Comparing Disqus to Giscus

Compare Disqus with Giscus for adding forms to your static site.

Disqus

Engage your audiences in discussions

Partial free

Overview

Founded 2007; acquired by Zeta Global 2017; not open source; data stored on Disqus servers

+ Pros

  • Mature platform
  • large community
  • social login
  • moderation tools
  • notifications
  • spam filtering

− Cons

  • Vendor lock-in
  • ads on free plan
  • data ownership concerns
  • privacy issues
  • injected JS slows site
  • centralized

Visit Disqus →

Giscus

A comments system powered by GitHub Discussions

Overview

Inspired by Utterances but uses GitHub Discussions instead of issues; self-hosting available

+ Pros

  • No ads
  • no tracking
  • open source
  • data in GitHub Discussions
  • themes
  • multiple languages
  • reactions

− Cons

  • Requires GitHub login
  • no responses display widget
  • ties to GitHub ecosystem
  • still actively developed

Visit Giscus →