The best free comment systems for websites in 2026

What counts as a free comment system?

A real free plan costs $0 with no end date, whether the vendor hosts it, it ships with your CMS, or it's open-source software on your own server.

A free trial ends after 14 or 30 days, and "free with ads" means the vendor places ads on your pages. Prices and limits below are as of October 2026.

The 10 best free comment systems

CommentCamp

CommentCamp gives independent publishers, bloggers and WordPress sites free comments and community spaces: unlimited threads, automated spam filtering, a moderation queue, member levels and optional Q&A. It will launch with a WordPress plugin and a universal embed script, and it's in private early access, so site owners join the waitlist and get an email invite as the rollout expands.

• Free plan: $0 forever, unlimited comments, no ads.
• Paid from: No paid tiers for site owners.
• Best for: Blogs that want comments plus community.

Disclosure: CommentCamp is our product.

WordPress comments

Native comments ship with WordPress core and live in your own database. Settings > Discussion covers name and email rules, nested replies up to 10 levels deep (5 by default) and pages of 50 top-level comments, and it holds any comment with 2 or more links for moderation.

• Free plan: Built into core, no limits.
• Paid from: No paid version.
• Best for: WordPress sites that want zero extra plugins.

wpDiscuz

wpDiscuz swaps in a richer comment form but keeps comments in the WordPress database. It has 60,000+ active installs and a 4.7 out of 5 rating from 581 reviews, with live updates, voting and social login for 13 networks, and no paid core version.

• Free plan: Full plugin, no limits.
• Paid from: Optional add-on bundles at $120 or $190.
• Best for: Feature-rich WordPress blogs; see the best WordPress comment plugins.

Jetpack Comments

Jetpack Comments comes with the Jetpack plugin (3,000,000+ active installs) and stays off until you enable it. Readers log in with WordPress.com or Facebook or leave a name and email, and the form loads in an iframe that needs a WordPress.com connection and third-party cookies.

• Free plan: Included in the free Jetpack plugin.
• Paid from: No paid tier needed.
• Best for: Sites already running Jetpack.

giscus

giscus stores comments in GitHub Discussions, so there's no database to run, and it promises "No tracking, no ads, always free." You need a public GitHub repo with Discussions turned on, and readers sign in with GitHub.

• Free plan: Free and open source (MIT).
• Paid from: No paid plan.
• Best for: Developer blogs and comments for static sites.

Remark42

Remark42 is a self-hosted Go server (MIT) that keeps everything in a single data file and says "There is no tracking of any sort." Readers log in with 8 social providers, email or anonymously; it imports Disqus and WordPress comments, and v1.18.0 shipped on October 11, 2026.

• Free plan: Free, self-hosted.
• Paid from: Only your server costs.
• Best for: Self-hosters who want social logins.

Isso

Isso is a lightweight Python server (MIT) that stores anonymous comments in SQLite, with no reader accounts. Its client script is 20kB gzipped, it imports Disqus and WordPress comments, and version 0.14.0 shipped on March 26, 2026.

• Free plan: Free, self-hosted.
• Paid from: Only your server costs.
• Best for: Minimal, privacy-minded sites.

Comentario

Comentario is a self-hosted server (MIT) on PostgreSQL or SQLite whose 20 KB gzipped embed adds no tracking pixels and no ads. It supports anonymous, local, social and OIDC single sign-on logins, imports Disqus, WordPress and Commento data, and v3.19.0 shipped on October 16, 2026.

• Free plan: Free, self-hosted.
• Paid from: Only your server costs.
• Best for: Self-hosters who need SSO.

GraphComment

GraphComment's hosted free plan has no ads and covers up to 1,000,000 data loads a month, unlimited moderators and 100 AI analyses a month. Readers need a GraphComment account, so there are no guest comments, and its WordPress plugin can import existing WordPress comments.

• Free plan: 1,000,000 data loads a month.
• Paid from: $29/month, or $25/month billed yearly.
• Best for: Hosted, ad-free comments.

Disqus Basic

Disqus Basic is free but "ads-supported with a Top ads placement required," and only sites that meet its ad network's quality standards qualify. Readers use a Disqus, Facebook, Twitter or Google login, or post as guests if you allow it; the WordPress plugin has 30,000+ active installs.

• Free plan: Free with required ads.
• Paid from: Plus at $12/month, or $11/month billed yearly, for up to 100,000 pageviews.
• Best for: Sites that accept ads.

Note: Want Disqus without the ads? Compare these Disqus alternatives before you pay for Plus.

Free comment systems compared

Free trials and dead projects to skip

Hyvor Talk dropped its free plan on September 5, 2020; after a 14-day trial, its Personal plan costs EUR 50 a year. FastComments says "There is currently no official free tier" and charges from $0.99/month after a 30-day trial. ReplyBox has a 14-day trial, then costs $13/month billed yearly at 100,000 pageviews.

Three free projects are no longer safe bets:

• Cusdis: archived on GitHub, with a README that says "Cusdis is deprecated now."
• Commento: commento.io returns a 404 error, and the last code commit was on February 28, 2021.
• utterances: no releases ever, and no code push since August 15, 2024.

How to choose

• Comments plus community, no ads: CommentCamp, free for site owners and built for WordPress and any HTML site.
• WordPress: native comments, or wpDiscuz for voting, live updates and social login. Both keep comments in your own database.
• Static site: giscus, if your readers have GitHub accounts.
• Any HTML site, no tracking: self-host Remark42, Comentario or Isso, or use GraphComment to skip running a server.

Setup steps for each platform are in how to add comments to a website.

Tip: Before you commit to a hosted tool, check that it can export your comments.

Free comments and community, without ads

CommentCamp gives site owners unlimited comments, built-in spam filtering, member levels and Q&A for $0, funded by optional member Pro instead of ads. "We never gate conversations behind paywalls or sell your data."

It's in private early access: join the CommentCamp waitlist and we'll email your invite as rollout expands.