The default commenting setup of most blog and content management systems are quite simple. They only ask visitors for their name, email address and website URL. Ten years ago, that is all the information anyone really needed.
Today, with the popularity of social media services, the basic comment form is looking very dated. Due to this, few website owners keep the default commenting setup. It is common enhance the commenting system using a plugin (known as an add-on or extension in some platforms). These plugins help reduce spam and connect with popular social media services. They also allow commenters to be updated of new comments via email.
An alternative to improving your commenting setup is to replace it altogether with a third-party commenting system. These are sometimes known as external commenting systems.
In this article, I would like to show you the best third-party commenting systems that are available today. These services work with most blogging platforms and content management systems.
1. Livefyre
Livefyre is one of the most liked commenting services online. Used by top blogs such as Mashable and Endgadget, Livefyre is a real-time commenting system that is optimised for search engines and mobile devices. Users can login using a variety of social media services and can be notified of new comments by email.
Users can embed multimedia items into comments such as videos, images and audio. They can also bring friends into the conversation by tagging them via Twitter.
2. DISQUS
DISQUS is a flexible commenting system that supports all major blogging platforms. It is optimised for mobile devices, allows real-time commenting and offers instant email notifications. Images and videos can also be inserted into comments.
Comments can be moderated through a unique dashboard that has spam controls and blacklists. Analytics about your commenters can also be seen.
3. Intense Debate
Developed by the Automattic team, Intense Debate is a third-party commenting system that allows commenting through Twitter, Facebook, Open ID and more. It supports threaded comments, email notifications and replying via email.
What I have always found strange is that other Automattic projects do not use Intense Debate. Take a look at the blogs of WordPress, VaultPress and Akismet; you will find the default commenting system being used instead of Intense Debate.
4. Vicomi
A new commenting system that features a Twitter-like follow and follower system. Users can share their thoughts by selecting one of the available emoticon icons. This seems very gimmicky to me, though it is something that no other commenting system currently offers.
5. Facebook
The Facebook commenting system is being used by a lot of websites; particularly those that rely on a lot of traffic from Facebook. It offers a good experience for Facebook users, however it forces people to use Facebook in order to leave a comment on your website. This may be an issue with readers who do not use Facebook or do not like using Facebook.
6. Google+
Officially, Google+ comments are only available to Blogger users. It is, however, possible to add Google+ comments to your website using a plugin. For example, Comments Evolved (formerly Google+ Comments) allows you to add tabs for Goggle+, Facebook, DISQUS and WordPress.
Which Commenting Solution is Right for You?
All of the commenting systems noted in this article have their pros and cons. If you are unsure about which commenting solution to use, I recommend trying each service out. It is the most effective way of seeing what a service can offer.
Please note that the first three commenting solutions (Livefyre, DISQUS and Intense Debate) sync comments from your blog to their service. Comments are also synced back. This ensures that your database is always up to date and and gives you the option of switching to another solution at a later date.
The last three commenting solutions (Vicomi, Facebook and Google) do not sync comments. All comments are stored on the third-party service. This means that if you ever change your commenting solution, all of the comments that were published through the previous service will be lost. Bear this in mind when choosing the commenting solution for your website.
I’d love to hear from you though use a third-party commenting solution. What is your favourite service and why?
Kevin
I have tried other services but I have always reverted back to the original WordPress commenting system.
great post. It is really a detailed comparison of the available famous commenting systems.
Thanks Kevin for comparing these third party commenting systems
But i loved Disqus it is awesome and most of the websites are using it.
Yeah, but in my mind and according to my own experience, Disqus is real good. I love that.
Hey,
this is really good tips thank you
Thanks Kevin for comparing these third party commenting systems
But i loved Disqus it is awesome and most of the websites are using it.
We’re throwing our hat in the ring with a new native WordPress commenting plugin (Epoch) that is realtime, cache friendly, and improves site performance. It’s free, too. Check it out at http://wptavern.com/postmatic-brings-100-realtime-commenting-to-wordpress-with-epoch-plugin
Here are some of the benefits of using Epoch:
1. Both loading comments and submitting comments are incredibly fast. Way faster than Disqus. Faster than any comment system we’ve seen.
2. For the first time someone can say this: running native WordPress commenting will actually increase your site performance.
3. It is fully CDN and cache compatible.
4. Commenting is realtime and updated without page refresh, all the while being incredibly gentle on the server.
5. Epoch offers three ways to integrate with your theme.
a. The first tries to continue using your existing comment template but giving you the performance gains.
b. The second overrides your comment template but inherits typography and colors from your theme.
c. The third totally replaces your comment template ala’ Disqus or Jetpack Comments.
6. Since it uses native commenting it is completely private. No farming of user data. No profiling. Your data stays on your server.
7. It’s compatible with dozens of other commenting plugins to add things like social login, toolbars, attachments, subscriptions…
8. Epoch and Postmatic are integrated to play well together. For example when leaving a comment in Epoch, Postmatic can pop up an optin modal prompting the commenter to subscribe to new post notifications with just one more click.
Hi Daniel.
I am not sure if I would classify Jetpack as a third-party comment system.
It’s kind of in a grey area. Jetpack displays an iframe from WordPress.com, but all the comments are stored on your own WordPress database. Nothing is stored externally. So in that respect, Jetpack is more of a comment form replacement, not a complete commenting system.
It does, however, deserver to be mentioned, as it is a great option :)
Kevin
Hi there,
great post. It is really a detailed comparison of the available famous commenting systems.
But in my opinion, Jetpack should be added in this list. As it provides commenting system, makes a website mobile responsive and has many other customization options
So, it is a better alternative.
Thanks for letting me know all the various commenting system I think that disqus is the best and many big blogs are using disqus on their blogs and websites! Keep up the good work
Hi Kevin!
Thanks for the reviews
We have recently launched a premium-plugin for comments.
It has all the best features from the 3rd party commenting systems, but it’s a plugin that builds an advanced experience on top of the native WordPress commenting system. So you can customize it.
Here is the demo: https://decomments.com/demo
all of the about commenting systems are awesome and interesting… but i loved Disqus and instansedebate… these two are really awesome… and they have lots of more features also…
A simple and on point review of the blog comment systems. I’ve tried, Disqus, Intensedebate and currently using Google+. The quality of this post has inspired me to link it on my blog post.
Thanks
That looks interesting. It’s certainly different to traditional commenting, though I get the impression it would get in the way of actually reading the article.
what about collamark popover(http://collamark.com/popover)?
A new comment system based on anotating.
Hello Kevin. Thank you for a very informative post. It’s really helpful.
:D
Very informative, especially since many bloggers like myself have trouble deciding which comment system to use. It’s convenient that many commenting systems have Wordpress plugins, and all the data transfers seamlessly.
At first I tried Disqus and realized that it was too simplistic. I have been using Vicomi recently, and I love seeing exactly what my readers think! The platform is super easy to interact with and I would definitely recommend it to any web owner who cares about the input of their viewers. Comments are categorized by emotions and the distribution of each emotion is helpful to note. Vicomi is also neat because each user has their own dashboard where they can see their commenting trends. (Also: users don’t need to create a profile to respond.) Two thumbs up!!
Glad you are enjoying it Dave. Vicomi is certainly different from its competitors.
Hi, thanks for the post.
I installed Vicomi (after using disqus) thanks to your post. It is working great and I feel happy that my comments platform doesn’t look like any other 99% of the market!
Thanks again!
Dave
Good article! Thanks for sharing your insights and comparing those options.
I’ve had a bit of a headache with this topic actually, and am now going back to blogger’s basic commenting system. From what I’ve learned and experienced, simpler is better.
I tried Disqus, LiveFyre, G+ and Intense Debate (CommentLuv) and found them all to be, well, not worth it.
Anyway, thanks for the comparison! :)
I’ve not considered LiveFyre (having a quick look now!), but I am happy enough with Disqus as it provides sharing options and helps me find articles I commented on long ago… but not this article since you don’t use Disqus. Disqus was also very easy to install thanks to the WP plugin.
How did you get the social logins to work with the Jetpack Comments? I don’t see the option anywhere.
Yeah I’m just using the default commenting system with Jetpack to allow commenters to receive updates.
I don’t see many websites using Intense Debate. Even WordPress does not use it, which is baffling. Have you looked at Livefyre as an alternative to DISQUS?
Hi Kevin, great article you have here. I set up Disqus on mine, I’m not sure if I’ll keep it but it helps me keep track of comments across various websites. I was wondering about your site here, it looks like you use the default Wordpress system, or at least a Jetpack upgraded version of the default system. I may try this or Intense Debate myself but can’t yet because my host has had a DDOS attacking causing many sites to run very slow if at all.