Best Self-hosted Comments & Community Widgets tools in 2026
8 self-hosted open source alternatives in this category
See also:
Community Events & Conference ManagementFederated Social NetworksFeedback, Voting & RoadmapsForums & Discussion BoardsModeration & Anti-Spam ToolsQ&A / Knowledge Communities8 services found

Flarum
Open-source PHP forum software for building communities
Lightweight, extensible forum platform built in PHP with a Mithril.js frontend, supporting MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL/SQLite and an active extensions ecosystem.

Remark42
Privacy-focused self-hosted commenting engine
Remark42 is a lightweight, privacy-focused self-hosted comment system with social/email login, moderation tools, notifications, and easy embedding for blogs and sites.

Isso
Lightweight self-hosted commenting server for websites
Isso is a lightweight, self-hosted Disqus alternative that adds a Markdown-based comment system to your website with a configurable JavaScript embed and SQLite storage.


Artalk
Self-hosted comment system for websites and blogs
Artalk is a lightweight, self-hosted comment system with a fast Go backend and a framework-agnostic JavaScript client for embedding comments on any site.


Coral (Talk)
Open-source commenting platform for publishers with moderation tools
Coral (Talk) is an open-source commenting and moderation platform for publishers, offering real-time conversations, GraphQL APIs, moderation workflows, and extensible plu...


Elgg
Open source social networking engine built in PHP and MySQL.
Elgg is a modular open source platform for building social networks and collaborative communities with plugin-based extensions.

Chirpy
Privacy-friendly, customizable comment system for websites
Open-source, privacy-friendly Disqus alternative with a customizable widget, real-time comments, moderation tools, and notifications for blogs and communities.


BuddyPress
WordPress plugin adding social networking and community features
BuddyPress is a WordPress plugin that adds member profiles, activity streams, groups, messaging, and extensibility to build community and social networking sites.
