15

I am looking for a free as in freedom alternative to Disqus. Disqus is a third-party comment system for any website.

Feature requested:

  • Shouldn't require me to host it
  • Integrate on any page in my website
  • Be free as in freedom

It would be preferable that:

  • It would be easy to use
  • It be coded in an exotic language (i.e. no Python, no PHP, no Node.js)
  • I could choose where to store comments
  • It includes a sophisticated up/downvote system
Improve this question
4
  • 1
    What specifically do you mean by "exotic?" Are you referring to a Domain-Specific Language?
    – Robert Harvey
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:35
  • This kind of thing. I agree it might be a bit subjective, but as it is only some side-requirement, I decided to keep it.
    – VicAche
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:44
  • That seems like kind of a specious software requirement.
    – Robert Harvey
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:45
  • TSC is way worse.
    – VicAche
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 18:09

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
13

How about Discourse? enter image description here

I'm a touch biased, as it was created by our co-founder Coding Horror, (without whom I'd probably still be working as a finance exec, grinding orphans into money burgers for the rich to feed their pets,) but it seems to nail most of your criteria:

  • It's open-source
  • They offer (paid) hosting if you don't want to do it yourself
  • It's a JavaScript application that runs in your web browser, using the Ember.js JavaScript framework. The server side of Discourse is written in Ruby on Rails with a Postgres database, and Redis server cache.

At a glance, it looks more like a tool for stand-alone discussion forums, but seems to also be a much improved way to discuss "parent" pieces of content, instead of other commenting systems - that's just what boingboing did.

Improve this answer
5
  • Ruby on rails - that's a fun language :). I'll give it a try.
    – VicAche
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 16:39
  • What about a voting system tho? And I get a "kindle" icon following me on every page on boingboing, is it linked to discourse? I would hate this.
    – VicAche
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:22
  • @VicAche, I think discourse has a "top posts" feature where the most "starred" posts in a dialogue are displayed at the top, but it's not a pure, fully-integrated vote-ranking. I'm not sure about that kindle thing, but I'd be very surprised if it were a mandatory component of Discourses; I suspect it's a boingboing choice.
    – Jaydles
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:26
  • OK. My main concern with isso is the poor voting system, it's easier to delete/edit a post than to come back on a cast vote, and it seems that Discourse isn't really doing better.
    – VicAche
    Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 17:28
  • This feels like more of a reframing of the question, than an answer for it. I get that BoingBoing talked up their then-recent switch from Disqus to Discourse forums as if that was somehow a new idea. Even though Ars Technica, for one, have operated their article comments like that since time immemorial — except at Ars, the comment posts hosted in each article's discussion forum are also integrated directly into the article page as on-site comments. BoingBoing claimed that "At Boing Boing itself, the best comments will often appear under the posts" which is hardly the same thing at all.
    – FeRD
    Commented Apr 14, 2022 at 19:41
5

An interesting alternative I found is isso.

  • It can be hosted away from my static pages
  • It integrates well
  • It is free as in freedom.

As for the other requirements:

  • It is pretty easy to use
  • It is coded in a well-known language, Python, which is a bit boring - not fine
  • It stores comments in a sqlite database by default - not fine
  • It does include a voting system, but votes cannot be updated even after comments are edited.
Improve this answer
2

Talkyard is a new alternative this year 2018. It's similar to Disqus: threaded, and best comments shown first.

Your requested features:

  • Shouldn't require me to host it: Yes, fine. There's serverless hosting, see the link above. (It costs money.)

  • Free as in freedom: Yes, Talkyard is free and open source under the AGPL licence; you can install on your own server.

  • Integrate on any page in my website: Yes. Copy-paste a bit <html> into your page (or page templates). Or follow the instructions for Jekyll, Hugo or Gatsby.

Other features:

  • Easy to use: I think the hosted serverless version is easy to use. If, though, you want to install yourself, then you need to get a server, sign up for some send-email-service, configure Google and Facebook OpenAuth login apps, configure DNS settings, which takes some time. This is not specific to Talkyard though.

  • An exotic language: Why? :- ) Anyway, it's written in Scala and React.js.

  • I could choose where to store comments: The comments are stored in a PostreSQL database.

  • Up/downvote system: Yes. Best comments shown first, as with Disqus. And you can see what stuff people disagree about.

I'm developing Talkyard. Screenshot:



enter image description here


Bonus feature: Talkyard is community software too. You can create a discussion forum at forum.yourwebsite.com with StackExchange question-answers features, and Slack like chat features, that integrates with the embedded comments.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.