Cactus Comments vs Remark42
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cactus Comments | Remark42 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Elixir | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 5,612 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Disqus | Disqus |
What are Cactus Comments and Remark42?
Cactus Comments
Cactus Comments is a privacy-friendly commenting system that uses Matrix rooms to store and federate comments on static websites. It is embeddable with a small script and works with any homeserver.
- Comments backed by Matrix
- Federated discussion
- Embeddable on static sites
- Privacy friendly
Remark42
Remark42 is a self-hosted, lightweight commenting platform that embeds into any website without tracking users. It supports social login, moderation, and threaded discussions.
- Embeddable threaded comments
- Multiple OAuth providers
- No user tracking
- Bolt embedded database
Cactus Comments vs Remark42: key differences
Cactus Comments is written in Elixir, while Remark42 is built with Go. Remark42 is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Cactus Comments. Remark42 is the more established project (first released 2017), while Cactus Comments arrived in 2020. Remark42 has the considerably larger community, at 5,612 GitHub stars versus 200.
Why pick each one
Choose Cactus Comments if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Elixir
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Remark42 if…
- Privacy-respecting
- Simple single-binary deploy
Watch out for
- Comments only
- Limited theming
Frequently asked questions
Is Cactus Comments or Remark42 better?
Remark42 is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Cactus Comments if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cactus Comments and Remark42 free and open-source?
Yes. Cactus Comments is licensed under MIT and Remark42 under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cactus Comments and Remark42 with Docker?
Cactus Comments: yes. Remark42: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Cactus Comments or Remark42?
Remark42 has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Cactus Comments. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.