You’ve always used a WordPress.com account to sign into Akismet, we’re just calling it WordPress.com Connect now. Same account, new name.
If you already use self-hosted WordPress or another tool — or aren’t even blogging at all — this WordPress.com account won’t affect any of it.
WordPress.com is now the account hub for all of our services at Automattic, including VaultPress, Polldaddy, and Akismet.
Akismet is proud to be a product lovingly crafted at Automattic alongside WordPress.com since day one.