The best spam blockers not only keep your inbox free but are the easiest to install and set up.  After all, it doesn’t matter if you use a spam filter, spam blocking software, a spam blocker utility or a free spam blocker download from McAfee or SpamArrest, if the program is just too hard to install or too time consuming to set up, you’ll be buried in junk email because you just won’t use it.

So the best spam blocker must be user friendly and easy to use. The quicker the installation and set up time the better. The following is a list of the Top 5 Best Spam Blocker Filtering Tools based on performance.

Cloudmark’s SpamNet Takes first place in our search for the Best Spam Blocker. SpamNet had the lowest false-positive rate of any spam filter I've ever tested and it didn't tag any legitimate email messages as spam. It has an incredible catch rate of over 98% which makes this intuitive antispam filter and effortless pleasure to operate.

This top of the line spam blocker collects spam email data from every installed copy of SpamNet –and uses this information to improve its filter accuracy. This accounts for its high spam busting rate and precision. SpamNet easily integrates into the Outlook toolbar and it can filter e-mail sent from any version of Outlook or Outlook Express. It is a free spam blocker download, but it costs $4 per month to use after a 30-day free-trial period ends.

Aladdin System’s SpamCatcher is one of the simplest spam blocking filters to install and operate. It easily integrates into Outlook, and works with any POP3 e-mail application. This spam blocker has a unique feature called the SpamCatcher network.  This network allows you to mark spam messages and the program reports specific details about the junk e-mail to the network. Then the SpamCatcher network incorporates these details into software updates, improving the filtering accuracy for everyone.

InBoxer caught more spam than any other spam blocker product in this review which makes it one of the best spam blocker filters, but has a major draw back.  InBoxer 1.1 only works with Outlook 2000 - 2003, not with any other email software. So this limitation kept it from capturing our Best Buy award; but it's well worth it if you use Outlook exclusively to read e-mail.

IHateSpam from Sunbelt Software delivered a very high spam filtering accuracy rate. The program adds a toolbar to Outlook that lets you filter spam from whatever mail folder you're browsing through, designate messages as spam or legitimate, and whitelist or blacklist a sender's mail domain or address.

Another great feature from this spam blocker is its unique feature, to block e-mail that is written in foreign alphabets–a common feature of spam that originates from Asia or eastern Europe. The application uses Sunbelt's Spam Learning Network Community to collect info about spam (such as the body and subject text) from users of the software; the data helps the company improve the filtering accuracy for all IHateSpam users.

Security Suites such as McAfee SpamKiller or SpamArrest are a popular choice for internet users searching for the best spam blocker to lock their mail boxes, but many security suites provide less than accurate spam blocking capabilities. SpamKiller allowed 625 pieces of junk mail to slip through its security, that’s nearly 30%  of all spam. And it incorrectly identified 241 legitimate messages as spam.

A better security suite spam blocker is the Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security
System. PC-cillin is a $50 suite that includes a spam filter as part of a package with antivirus, a firewall, anti-spyware software, and parental controls. This spam blocker provided  reasonable accuracy, catching 86 %. Following the same pattern I saw with McAfee SpamKiller and Panda Platinum, PC-cillin doesn't play well with other applications. It checks for existing installations of antivirus products, and it requires you to uninstall any other antivirus application before you install the PC-cillin suite.

Overall, stand alone spam filter products are able to sort through email more accurately than spam blocker programs that come as part of an entire security suite. If you are being bombarded with junk emails, then your best spam blocker bet is a spam filter.