Remark42
Self-hosted comment engine that adds threaded discussions to any site with no trackers, no ads, and no third-party scripts loaded on your readers.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
Replace today:
Disqus
The Best Privacy-Friendly Comment Systems in 2026
Private alternatives to Disqus, vetted against our public criteria.
Showing 4 of 4
Grouped by threat level
Covered Easy start and good defaults for everyone
giscus
Comment widget that stores every thread as a GitHub Discussion, so there is no server to run and no ad scripts or tracking cookies loaded on your readers.
Cusdis
A tiny open-source comment widget that uses no cookies and needs no reader sign-in, with a self-hosted option and a hosted one for sites that do not want to run a server.
Hardened Some setup and real gains for the willing
Isso
The classic self-hosted Disqus replacement: a small Python server on a SQLite file that adds comments with no tracking and no third-party scripts.
No matches for those filters.
How they compare
A comment section should let your readers talk, not let a third party watch them. The hosted widget most sites reach for does the second job too: it loads tracking scripts, profiles the people who visit, and shows ads on your pages. The systems below add the same threaded discussion without any of that. Most you host yourself on a small server, one stores comments in a service you already own, and none of them sells your audience.
Why you can’t just turn off tracking in Disqus
There is no checkbox for “stop tracking my readers” inside a product that is paid for by tracking them. A hosted comment widget like Disqus embeds third-party JavaScript on every page that loads it, and that script behaves like a web bug: it records visitors, builds a pseudonymous profile from their address and browser, and follows them across the other sites that run the same widget. The ads are part of the same deal, removable only on a paid plan. You can tune a setting here and there, but the data collection is the business model, not a feature you can switch off. The only real fix is a comment system that never collects in the first place, which is what every pick on this page is built to do.
How we pick
Every comment system here is measured against our public listing criteria: it must be open source, load no third-party trackers or ads onto your readers, and keep the comment data somewhere you control rather than on a vendor’s servers. We favor engines a webmaster can actually run and maintain, and we note where each one asks something of your readers, such as a sign-in. We only list a system we would put on our own site, and we say plainly where each one compromises.
What to look for in a comment system
Four things separate a good pick from a liability. First, where the comments are stored, since that decides who holds your readers’ words and whether you can move them later. Second, what the widget loads on the page: trackers and ad scripts are the whole problem, so the right answer is none. Third, what it asks of a commenter, because an account wall quietly costs you replies from a general audience. Fourth, the upkeep: moderation, spam handling, and updates all land on you once you leave a hosted service, so pick a weight you will actually maintain.
Will I lose my old comments if I move?
Usually not. The fear of stranding years of threads keeps a lot of sites on a widget they dislike, but most of the engines here import an existing Disqus or WordPress export, Isso among them, so your history moves with you. The job is to export from the old service, run the importer on the new one, and check the threads before you switch the script tag. Do that on a staging copy first and the move is a quiet swap your readers never notice, not a reset.
How to switch
Pick one engine and decide where it will live: a small container on a server you already run, or, for giscus, a repository you already own. Add the one script tag to your template where the old widget sat, import your archive if you have one, and remove the old embed so its trackers stop loading. If you are leaving Disqus specifically, our Disqus alternatives page walks through the move. A comment box is rarely the only third-party script on a page worth replacing, so while you are in the template, our analytics and forms picks close the other two leaks that quietly track the same readers.
Frequently asked
- Why should I replace Disqus on my site?
- Because the cost lands on your readers. A hosted widget like Disqus loads dozens of third-party scripts on every page, tracks the people who visit, and shows ads unless you pay to remove them. A privacy-friendly comment system adds the same discussion without turning your audience into someone else's data.
- Are self-hosted comment systems hard to run?
- Less than they used to be. The engines here ship as a single small service you point at a database file, usually one container and one script tag on your pages. If you would rather not run anything, a couple of the picks offer a hosted option or store comments in a service you already have.
- Will switching comment systems slow my site down?
- The opposite. A hosted widget can add a megabyte of data and a hundred network requests per page. The systems here load a few kilobytes and no trackers, so most sites get faster after the move, not slower.
- Can I keep my old comments when I switch?
- Often, yes. Several of these engines import an existing Disqus or WordPress archive, so your old threads carry over instead of vanishing. Export your comments from the old service first, then run the importer on the new one before you go live.
- Do my readers have to make an account to comment?
- It depends on the engine. Most let people comment anonymously or with just an email, so there is no sign-up wall. One pick stores comments in GitHub and therefore asks for a GitHub login, which suits a technical audience but turns a general one away.
- Is a privacy-friendly comment system free?
- The software is. Every pick here is open source and free to run, and several charge nothing at all beyond the hosting you already have. The trade for free is that you handle the setup and the moderation yourself, rather than paying a service to do it.