Open-source Disqus alternative, with hot-reloading and guest commenting

In plain words

This is an open-source alternative to Disqus that enables developers to add commenting functionality to websites. It supports guest commenting and features hot-reloading for development. The software is available free and can be deployed by users on a free Heroku instance, making it accessible for developers seeking a self-hosted commenting solution without licensing costs.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

I've patched Commento to fix lots of bugs and add new features! Changes from upstream: Source code and deploy it all to a free Heroku instancefrom demo.souradip.com

• IM
  I'm working on a open-source, self-hosted alternative to Disqus2021 · cusdis.com · ▲436
• 
  Commento: Lightweight, open source, tracking-free alternative to Disqus2017 · github.com · ▲233

  A fast, bloat-free comments platform (Github mirror) - adtac/commento

• 
  CommentBox.io2018 · commentbox.io · ▲120

  A beautiful, ad-free alternative to Disqus.

• CA
  Commento: a fast, privacy-focused alternative to Disqus2019 · commento.io · ▲271
• 
  CommentBox.io – a responsible alternative to Disqus2018 · commentbox.io · ▲64

  Hosted commenting that's painless to embed, a pleasure to use, and a breeze to moderate.

• 
  An open-source, self-hostable Heroku and Netlify alternative2021 · coollabs.io · ▲345

  coolLabs: Software without compromise. Free, open source, and built for you.

• 
  /dev/null▲490

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 4d ago · dev-null.sh

• 
  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 28d ago · github.com

• 
  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 26d ago · github.com

• 
  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 24d ago · openbot.run

• 
  Talanoa▲346

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 21d ago · talanoa.email

• 
  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 29d ago · corespeed.io

• 
  HEY▲1,862

  Email at its best, new from Basecamp

  Growth · 2020 · hey.com

• 
  Linear▲767

  Streamlined issue tracking for software teams

  Dev tools · 2020 · linear.app

• 
  Lemon.io▲693

  Hire vetted developers on demand at startup prices

  Dev tools · 2020 · lemon.io

• 
  Toy Faces Library▲657

  A fun diverse library of 3D avatars for your design mockups.

  Work · 2020 · amrit.art

• 
  A Reddit reader that looks like the frontpage of a print newspaper▲638

  Unim.Press is a Reddit reader in the style of a certain classic metropolitan newspaper

  Life & fun · 2020 · unim.press

• 
  Hacker News front page in the style of a print newspaper▲627

  Hacker News front page in the style of a print newspaper

  Life & fun · 2020 · wolfgangfaust.com