Disqus
Commenting systems
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$11 per month
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What is Disqus
Disqus is a hosted commenting system that publishers and website owners embed to add threaded discussions to articles and pages. It provides user accounts, moderation tools, and spam controls, and it can centralize comment management across multiple sites. Disqus also includes optional advertising and analytics features, with deployment typically done via JavaScript embed or platform plugins.
Fast hosted embed deployment
Disqus is delivered as a hosted service with a JavaScript embed, which reduces the need to build and maintain a custom commenting backend. It supports common CMS and publishing platforms through plugins and standard embed patterns. This makes it practical for small to mid-sized publishers that want to add comments quickly without significant engineering effort.
Mature moderation workflow
The product includes moderation queues, user banning, word filters, and reporting tools to manage abuse and off-topic content. Threaded replies and sorting options help structure discussions for readers and moderators. These capabilities align with common requirements for editorial teams managing high-volume comment sections.
User identity and community features
Disqus supports user profiles, login options, and notifications that encourage repeat participation across sites using the network. It provides basic community mechanics such as upvoting and comment threading. For publishers, this can reduce friction compared with building identity and engagement features from scratch.
Data ownership and portability limits
Because Disqus is a third-party hosted layer, comment data and user identity are managed within its platform, which can complicate migrations or deep customization. Export and migration processes may not match the flexibility of self-hosted or fully open implementations. Organizations with strict data residency or long-term portability requirements may find this constraining.
Privacy and tracking concerns
As an embedded third-party service, Disqus can introduce additional tracking and third-party requests that may raise privacy, consent, and compliance considerations. Sites with strict privacy policies may need extra work to manage consent flows and script loading behavior. Some audiences also use blockers that can prevent the widget from loading, reducing comment visibility.
Limited UI and workflow customization
The embedded widget approach can limit control over the full user experience compared with building native comments or using more customizable frameworks. Deep changes to layout, interaction patterns, or bespoke moderation workflows may not be feasible without workarounds. This can be a drawback for brands that require tightly integrated design systems or custom engagement features.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free (ads-supported) | Core Disqus features: comments plug-in, advanced spam filtering, moderation tools, basic analytics, configurable ads. Top ads placement required for Basic; sites that cannot run ads may need a paid ads-free subscription. |
| Plus — up to 100,000 monthly pageviews | $12 per month ($11/month billed annually = $132/year) | Everything in Basic + option to turn ads off, available to organizations with up to 3 sites (combined monthly pageviews). Email/direct support. 30-day free trial available. |
| Plus — up to 350,000 monthly pageviews | $20 per month ($18/month billed annually = $216/year) | Same Plus features; orgs up to 3 sites. |
| Plus — up to 900,000 monthly pageviews | $35 per month ($31/month billed annually = $372/year) | Same Plus features; orgs up to 3 sites. |
| Pro — up to 1,000,000 monthly pageviews | $115 per month ($105/month billed annually = $1,260/year) | Everything in Plus plus: automated pre-moderation, shadow banning, timeouts, new-commenter pre-moderation, advanced analytics, unlimited API access, priority support, branding/styling options, badges/star ratings. Available to orgs up to 20 sites. 30-day free trial available. |
| Pro — up to 2,500,000 monthly pageviews | $140 per month ($125/month billed annually = $1,500/year) | Same Pro features. |
| Pro — up to 5,000,000 monthly pageviews | $180 per month ($160/month billed annually = $1,920/year) | Same Pro features. |
| Business | Custom pricing | Enterprise offering: everything in Pro plus SSO, dedicated account/1:1 management, custom integrations, remove Disqus branding; contact sales for pricing and entitlement. |
Seller details
Disqus, Inc.
San Francisco, CA, USA
2007
Private
https://disqus.com/
https://x.com/disqus
https://www.linkedin.com/company/disqus/
