Akismet has gone from FREE to PAID.

While we don’t have a problem with paid plugins/themes (there are many out there), Akismet started out as a “by donation” plugin and has moved into a capitalistic plugin as they accrued a significant install base.

This would be no different than Facebook offering you a free social platform and then years later deciding there was going to be a $10 charge per month. Would you pay? Probably not, you would likely move onto the next better thing.

As a result of this decision by Akismet (as a company), we are no longer supporting the Akismet plugin here at WA and will no longer be installing it as a default plugin with every install.