SixApart has launched TypePad AntiSpam, a new Open Source tool for effectively blocking comment spam on blogs. The great part is this not only works on Typepad blogging platform, but also in MovableType and WordPress!

Its notable that TypePad AntiSpam beta is free for personal and commercial use. There is no limit to how many comments you receive and block and the TypePad AntiSpam engine learns and get smarter with every blocked comment (like Akismet).

Developers can build plugins for TypePad AntiSpam and it is 100% compatible with the Akismet API. This means that if you’ve already developed a plugin for Akismet, your plugin will be compatible with TypePad AntiSpam. It also works with MovableType and WordPress blogs. You need to get an API key and a TypeKey account to get started (both are free). TypePad AntiSpam is already included with Typepad service. The release is still a “beta” as they expect the service to learn and get better from wider adoption.

I use Akismet on this blog to effectively block thousands of spam comments everyday. Though Akismet can get naughty and block your own comments on all wordpress blogs, or clutter your database backups, its a great must have wordpress plugin on every blog. Though some stress you use Spam Karma, Bad Behaviour and Akismet, I have found Akismet alone does a great job alone.

Techcrunch has switched to TypePad AntiSpam and say that its as good as Akismet is, and has performed as good or better for them. So you can give it a try too and see if it works for you.