Free Spam Blockers

Free spam-filtering tools

Most reviewers say free spam tools do not work as well as commercial anti-spam software and services, and their tests confirm a lower degree of accuracy. We found reviews of many free spam filters, and each has champions and detractors. POPFile, BullGuard Spamfilter, Spamfighter and eXpurgate are the most recommended.

Ian "Gizmo" Richards, former editor of Support Alert newsletter and owner of the Gizmo's Freeware website, says, "Most free spam filters are way too complex to set up and use." He recommends Bayesian filters only for experienced users, or at least people who are willing to make the time investment to do the required training. POPFile and SpamBayes are the best Bayesian filters, he says. For inexperienced users, Richards believes the free version of MailWasher is the best choice. However, we found little support elsewhere for the free version of MailWasher.

POPFile, which uses Bayesian filtering to weed out spam, is rated the number-one free spam-blocker by About.com's Heinz Tschabitscher. He does admit, though, that it can put strain on a computer's CPU and RAM resources. User reviews follow the same trend. POPFile gets a very good four-star rating at Download.com. One user cautions that it's not for computer novices, though, and another notes a "noticeable delay in mail download time."

While commercial Bayesian filters such as MailWasher are partially pre-trained, POPFile is not. You will have to make a time investment before the program is usable. The open-source program works with Linux and Macintosh operating systems as well as with Windows. Installation and setup instructions are complex. The process might be intimidating for many.

EXpurgate is another free program that has been gaining some positive attention. Tschabitscher says that, while it's not as effective as a Bayesian filter like POPFile, it's easier to use because it doesn't require complex configuration, maintenance or training. GeekWithLaptop.com bloggers Vladimir and Dave also like the ease of use.

Which? magazine, Britain's equivalent of Consumer Reports, names BullGuard Spamfilter as an Internet security Best Buy, but only awards it an overall rating of 66 percent. The editors say that Spamfilter is easy to use and offers decent filtration for a free program. Heinz Tschabitscher at About.com gives BullGuard Spamfilter a four-star rating. He likes the ease of use and overall performance; he doesn't like the lack of IMAP support.

BullGuard Spamfilter uses multiple techniques to catch spam and keep false positives to a minimum. It is first and foremost a rules-based filter that the user trains to identify which emails are spam and which are not. In addition, there is a community-based component that uses information sent in by other users to further identify spam emails. Finally the program's whitelist can be set up to automatically include all email addresses -- including copied email addresses -- the user writes to. Reports say that initial performance is only so-so, but that it improves over time as the program "learns" what to let in and what to block.

Spamfighter is available in a paid Pro addition (*est. $30) and a free edition. The program is network-based, like Cloudmark Desktop and iHateSpam, and uses the opinions of a community of a couple of million users to make its spam/not-spam decisions.

Spamfighter has its champions, but also a few warts. Getting the ugly out of the way first, it only works with Microsoft mail programs (Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail) and the free version appends a small advertisement to the end of outgoing email.

Now for the good news -- it works and is easy to use. Both the paid and free versions are reviewed by WebUser magazine, which honors Spamfighter with a Gold award along with perfect scores for features, performance, ease of use and value. In their performance tests, Spamfighter filtered 100 percent of the test spam. Editor Robert Nixon calls the program an "excellent value." Gizmo's Freeware names Spamfighter as among its three best free spam filters for average users. Reviewer consensus is that if you use Microsoft mail clients and you can put up with ads in your email -- or are willing to pay $30 per year to get rid of them -- Spamfighter is worth a serious look.

Google's Gmail and Mozilla Thunderbird offer integrated spam filters. We found favorable reviews of both and their junk-mail filtering capabilities. They are viable alternatives to Outlook Express or Windows Mail, but lack the multifaceted functionality of Outlook. For more information about Gmail, see the ConsumerSearch report on webmail.