Prompt injection defense: boundary tags around the comment body AND commenter metadata, system prompt hardening, heuristic injection detection (body and author fields), strict JSON validation, deterministic settings Languages English (default) Translation-ready (.pot file included) Third-Party Services SpamAnvil sends comment data (content, author name, email, and URL) to external AI services for spam analysis. The specific service used depends on your configuration. No data is sent until you configure and enable a provider. OpenAI — https://openai.com — Terms of Use — Privacy Policy Anthropic (Claude) — https://www.anthropic.com — Terms of Service — Privacy Policy Google Gemini — https://ai.google.dev — Terms of Service — Privacy Policy OpenRouter — https://openrouter.ai — Terms of Service — Privacy Policy Featherless.ai — https://featherless.ai — Terms of Service — Privacy Policy When using the “Generic OpenAI-Compatible” option, data is sent to the URL you configure. You are responsible for ensuring compliance with the privacy policies of your chosen service.