Spam Destroyer
Healthy: maintained, last release 29 Apr 2026, 3 releases in 24 months, no unpatched vulnerabilities.
| Ownership | 100 |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | 65 |
| Security | 100 |
| Support | 70 |
| Reputation | 70 |
Quick answers
- Is Spam Destroyer still maintained?
- Yes. Last release 29 Apr 2026, 3 releases in the last 24 months. 29 Apr 2026 · wordpress.org
- Who owns Spam Destroyer, and has it changed hands?
- No change recorded. Main committer ryanhellyer since Jul 2012. 3 Nov 2026 · SVN log
- Was Spam Destroyer removed from wordpress.org?
- No. Listed on wordpress.org as of 3 Nov 2026. 3 Nov 2026 · wordpress.org
- Is Spam Destroyer safe?
- No known vulnerabilities on record. 3 Nov 2026 · Wordfence Intelligence
- Is the latest Spam Destroyer update safe to install?
- No ownership change before 2.1.7. No one-star spike after it. 29 Apr 2026 · Release history
Active signals
Facts we detected, with links to the source.
No open risk signals. Signals appear here when we detect an ownership change, closure, vulnerability or decline.
Ownership timeline
Who commits to the plugin's code on wordpress.org, over time.
| ryanhellyer | 29 Jul 2012 to 29 Apr 2026, 59 commits |
|---|
1 committer recorded. No ownership change since 2012.
Maintenance
- Last release
- 6 months ago
- Releases, 24 months
- 3
- Tested up to
- 7.0 vs 7.1
- Requires PHP
- not stated supported 8.2+
| Q1 2024 | 0 |
|---|---|
| Q2 2024 | 1 |
| Q3 2024 | 0 |
| Q4 2024 | 0 |
| Q1 2025 | 0 |
| Q2 2025 | 2 |
| Q3 2025 | 0 |
| Q4 2025 | 0 |
| Q1 2026 | 0 |
| Q2 2026 | 1 |
| Q3 2026 | 0 |
| Q4 2026 | 0 |
Last release 29 Apr 2026. Tested up to 7.0, 1 major version behind WordPress 7.1.
Reputation
Last 90 days: no reviews. Lifetime: 4.6.
| 5 star | 47 |
|---|---|
| 4 star | 1 |
| 3 star | 1 |
| 2 star | 0 |
| 1 star | 5 |
Security record
No published vulnerabilities on record for this plugin.
Sources: Wordfence Intelligence, CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, readme changelogs.
Support
Support history appears after our first snapshots of the forum counts.
Momentum
5,000+ active installs. History builds with each weekly snapshot.
| 4 May 2026 | 164 |
|---|---|
| 11 May 2026 | 252 |
| 18 May 2026 | 312 |
| 25 May 2026 | 372 |
| 1 Jun 2026 | 177 |
| 8 Jun 2026 | 180 |
| 15 Jun 2026 | 163 |
| 22 Jun 2026 | 151 |
| 29 Jun 2026 | 176 |
| 6 Jul 2026 | 158 |
| 13 Jul 2026 | 166 |
| 20 Jul 2026 | 166 |
| 27 Jul 2026 | 204 |
| 3 Aug 2026 | 185 |
| 10 Aug 2026 | 162 |
| 17 Aug 2026 | 162 |
| 24 Aug 2026 | 153 |
| 31 Aug 2026 | 177 |
| 7 Sep 2026 | 175 |
| 14 Sep 2026 | 194 |
| 21 Sep 2026 | 193 |
| 28 Sep 2026 | 187 |
| 5 Oct 2026 | 193 |
| 12 Oct 2026 | 188 |
| 19 Oct 2026 | 262 |
| 26 Oct 2026 | 229 |
| 2 Nov 2026 | 31 |
Weekly downloads over the last 4 weeks are 7% below the 27-week average.
Healthier alternatives
Same job, rated Healthy, higher Canary Score and at least 10,000 installs. Never sponsored.
Facts
| Version | 2.1.7 |
|---|---|
| Author | Ryan Hellyer |
| Added | 29 Jul 2012 |
| Last updated | 29 Apr 2026 |
| Active installs | 5,000+ |
| Requires WordPress | 5.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.0.8 |
| Requires PHP | not stated |
| Category | Security & Privacy > Spam & Bot Protection |
| Tags | spam, antispam, comments, anti-spam, buddypress |
Other plugins by this author: Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly), Unique Headers, Simple Colorbox, Suckerfish Dropdown Menu, Menu Cache, Profile widget, Ryans Simple CMS, Deregister Contact Form 7, Delete Delete Site, PixoPoint Code Comments Plugin, Metronet Embed Google Plus, Disable Grunion Admin link
Questions
Is Spam Destroyer still maintained?
Yes. Last release 29 Apr 2026, 3 releases in the last 24 months.
Who owns Spam Destroyer, and has it changed hands?
No change recorded. Main committer ryanhellyer since Jul 2012.
Was Spam Destroyer removed from wordpress.org?
No. Listed on wordpress.org as of 3 Nov 2026.
Is Spam Destroyer safe?
No known vulnerabilities on record.
Is the latest Spam Destroyer update safe to install?
No ownership change before 2.1.7. No one-star spike after it.