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Anti-spam software

Fed up of spam? Anti-spam software detects and blocks junk email, stopping it clogging up your inbox. By some estimates, over 90% of all email is spam, so it’s important you have anti-spam protection in place.

See also:

What to look for

Anti-spam software comparison chart for 2023

Rank 1 2 3 4
MailWasher Pro
SPAMfighter Pro
SpamBully
ChoiceMail
Excellent
Five stars means excellent
Very good
Four stars means very good
Good
Three stars means good
Average
Two stars means average /
Poor
One star means poor
MailWasher Pro has been awarded best buy Product image of mailwasher pro Product image of spamfighter pro Product image of spambully Product image of choicemail

*$39.95
$9.99 off
 
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Ratings
Overall
mailwasher pro has a rating of five  overall spamfighter pro has a rating of five  overall spambully has a rating of four  overall choicemail has a rating of four  overall
Setup
mailwasher pro has a rating of five for setup spamfighter pro has a rating of five for setup spambully has a rating of four for setup choicemail has a rating of four for setup
Compatibility
mailwasher pro has a rating of five for compatibility spamfighter pro has a rating of five for compatibility spambully has a rating of four for compatibility choicemail has a rating of three for compatibility
Detection
mailwasher pro has a rating of five for detection spamfighter pro has a rating of five for detection spambully has a rating of four for detection choicemail has a rating of four for detection
Effectiveness
mailwasher pro has a rating of five for effectiveness spamfighter pro has a rating of four for effectiveness spambully has a rating of three for effectiveness choicemail has a rating of four for effectiveness
System performance
mailwasher pro has a rating of four for system performance spamfighter pro has a rating of four for system performance spambully has a rating of four for system performance choicemail has a rating of four for system performance
Features
mailwasher pro has a rating of five for features spamfighter pro has a rating of five for features spambully has a rating of four for features choicemail has a rating of four for features
Ease of use
mailwasher pro has a rating of four for ease of use spamfighter pro has a rating of five for ease of use spambully has a rating of four for ease of use choicemail has a rating of four for ease of use
Help & support
mailwasher pro has a rating of four for help & support spamfighter pro has a rating of five for help & support spambully has a rating of three for help & support choicemail has a rating of four for help & support
Protection
Viruses
mailwasher pro attempts to stop viruses spamfighter pro attempts to stop viruses spambully attempts to stop viruses choicemail attempts to stop viruses
Malware
mailwasher pro attempts to stop malware spamfighter pro attempts to stop malware spambully attempts to stop malware choicemail attempts to stop malware
Spyware
mailwasher pro attempts to stop spyware spamfighter pro attempts to stop spyware spambully attempts to stop spyware choicemail attempts to stop spyware
Phishing
mailwasher pro attempts to stop phishing spamfighter pro attempts to stop phishing spambully attempts to stop phishing choicemail attempts to stop phishing
Identity theft
mailwasher pro attempts to stop identity theft spamfighter pro attempts to stop identity theft spambully attempts to stop identity theft choicemail attempts to stop identity theft
Scams
mailwasher pro attempts to stop scams spamfighter pro attempts to stop scams spambully attempts to stop scams choicemail attempts to stop scams
Filter methods
Attachments
mailwasher pro filters attachments spamfighter pro filters attachments spambully does not filter attachments choicemail does not filter attachments
Bayesian
mailwasher pro filters bayesian spamfighter pro does not filter bayesian spambully filters bayesian choicemail does not filter bayesian
Black list
mailwasher pro filters black list spamfighter pro filters black list spambully filters black list choicemail filters black list
Country of origin
mailwasher pro does not filter country of origin spamfighter pro filters country of origin spambully filters country of origin choicemail does not filter country of origin
Community database
mailwasher pro filters community database spamfighter pro filters community database spambully does not filter community database choicemail does not filter community database
Domain
mailwasher pro filters domain spamfighter pro filters domain spambully filters domain choicemail filters domain
Email address
mailwasher pro filters email address spamfighter pro filters email address spambully filters email address choicemail filters email address
Keywords
mailwasher pro filters keywords spamfighter pro does not filter keywords spambully filters keywords choicemail filters keywords
IP address
mailwasher pro filters ip address spamfighter pro filters ip address spambully filters ip address choicemail filters ip address
Image blocking
mailwasher pro filters image blocking spamfighter pro filters image blocking spambully does not filter image blocking choicemail does not filter image blocking
Language
mailwasher pro filters language spamfighter pro filters language spambully filters language choicemail filters language
Links
mailwasher pro filters links spamfighter pro filters links spambully filters links choicemail filters links
Public black list
mailwasher pro filters public black list spamfighter pro filters public black list spambully filters public black list choicemail does not filter public black list
Response
mailwasher pro does not filter response spamfighter pro does not filter response spambully filters response choicemail filters response
Server
mailwasher pro filters server spamfighter pro filters server spambully filters server choicemail filters server
White list
mailwasher pro does not filter white list spamfighter pro does not filter white list spambully filters white list choicemail filters white list
Filter rules
Custom rules
mailwasher pro uses custom rules spamfighter pro uses custom rules spambully uses custom rules choicemail uses custom rules
Pre-defined rules
mailwasher pro uses pre-defined rules spamfighter pro uses pre-defined rules spambully does not use pre-defined rules choicemail uses pre-defined rules
Features
Auto delete
mailwasher pro includes auto delete spamfighter pro includes auto delete spambully includes auto delete choicemail includes auto delete
Quarantine
mailwasher pro includes quarantine spamfighter pro includes quarantine spambully includes quarantine choicemail includes quarantine
Sensitivity settings
mailwasher pro includes sensitivity settings spamfighter pro includes sensitivity settings spambully includes sensitivity settings choicemail includes sensitivity settings
Statistics
mailwasher pro includes statistics spamfighter pro includes statistics spambully includes statistics choicemail includes statistics
Reporting
mailwasher pro includes reporting spamfighter pro includes reporting spambully includes reporting choicemail includes reporting
Clients
Outlook
mailwasher pro is compatible with outlook spamfighter pro is compatible with outlook spambully is compatible with outlook choicemail is compatible with outlook
Outlook Express
mailwasher pro is compatible with outlook express spamfighter pro is compatible with outlook express spambully is compatible with outlook express choicemail is compatible with outlook express
Windows Mail
mailwasher pro is compatible with windows mail spamfighter pro is compatible with windows mail spambully is compatible with windows mail choicemail is compatible with windows mail
Mozilla Thunderbird
mailwasher pro is compatible with mozilla thunderbird spamfighter pro is compatible with mozilla thunderbird spambully is compatible with mozilla thunderbird choicemail is compatible with mozilla thunderbird
Protocols
POP3
mailwasher pro is compatible with pop3 spamfighter pro is compatible with pop3 spambully is compatible with pop3 choicemail is compatible with pop3
IMAP
mailwasher pro is compatible with imap spamfighter pro is compatible with imap spambully is compatible with imap choicemail is compatible with imap
Web based clients
Hotmail
mailwasher pro is compatible with hotmail spamfighter pro is compatible with hotmail spambully is not compatible with hotmail choicemail is compatible with hotmail
Gmail
mailwasher pro is compatible with gmail spamfighter pro is compatible with gmail spambully is not compatible with gmail choicemail is compatible with gmail
Yahoo Mail
mailwasher pro is compatible with yahoo mail spamfighter pro is compatible with yahoo mail spambully is not compatible with yahoo mail choicemail is compatible with yahoo mail
AOL
mailwasher pro is compatible with aol spamfighter pro is compatible with aol spambully is not compatible with aol choicemail is compatible with aol
Support
Telephone support
mailwasher pro offers telephone support spamfighter pro offers telephone support spambully does not offer telephone support choicemail offers telephone support
Email support
mailwasher pro offers email support spamfighter pro offers email support spambully offers email support choicemail offers email support
Manual
mailwasher pro offers manual spamfighter pro offers manual spambully offers manual choicemail offers manual
Knowledge base
mailwasher pro offers knowledge base spamfighter pro offers knowledge base spambully offers knowledge base choicemail offers knowledge base
Forums
mailwasher pro offers forums spamfighter pro offers forums spambully does not offer forums choicemail does not offer forums
FAQs
mailwasher pro offers faqs spamfighter pro offers faqs spambully offers faqs choicemail offers faqs
Operating systems
Windows 11
mailwasher pro is compatible with windows 11 spamfighter pro is compatible with windows 11 spambully is compatible with windows 11 choicemail is compatible with windows 11
Windows 10
mailwasher pro  windows 10 spamfighter pro  windows 10 spambully  windows 10 choicemail  windows 10
Windows 8
mailwasher pro  windows 8 spamfighter pro  windows 8 spambully  windows 8 choicemail  windows 8
Windows 7
mailwasher pro is compatible with windows 7 spamfighter pro is compatible with windows 7 spambully is compatible with windows 7 choicemail is compatible with windows 7
Windows Vista
mailwasher pro is compatible with windows vista spamfighter pro is compatible with windows vista spambully is compatible with windows vista choicemail is compatible with windows vista

Anti-spam software explained

Untamed, spam can take over your inbox, making it hard to locate important messages. Worse, it can contain offensive material or infect your computer with dangerous viruses or spyware.

Although internet service providers go to great lengths to eliminate spam before it reaches your inbox, plenty still slips through. If you don’t want your inbox to become a mess of junk, anti-spam software is essential.

Anti-spam software and your email

Your choice of anti-spam software will, to some extent, be determined by how you send and receive email. If the anti-spam software can’t hook into your preferred email software or service, then it will be unable to analyze your emails – and useless.

Most anti-spam software will work with major email software, like Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. However, if you access your email through a web-based service (like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or Google Mail), you may have a more restricted choice.

Virtually all email services have some spam protection built in, so it’s important your anti-spam software complements the existing protection rather than duplicating it. This multi-layered approach should ensure virtually all spam gets caught.

How anti-spam software works

Anti-spam software uses several methods to identify whether each email you receive is spam. By analyzing the content of the message, it will assign a ‘spam score’ – anything over a certain threshold will be marked as spam.

It should also refer to a ‘blacklist’ and a ‘white list’, which respectively list blocked and approved senders. The white list is an important tool; by adding everyone you know to it, you can virtually eliminate false positives.

Your anti-spam software should give you control over what happens to messages marked as spam. For instance, initially you may want them filtered into a quarantine area, where you can review them for false positives. Then, as you refine the settings, you may reach a point when you’re happy for all detected spam to be deleted without you ever seeing it.


What to look for in anti-spam software

Spam isn’t going away. In spite of recent decreases in the volume of spam in the average inbox, spam seems to persist. Why wouldn’t it? It’s easier than ever for spammers to find e-mail addresses. Even if only a few people are taken in, it’s well worth the effort to them.

So what are you going to do about it? Basic Internet safety helps (don’t be too free about passing out your e-mail address, visit only sites you trust, only run as the administrator, etc,), but this isn’t usually enough to stop the flow entirely. Spam filter software has really become essential, but not all filter platforms are made alike.

Adaptability

Keep your eyes open for programs that only work with certain e-mail platforms. The program that’s right for you should be able to function on the e-mail system you already use, even if it happens to be web-based.

Flexibility

Spam filtering software blocks or sets aside unwanted messages. But who decides what’s undesirable? Well, you, actually. Good spam filtering software should allow you to categorize your incoming e-mail any way you choose, rather than leaving you to organize it yourself. It should also be able to outright block anything you wish at whatever level. If there are occasionally items that normally fall under the category of spam that you may be interested in looking at, you should be able to find those items quickly and easily without having to sift through the rest of the junk mail. Spam filtering software should make your e-mail function on your terms.

Accessibility

Quality spam filtering software shouldn’t need a genius to run it. When running a trial, ask yourself if your grandmother could use it. If the answer is no, it may not be as intuitive as it should be. The competition is fierce, and there’s not reason to settle for a platform that’s cumbersome to use.

Efficiency

Beware of software that’s bundled with dozens of features. This may look appealing at first blush, but keep in mind that this software is going to consume at least some amount of your computing assets. Think of it like an airplane. The heavier it is, the more fuel it’ll take to fly it. Don’t fly heavy! How well the platform does the job is what counts.

Good spam filtering software actually goes beyond stopping spam and makes e-mail more fun and efficient to use.


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