Best / Comment widgets
Best open-source Comment widgets
The best self-hosted comment split in the c17.io catalog is Remark42 for an MIT Go widget (the published Disqus path), Discourse when the job is a GPL-2.0 forum rather than an embed — /compare/discourse-vs-flarum, Flarum when you want that MIT lighter forum, and NodeBB when you want that GPL-3.0 Node forum. This is not Disqus' every ad or moderate-comments SKU. A publication stays on /best/cms. A Circle-shaped community stays on /best/forums-community.
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Ranked picks
1
Remark42MIT Go comment engine (5,636 stars in the catalog) — the c17 Disqus path.
When to pick it: A widget on a post you already host.
5,636 stars in the catalog
2
DiscourseGPL-2.0 forum already on /best/forums-community (48,009 stars in the catalog). /compare/discourse-vs-flarum.
When to pick it: Categories and trust levels, not a Disqus embed.
48,009 stars in the catalog
3
FlarumMIT lighter forum (6,761 stars in the catalog). /compare/discourse-vs-flarum.
When to pick it: A PHP forum if Discourse is not the shape.
6,761 stars in the catalog
4
NodeBBGPL-3.0 Node forum (15,241 stars in the catalog).
When to pick it: A Node forum if the job grew past a widget.
15,241 stars in the catalog
How they compare
| Tool | License | Self-host | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remark42 | MIT License | Easy | A widget on a post you already host. |
| Discourse | GNU General Public License v2.0 | Medium | Categories and trust levels, not a Disqus embed. |
| Flarum | MIT License | Medium | A PHP forum if Discourse is not the shape. |
| NodeBB | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Medium | A Node forum if the job grew past a widget. |
Related pages
- Remark42 stack
- Discourse / Flarum stack
- Ghost / WordPress stack
- Replace Disqus
- Replace Circle
- Replace Skool
- Replace Facebook Groups
- Replace Stack Overflow Teams
- Replace GitHub Discussions
- Replace Discourse Cloud
- Replace Mighty Networks
- Replace WordPress.com
- Replace Squarespace
- Replace Wix
- Replace Medium
- Replace Ghost(Pro)
- Replace Memberstack
- Replace Outseta
- Replace Memberful
- Replace Patreon
- All best open-source pages
- All compare pages
- All replace pages
- All stacks
- Tools catalog
FAQ
- Remark42 or Discourse?
- Remark42 if you want the published Disqus widget. Discourse if the job is a forum — /compare/discourse-vs-flarum.
- Is this Ghost comments?
- Ghost members can comment inside Ghost — /replace/ghost-pro. This page is the Disqus-shaped embed.
- Is this Canny?
- A vote board stays on /replace/canny. This page is comments on a post.
- Are these free?
- Remark42 is MIT. Discourse is GPL-2.0. Flarum is MIT. NodeBB is GPL-3.0. You pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open /stacks/remark42-comments. Persist the data path. Embed one snippet.
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