Compare software

giscus vs Remark42: catalog facts
giscus	Remark42
Best for: Website owners who want comments backed by GitHub Discussions	Best for: Blog owners replacing Disqus with comments they host themselves
Free Free to use; the project says it has no ads or tracking.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Web	Self-hosted
Uses GitHub Discussions instead of a separate comment database Supports comments and reactions All 3 strengths for giscus Uses GitHub Discussions instead of a separate comment database Supports comments and reactions Offers configurable themes and languages	No external database; data lives in one embedded file Imports existing comments from Disqus and WordPress All 4 strengths for Remark42 No external database; data lives in one embedded file Imports existing comments from Disqus and WordPress Many login options plus optional anonymous comments Multi-site mode from a single instance
Visitors need GitHub authorization to comment Requires a public GitHub repository with Discussions enabled	Requires running and maintaining your own server Comments only; not a full forum
Web application, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: MIT
Account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Needs internet	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for giscus giscus.app Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Remark42 remark42.com github.com/umputun/remark42 Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.