akismet vs sk2 and bad behavior

Here’s your answer:

https://error.wordpress.com/2005/10/26/automattic-kismet/

For most people running a personal WordPress blog, Akismet is the ideal second line of defense. It will entirely replace plugins such as wp-hashcash, Spam Karma 2, AuthImage, etc. In fact, it makes most other anti-spam plugins entirely redundant.

The one anti-spam plugin which Akismet will not make redundant is Bad Behavior. There are several reasons for this. …

Personally, I prefer to use both Bad Behavior and Akismet. Bad Behavior stops most spam bots before they access my blog, and Akismet catches any that make it through.

Spam Karma 2 is, and remains, a perfectly viable alternative to Akismet. Saying different is wrong.

Read all the small print about Akismet before you take the plunge – as you should with any product.

From https://akismet.com/development/ :

Akismet plugin for SK2

SK2 is certainly a viable alternative to Akismet, and worth keeping around in case the Akismet service ever goes offline. But, I just don’t see much logic in running the two simultaneously.

Thanks for everyone’s comments & suggestions. I appreciate all that good information.

I can see that we have a passionate debate going on about anti-spam plugins. I like the idea of trying to combine both plugins in Matt’s suggestion (though one hopes that the 2 combined will not hinder ea. other’s performance).