Back in 2015, we made a big decision that changed the way our readers interact with us.
After using Disqus for about a year, we noticed something wasn’t quite right – our community felt distant, and engagement was lower than expected.
That’s when we switched back to WordPress’s built-in commenting system, enhanced with the Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin.
It wasn’t just a gut feeling — the results were clear. We saw a 304% increase in comment engagement, proving that sometimes, simpler really is better.
In this post, we’ll share why we moved away from Disqus. We’ll also talk about how we set up our current system and how it can help you build a stronger WordPress community. 🙌
To help you navigate this guide, here’s everything we’ll cover in the following sections:
Let’s get started.
Why Did We Switch Away from Disqus?
At WPBeginner, we started using Disqus in April 2014.
However, just a year later, we decided to switch away from Disqus. Let’s go over some of the reasons why we decided to make the switch.
Inserting Affiliate Links without Permission
Back when we used Disqus, it offered publishers the opportunity to earn a little extra money if they enabled Promoted Discovery. This enabled sponsored stories in the related posts section that Disqus could add.
Since we didn’t want any advertisements from them, we had all the settings unchecked.
Despite this, we later discovered affiliate links being added to our blog content without our consent.
Disqus attributed this to a “bug” related to their integration with VigLink (now Sovrn Commerce). It’s a platform that looks through your content and changes any link that they’re partnered with to an affiliate link.
We only became aware of this issue when we noticed traffic from VigLink showing up in our referral reports for OptinMonster. Which is ironic because it’s one of our own sites under the WPBeginner brand.
After looking into it, we reported the problem to Disqus, which they fixed, calling it a “bug.” They explained the behavior was unintentional and linked to a configuration error.
Still, the experience was concerning.
There was no public notice issued, and we weren’t credited for any of the affiliate revenue that may have been generated through this “bug.”
We also don’t know how long this was active or how many others might have been affected, and that lack of transparency left us feeling uneasy.
Sponsored Comments
We learned this from our friend Michael Hyatt, who noticed sponsored comments appearing on his site without permission.
He reported that you couldn’t opt out without assistance from the Disqus Support team. So, we contacted Disqus for an official response.
They confirmed that there was no easy way for individuals to opt out without reaching out to their support team. However, they noted that due to specific criteria for Sponsored Comments, most users would not be affected.
Nonetheless, managing spam comments was already challenging, and monitoring Disqus to ensure they didn’t enable sponsored comments on our site added to the workload. These additional tasks became too much.
📝 Note: When exploring this sponsored comments issue, we discovered a setting that was auto-enabled for cookie tracking.
At the time, it was located in the ‘Advanced’ settings tab. So, if you’re using Disqus, you’ll want to check if this feature still exists and disable it.
Significant Decrease in Comment Engagement
When we used Disqus, a few readers complained that it made guest commenting harder. Since Disqus was widely used across several top sites, we didn’t pay much attention to those complaints at first.
However, over time, our comment engagement dropped significantly. After disabling Disqus, we saw that our users were starting to leave more comments. Soon after the change, we noticed our comments increased by 304%.
Moderation Interface
At first, we were genuinely optimistic about Disqus’s new comment moderation interface. It offered a modern design and seemed like it could streamline how we manage discussions.
However, over time, our editors found that it didn’t align well with their workflow. While the interface might suit some teams, in our case, it ended up being less efficient than we had hoped.
📝 Note: This ultimately comes down to personal preference. We know many users enjoy the Disqus interface – it just didn’t fit well with how our team works.
What Did We Like About Disqus?
Despite some concerns with Disqus’ business practices, there were several features we appreciated about the platform.
Scalability and Site Performance
Comments are very resource-intensive. If you have a lot of comments on a post, then it will take a long time to load.
If many users leave comments at the same time, it will also impact your server load. The advantage of using a third-party commenting system like Disqus is that you can shave that server load off yours and send it their way.
Even if a malicious user attacks your site, it won’t impact your server because it has to go through Disqus first. However, please do note that this is only true if you have disabled Comment Sync.
Redundancy
The best part about Disqus was that comments were stored on a third-party database, which is extremely helpful in dealing with redundancy. We definitely miss that.
This means that if you ever have to do a failover, you can simply disable comments until your main servers are back. Although not ideal, this is the simplest option that you have.
Disqus Alternatives
Currently, we’re using the default WordPress comments and the Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin. The core software helps us streamline comment management. Meanwhile, the plugin lets our readers follow the posts they’re most interested in, which boosts engagement.
While we don’t use Thrive Comments at WPBeginner, we recommend it based on its powerful features and the positive experiences we’ve seen on the Thrive blog. It’s an excellent choice for anyone looking to enhance their WordPress comment system.
For more details, you can see our extensive Thrive Themes Suite review and go to the Thrive Comments section.
Alternatively, you can improve native WordPress comments by using a suite of additional functionality plugins that enable users to:
These are just a few examples. You can check out our expert picks of the best plugins to improve WordPress comments and find the right tool for your goals.
🔗 Related: We’ve tried Disqus and Livefyre in the past, but we’ve returned to WordPress comments because it just seems like the best overall option.
We hope this review clarifies our reasons for switching away from Disqus. Thank you for your continued interest and understanding.
For further reading, you may like to see our guide on how to manage WordPress comment notification emails or how to export email addresses from WordPress comments.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Moinuddin Waheed
Thanks for letting me know that disqus has some these bad practices and techniques in their part.
I have used disqus for a longer time for my blog comments and never knew that these are the issues with it.
I will definitely consider other options for wordpress comments. For now switching to wordpress comments.
Thanks a ton.
Sam Am
Great article , I used to have disqus for more than 2 years and I was always wondering why you guys are not using it. these days I was digging deep on my site and found couple of affiliate links redirects that I have never installed or dealt with. I just found out that it is from disqus “and I think you can disable them” but I decided to delete disqus all together since this is not acceptable doing something on my site with out my permission “it was automatically turned on”
it time to say goodbye disques, and thanks for the great post.
WPBeginner Support
Glad you liked our post
Admin
Frank Fajardo
I found your blog after doing a search on why Disqus would like to get quite a lot of permission from my Tweeter account, more than most apps that simply need my identity (email and name). Thanks for sharing. It makes me affirm my decision to not sign up.
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Vlado
Congratulation! Very good decision!
WPBeginner Support
Glad you liked our decision
Admin
Erving
Interesting. I was researching if going with Discus was the way for my website. Now I will think it thoroughly a bit more.
WPBeginner Support
Glad our experience could be helpful
Admin
Kingju Pendalo
Thanks for you review, I was wondering about setting Disqus on my website. Looks like I’m not going to go this way.
WPBeginner Support
Glad our tutorial could help inform you
Admin
Abhishek Dorik
Hey! Thanks for this, it’s a great read. I too was using disqus on one of my blogs and I totally agree with all the takes in this blog. Interesting!
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad you like our content
Admin
Muskie
What changes did you have to make to your theme to move away from Disqus. It is basically blocked in China and slows my whole website down so I think it has to go given how long I’ve lived in China.
WPBeginner Support
As our theme is a custom theme, we had to ensure we had a comments template but for most themes, there should be a comments template already.
Admin
Muskie
I plan to upgrade to WordPress 5 and then update my theme. Disqus has been blocked for two years in China it has to go if you want anyone in China to leave a comment on your blog.
Mathukutty P. V.
You said you are using wordpress native comment, but this comment box is different than my native comment box. Also could not find subscribe option. Why this change? One visitor complained the comment box below comments is difficult to access, and hence box should be above comments.
Tim
Links to comments never, ever worked in Disqus. The software just plain sucks. Finding older comments is incredibly tedious.
Betsi
What comment plugin are you using now?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Betsi,
We are not using any comment plugin.
Admin
Taylor
I “Happened” across this article and am very glad I read it, along with numerous comments shared.
I do NOT ever recall doing a “thing” with Disqus, and yet they had an account on me, linked to FB that was so old it had an email address I have not used in AGES, as in probably 7 yrs or. more? I shut it down tonight, but not sure that really means a thing. I never register anything with my FB account, ever! So this is interesting that they had it. Maybe somehow way back when I did, is all I can think of.
I am hoping closing the account is the same as also rejecting them of any rights to access any of my information, or to share such information in part or in whole. But I don’t know. (??) Anyone know?
When I go to make a comment in some sites, they ask for my email and they want you to click a box giving consent for them to have access to your whole life and your friends … These apps do NOT need my friend’s lists, contacts, location(s), phone number, place of work, my whole life…its none of their business, just so I can make a comment? So I close the window and move on, no comment made. Many of us move on. But in time I’m betting that will continue to change, which for me is alarming.
Privacy matters! I fear for the next few generations as they further and further remove them from any understanding of the value of privacy and their rights to it.
While I do have a Company website we have as of yet to place anything up that allows for “commenting”. in our blog/article section because we work in Psychiatric care and Human Rights needs for marginalized populations that are heavily stigmatized, to begin with.
The last thing I want any of those we serve seeing is all the judgemental comments and crudeness that has already done enough damage to their healing process. So as a company in our field of work, we are torn on how to handle this and continue to debate what to do. We want people to have a voice and place to share their views appropriately, and give support to those who would gain from it, while educating the communities that are the foundation to the world we live in.
A rational conversation would be great! Reality has shown me that is nearly impossible. There is the ideal world, then there is a reality.
If there is a really good way to have comments done filtered from the spam and the hate, I’d love to know what it is. Yes, we do use Word Press but I don’t know it inside and out. I plan to explore plugins, etc. but frankly it seems to me that the time consumption of self-monitoring of comments would be extremely time-consuming.
Thank you for writing the article, it did lead me to more information. and awareness of some complexities and even some tools I was unaware of. If I had not crossed this article, I’d have not even known I was in their system! That’s scary. So thank you!
Khary
I recently removed the plug in after all my comments seem to have disappeared. Then i did an import and comments reappeared, but greyed out. In frustration in disabled the plug in and voila trouble free comments. Wouldnt ever use that program again.
Val
I was about to switch from Disqus to WP native comments, but then I realize that in order to have Akismet spam protection there, I have to pay $5/month for that. With Disqus spam protection is included free. And I have not had ad problems that I know of. Are you paying for Akismet or is there another option? Thank you
WPBeginner Support
Hi Val,
Akismet is free for personal blogs. During the signup you will be asked to choose a plan. Select name your own price plan and then you can set it to 0.
Admin
Ed
I’m so glad you posted this. Unfortunately, I’m just now seeing it after having the worst experiences with them. One thing, I can tell you, that made me leave Disqus is the way they’ve made it really easy to block individual voices that don’t agree with the status quo. I posted a comment on NPR that they didn’t like, and they marked it spam. Next thing I know, after posting on another site, my comment got marked as spam again. That makes it sound like it’s just me being a troll or something, I know, but I’m not. I’m just not someone who’ll say whatever it is that people want to hear instead of a dissenting opinion. Now, every time I post a comment, I have to go through a process where I’m more likely to get marked as a spammer because of these past two instances. As a result, I don’t use Disqus to discuss anything–but they did leave me filled with disgust.
John S
I’ve read some sketchy stuff Disqus was doing before. As a Disqus contributor I was researching Disqus and came upon your experience with Disqus. I have to rethink myself using such a service that seems to do things a bit shady and underhanded. I don’t like Disqus because it tends to allow some really derogatory users who continue to berate other user comments without any ramifications. For me Disqus as sort of done a disservice to the web comment services by becoming more a negative then a positive way to exchange opinions and ideals.
John
Disqust wants to see my friends list and many other things in order to become their customer? Really? And it told me it found my secret account (everyone’s entitled to privacy) and asked me whether I wanted disqust to let everyone know about it and tie it up with my public profile? Seriously? Does Yelp have a buddy at Disqust? Cause Yelp is buddies with Twitter, which in turn allows Yelp president to freely spy on everyone’s comments at Twitter (no kidding). I find difficult to post even using the very Disqusting account. And I never allow them to connect with my Gmail, Facebook etc. accounts. Once Disqust blocked me from posting on Disqust and exposed to me that they knew everything about me and my posts. Nothing illegal on my side and who is Disqust, a Scotland Yard?
Jess Pacheco
This is some good insight. I actually came across this on my search for why my Disqus comments weren’t loading at the footer of my newest blog post. So, it seems like a lot of folks have encountered my issue with no solution.
Vincenzo
“When we enabled Disqus, few readers complained that Disqus makes it harder for guest commenting.” This is the main reason why I hate disquis.
Peter
This is a great article. Thank you for sharing. I was about to pay for Disqus but this has raised a red flag. Again, thank you.
Trina
I just stumbled upon this while I was just about to download the disqus plug in. I am glad I read it.
I have a few questions, at the moment I have a facebook plugin but my normal wordpress comment box is underneath. But I keep getting people trying to advertise in the wordpress comment box and it’s pretty annoying. I primarily work on facebook… would you suggest keeping the facebook plugin? I would like people to post from all platforms. Also, how do I moderate the comments?
Sorry for all the questions, I am relatively new to this. Many thanks
Ramin Faizy
Thanks for this great post i wanted to use disqus for my site but after this great post i will not use that thanks a lot