Discourse vs Disqus: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Discourse and Disqus, two popular discussion platforms used on websites. We will highlight six distinct features that set them apart from each other.

1. Customizability: Discourse is an open-source platform, allowing users to modify and customize the code according to their requirements. On the other hand, Disqus offers limited customization options, primarily focusing on branding customization such as colors and logos.

2. Hosting: Discourse requires users to set up their own hosting server, giving them full control over their data and privacy. Disqus, on the other hand, is a cloud-based solution where the hosting is taken care of by Disqus itself. This relieves users from the technicalities of server maintenance but may raise concerns about data ownership and privacy.

3. Community Building Features: Discourse offers a range of community-building features, such as badges, trust levels, and user profiles, which can be used to gamify the user engagement experience. Disqus, although it provides basic user profiles, lacks the extensive range of community-building features offered by Discourse.

4. Moderation Tools: Discourse provides robust moderation tools, allowing administrators to have fine-grained control over their community. It offers features like post flagging, automatic spam detection, and the ability to set custom moderation rules. Disqus, on the other hand, has more limited moderation tools and relies on automated spam filtering algorithms.

5. Integration Capabilities: Discourse supports integration with numerous third-party tools and platforms, allowing seamless integration with existing infrastructure. Disqus also offers integration options but with fewer available plugins and limited flexibility compared to Discourse.

6. Pricing: Discourse is free to use for self-hosted communities, only requiring the cost of server hosting. However, if users opt for the Discourse-hosted option, there are pricing tiers based on the size of the community. On the other hand, Disqus offers a free plan with basic features, but advanced features like custom branding and analytics require a subscription-based pricing model.

In summary, Discourse offers greater customizability, community-building features, moderation tools, integration capabilities, and requires self-hosting or has paid hosting options, while Disqus provides a simpler plug-and-play solution with limited customization, moderation, and integration options.