The Best Commenting System for Your Website

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A while ago, I had to do a survey of the most popular commenting services out there so I could use it on my highest-volume blog. 

My “must-haves” as far as commenting systems are concerned were:

  • Ability to do threaded comments (replying to comments)
  • Support for anonymous comments (not requiring sign-in)
  • Ability to easily subscribe to comments
  • Good spam filtering
  • Email notification to admin when someone comments
  • Comment form at the TOP of the comments rather than the bottom in order to make commenting easy without a lot of scrolling!

For me, some “nice to haves” were:

  • Ability to upvote or like comments
  • Ability to embed photos
  • Truly anonymous commenting (no email required)
  • Third-party login (Facebook, etc.)

Only ONE commenting platform met all of my requirements!  Here’s a rundown of the most popular commenting systems with my top pick first!

WordPress-Only Commenting Plugins

If you are running a WordPress site, you get a commenting system built-in for free.  That’s what I use on this site. Frankly, as time has gone on, I’ve returned to native WP commenting on several of my personal sites, especially with the increased privacy concerns of GDPR.

However, WordPress comments alone have some pretty big deficiencies. Happily, many of these are fixable using plugins.

Native WordPress Comments

Pros

  • Built into WordPress!
  • The comments are on your server, so there are no ownership or privacy issues of some other company seeing your comments.
  • Allows commenting with no sign-in
  • Implemented with PHP instead of JavaScript, so it will work even with JavaScript disabled, and it loads immediately when the page loads.
  • Tons of plugins to add more features such as “likes” or embedding images.

Cons

  • Commenters are not informed when someone replies to their comment! Huge problem!
  • Commenting requires a page reload rather than using Ajax, resulting in a slow and clunky user experience when commenting.
  • Comments are paged so that when you happen to be at a page boundary, only one comment shows up even though you might have many more.
  • Depending on your theme, appearance can be dated compared to modern commenting services

It’s got a sleazy-sounding name that makes it sound like a bad ripoff of Disqus (see below), but wpDiscuz is actually an awesome commenting platform that pretty much fixes all of the deficiencies of native WordPress commenting! As the name implies, this commenting plugin has a “Disqus-like” feel but uses the native WordPress database. I really like that because it means my comment data is on my server, not Disqus’ or anyone else’s!

wpDiscuz is very customizable and has tons of options. Some features I particularly like include the ability to upload images in comments, AJAX comment submission (so the whole page doesn’t refresh), and anonymous commenting.

If you’re looking for a sleek modern commenting platform for your WordPress site but hate the problems that Disqus brings (see below), check out wpDiscuz. I use it on all of my blogs, including this one. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it’s totally FREE!

Pros

  • Uses the WordPress database but has Disqus-like features like AJAX loading (doesn’t require page refresh after submitting comments)
  • Allows anonymous commenting
  • Allows customizing of comment form (for example, removing the “website” field)
  • Allows lazy-loading of comments, or “Read More” after set number of comments! (Just disable paging in WP admin Settings -> Discussion). This is a great fix for a fundamental deficiency in native WordPress comment paging!
  • Allows image uploading!
  • The built-in spam filter works better than Akismet or any other spam filter I’ve tried!
  • Has voting
  • Has subscription (actually, many types of subscriptions!)
  • Allows social sign-in
  • Free!

Cons

  • Has so many settings (which is good) it might take some time to learn how to set everything up to your liking.

Jetpack Comments

The Jetpack plugin offers some nice modifications to the default WordPress native commenting system like social login and AJAX submissions. A separate feature in Jetpack is the ability for commenters to subscribe to comment threads on Posts (not Pages or CPTs). Definitely worthwhile if you’re not using wpDiscuz and already have Jetpack installed.

Pros

  • Social commenting
  • AJAX comment submission
  • Subscriptions

Cons

  • I had some issues with the AJAX submissions getting blocked by security features on my hosting once. Just check and make sure commenting works on desktop and mobile

Some WordPress Commenting Helper Plugins

  • DCO Comment Attachment
    If you use WordPress’ native commenting system, this plugin allows users to upload file types of your choosing, including images, videos, and PDFs, to their comments. File size limits are selectable. WPDiscuz has this capability built in.
  • WP Open Comment Links in New Window
    I hate it when links in comments open in the current browser window. This plugin opens a new window for comment links, which is how WordPress comments should have worked in the first place.

Free Commenting Services You Can Use On Any Website

HTML Comment Box

HTML Comment Box is the free commenting system that I used on my first HTML site. It’s an old-school, no-frills, commenting system that looks a bit home-brew. But you can use it on any site by simply pasting in some code.  It does place ads on your site unless you upgrade.

HTML Comment Box offers truly anonymous comments with no email address required, which can be really useful in some cases and is super easy to install. However, it’s kind of out of date in other respects.

Pros

  • Simple and easy to use.
  • Loads quickly with page (does not use AJAX).
  • Allows truly anonymous commenting without even email address! (If you set it that way)
  • Comment form at top if you want.
  • Good spam protection (I never had a problem).
  • Can download your comments to spreadsheet at any time.

Cons

  • Has threaded comments, but they don’t appear threaded. The just show up chronologically so it’s hard to see who is responding to whom.  This is far behind the competition. (Note, this might have been fixed by now)
  • Old look and features.
  • No social media integration.
  • Commenting requires a page refresh, so it’s a bit slow in use.
  • Doesn’t allow uploading images in comments
  • Places ads on your site unless you upgrade

Facebook Comments

I experimented with Facebook comments on one of my blogs a few years ago and removed it after a few weeks.  The huge showstopper for me was that you couldn’t control the order that the comments were displayed.  Facebook decided the order rather than displaying them chronologically, which was absolutely terrible.

Checking out the example on the Facebook comments plugin site, I see that Facebook has now made this settable using a pulldown.  Comments can be shown according to top, newest, or oldest.  Unfortunately, it defaults to “top”, when I want “newest”.

There was some excitement about Facebook comments when it came out, but I’m not seeing it on many sites anymore. The fact that only people on Facebook can comment is a huge disadvantage, with more and more people being concerned about Facebook due to privacy issues.

Also, I think it’s pretty safe to say that you will get fewer comments if you use Facebook comments compared to non-Facebook systems.  But, you’ll probably get fewer trolls and spammers too. It’s very rare that I see a website with Facebook commenting these days.

Pros

  • Free!
  • No anonymous commenting.  This will reduce trolling and spamming, and you get to see exactly who is commenting (photo, name, and more)
  • Familiar user interface for those who use Facebook.
  • Can click on user profiles to learn more about them. Useful!

Cons

  • Only people with Facebook accounts can comment.  This will discourage or prevent many people from commenting!
  • Comments reside on Facebook servers.  Can’t import them into WordPress if you change commenting systems. Facebook can mine your comments for data.

IntenseDebate

IntenseDebate is owned by Automattic, the makers of WordPress, but you can implement IntenseDebate comments on any site, not just WordPress sites. 

I have not tried IntenseDebate on any of my sites; I’ve just researched it.  It seems fine to me, with no showstopping problems, but the look is really old-school.  It’s definitely not as hip-looking as Disqus (in my personal opinion). Their site hasn’t been updated in a while so I wonder how long this one will be around.

This seems like a good service but didn’t stand out enough for me to choose it.  It does offer import of existing WordPress comments if that is important to you. I haven’t seen any new features in a while so I wonder if this platform will be retired soon though.

Pros

  • Free!
  • Can import your existing WordPress comments into it, for a seamless transition
  • Comment data is located on your servers, not theirs
  • Nice features such as upvoting, downvoting, threaded comments.

Cons

  • Threaded comments are not shown by default.  You have to expand them (there might be a setting for this).
  • Subscribing is done through a pulldown (not as easy as a checkbox).
  • Email address is required to comment.
  • Comment form is at bottom of comments.
  • Not sure if it has been updated in a while.

Disqus

Disqus is the most popular third-party commenting system and is ubiquitous. I used it for years but recently switched after it started getting blocked in my Chrome browser (it would sometimes load but it would take forever). My commenting also dropped off; not sure if that was the reason or not. But, Disqus definitely comes with a lot of baggage, i.e., ads (unless you upgrade), tracking, and privacy issues.

The worst insult was when I tried to migrate my comments from Disqus into WordPress. The migration code was super buggy and it dropped many of my replies. In the end, I had to migrate my comments in small chunks of 40 or so at a time.

Pros

  • Free
  • Familiar interface because it’s used on many sites
  • Nifty features like upvoting, downvoting, sign in with Facebook/Twitter/Google plus, threaded comments, sharing
  • Look is quite nice out of the box.
  • Ability to include photos in comments.

Cons

  • Although you own the comments, the comments reside on Disqus’ servers.
  • Has tracking and privacy issues; blocked by my Chrome antivirus plugin.
  • For anonymous commenting, users have to check a box that says “I’d rather post as a guest”.  Email address is still required, so it’s not truly anonymous (this may be a “pro” or “con”).
  • Loads after the rest of your site loads, so it can be slow to show up.
  • Buggy on Chrome (sometimes wouldn’t load when I was using it; may be fixed now)
  • Migration plugin is buggy.
  • May insert ads into your comment feed.

Non-Free Commenting Systems

Commento

Commento is a commenting service with an emphasis on privacy. There are no ads or tracking, so there is a cost of $10/month or $99/year for 50K daily pageviews. Look is similar to Disqus, but cleaner.

Allows anonymous commenting, although that button is not as obvious and some commenters will definitely miss it. Does not allow adding images to comments (at least I wasn’t able to in their demo).

I need the ability to upload photos, so Commento was out for me. But, if privacy is a concern for you, you should look into Commento.

Pros

  • No tracking or ads; good for privacy
  • Clean layout

Cons

  • Costs $10/month; no free plan
  • Can’t add images to comments
  • “Comment Anonymously” button is not as prominent as regular “Add Comment” button

Commenze

Commenze is a new lightweight commenting platform that differentiates itself by being customizable. Price starts at $9/month for 10K monthly views (which isn’t a lot). The next service up is $25/month and is “ad-free”, implying that there are ads on their $9/month service, which doesn’t rub me right.

Hyvor Talk

Hyvor Talk is a newer commenting platform that you can install on any website manually or as a WordPress plugin. Cost starts at $5/month for 100K page views per month. Commenters can upload images. There’s a demo right on their home page.

As far as I can tell, commenting requires login; there is no anonymous commenting. This can be a plus or a minus, depending on your needs. I haven’t tried this, but it has the features I would need.

ReplyBox

ReplyBox has a similar look to Disqus but without ads or fluff, and with privacy in mind.

It does require login with username and password to comment (at least their demo does). There is no anonymous commenting. This can be a plus or a minus, depending on your needs. For my purposes, this is a showstopper, since I’d like folks to be able to comment without logging in.

Conclusion

I hope this article has been helpful to you. This site uses the wpDiscuz commenting plugin for WordPress.

Featured Image Photo by Nhu Nguyen on Unsplash

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151 thoughts on “The Best Commenting System for Your Website”

      • Hi Gomes,

        I would recommend using the Akismet plugin if you’re using native WP Commenting. If you want a comprehensive commenting solution, WP Discuz has good built-in spam filtering.

        Best,
        Brian

  8. Commenze allows any users to add a fully customizable comment section to their website in minutes. Comments sections on the online platforms encourage users to interact. They can share their opinions after reading the article.

  9. If you are using wp as cms you can block an comments if you like. All our web design projects we turn them off by the way Brain this is a pretty cool article thanks

  13. I am a junior website developer but i dont know How do i view website comment on my computer i dont know what to do Do I have to make some website or something for this or connect it to some other software plz reply if u read this

  16. The default comment wall in wordpress will do the job, just be sure it was paired with akismet or any other spam/security tool to prevent annoying spammers who place their website url on all places.

  24. Can someone please tell me what commenting system they use on this website? It only asks for comment, nickname (which can be anything you want) and for you to click a CAPTCHA button. I want to use the same system for my own website but I don’t know what they’re using. Here is the site I’m talking about: weeklygripe.co.uk/people-ignore-emails

  25. Great post! I just got ads on my site and I was so excited. I’ve made 2 cents but every bit counts! I’ll get there Once my kids are older it will get easier

  29. this is actually the best commenting system for any site i have tried alot of them but i always end up screwing my user interface thanks for the easy way out i would say .

  30. It really depends on what you need for your website and what other plugins you’re already using. For example, if you’re working with a fresh installation of WordPress you might want to try the WpDevArt Facebook comments plugin in this article. On the other hand, if you have an older blog and you already have WPMU installed just go with their Comments+ plugin to ensure there are no plugin conflicts and to keep plugin management easier for yourself.

  33. This is great website. This is very helpful to me, thanks for giving us such a great commenting website. thanks a lot

  40. When commenting on some blogs I saw this but did not know what it was, your tutrial was very clear to me, I liked it too much, I’ll forget to visit your site more times to learn more. Great!

  54. Hey Brian – very informative article. Definitely glad to connect with any publishers looking to build a live, social community around content. Reach out to me anytime at robert@spot.im.

  68. Shameless plug but I would like to drop my service into the hat, Remarkbox (https://www.remarkbox.com). I have implemented most of your “must haves” and I plan to eventually prioritize the remaining ones soon.

    Please check out my service and see if it can make the list!

    Thank you!

  73. Really great article Brian. Two questions for you: 1) Where does coding your own comments system sit in all this? 2. Do the Disqus ads make money for you or Disqus?

  75. Awesome post. It is very informative and it is really interesting to increase our conversation rate.Many thanks.It will help a lot.Keep writing. Thank you once more
    Take Care

  79. I need comment box code in my wesite only by javascript and html code . so can any one help me please .

  83. Hello Brian Shim
    Thank you for your article . Can you please tell me which comment box are you using ? Is it the default word press comment box or anything else ? and i’m using blogger . so what kind of comment system would be useful for me ? Disqus vs facebook or the default blogger comment box ? waiting for your reply

  85. Brian,

    i have searched a lot to enable anonymous comments in disqus, i could only find “Allow guests to comment” option and that’s it. Also, please guide me how to manually enable email notifications for the comments left.

    Thanks.

  89. hi, I’m trying to use disqus for my big cartel site and so i have to use the option. I was given this code;

    /**
    * RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT AND UNCOMMENT THE SECTION BELOW TO INSERT DYNAMIC VALUES FROM YOUR PLATFORM OR CMS.
    * LEARN WHY DEFINING THESE VARIABLES IS IMPORTANT: https://disqus.com/admin/universalcode/#configuration-variables
    */
    /*
    var disqus_config = function () {
    this.page.url = PAGE_URL; // Replace PAGE_URL with your page’s canonical URL variable
    this.page.identifier = PAGE_IDENTIFIER; // Replace PAGE_IDENTIFIER with your page’s unique identifier variable
    };
    */
    (function() { // DON’T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE
    var d = document, s = d.createElement(‘script’);

    s.src = ‘//wwwshebysadecom.disqus.com/embed.js’;

    s.setAttribute(‘data-timestamp’, +new Date());
    (d.head || d.body).appendChild(s);
    })();

    Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

    but can’t for the life of me find my PAGE URL and PAGE IDENTIFIER is….PLEASE HELP HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALL DAY!

  91. one more downside of intensedebate, you cannot change comment’s page url… so whenever you change page url, all the comments in those page are also left behind

  92. I want to mention the HashOver self-hosted comment software. http://tildehash.com/?page=hashover

    It’s a good way to go especially when you’re custom coding for a simple webpage and want to avoid 3rd-party comment systems since it’s all gonna work in your server.

    Also, the system works even anonymity for users in comments.

  93. Just 2 days ago I unfortunately get into the process of installing Disqus.
    The installation was a breeze. What came next was not.
    After wasting my time over two days trying to get the anonymous postings to work, I was finally informed that Disqus no longer allows ‘guest’ comments – you have to log in/register.
    That alone would have killed my interest in Disqus.
    But their help pages still show how to “enable” (Hahahaha!) anonymous comments.
    These two factors, aside from the fact that their comments layout is totally NON-user friendly were enough to give me … well…
    Lots of graphics and plenty of in your face Disqus advertising. What happened to the good old HERE or “Click HERE” English language?
    Not to mention their pathetic look-how-wanna-be-cool-we-are with their use of the word “Nah” instead of ‘no.’
    In short I was quickly out of there and really, really annoyed.

  95. Great review. I noticed the ads above your Disqus comment section that are generating your revenue. Are ads required when using Disqus or do users have the option to opt-out of advertising? I need an ad-free commenting service. If ads are required with Disqus, I’d appreciate a recommendation.

  96. Sir I have problem please solve this to make audio recorder like when I press R it should be start recording and when I press S it’s download the file and play audio which is I recorded by pressing R

    I show you the code

  97. Thank you! My design group is currently creating a website for a client and this was an extremely helpful article!

  98. hey there Brain shim.. this is jayasuriya and am from India,i need your help. actually am a student doing my final yr project. let me share my requirements i need your hands to finish for my following requirements. fairly am new to javascript, to be frank am at baby level. i know this is simple task but i can’t make it for past 6 days. i learn jscript by self interest.

    my requirements are as follows

    i want to create user’s conversation in my page.

    (i,e) if some user post their comments/suggestion means anyone can reply for his quires directly under his/her post..!! for example, like what actually happening in this page.. i post my requirement, i may receive reply from anyone. this is what i want as code in html/Javascript.

    could you pls give me code… at the middle of this month i’ve submit my university project else they failed me..

    helps will appreciated greatly.

    thanks in advance brother

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