I’ve been using Disqus as the commenting system on this website for years now. It was convenient and did the job… until it wasn’t.

Recently, Disqus decided to start adding ads to their free tier. Here is the email I received:

Hi there,

You’re currently on our free Disqus Basic plan, which is our ad-supported tier that comes with only the most rudimentary features.

Ads will begin appearing on your comment section shortly.

Not interested in ads? No problem—we offer ad-free subscription packages, Disqus Plus and Disqus Pro, that come with more advanced engagement features like community Badges, enhanced moderation features that get rid of spam & toxic comments, and powerful analytics dashboards that give you detailed metrics about your commenting community and the content that resonates with them.

We’re currently offering free 30-day trials of both Disqus Plus and Disqus Pro. Just click the button below to learn more about our ad-free subscription packages and sign up for your free trial today!

Yeah… ads plastered all over my comment section is definitely not something I want on fcbrossard.net, so I started looking for an alternative.

I went through the testing of a few open-source alternatives such as Giscus, Cusdis and Isso, but I finally landed on Remark42. Very easy setup, and there is even the possibility to import your existing comments from Disqus, which I did.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to self-host their commenting system on their website / blog.

So long, Disqus