Comentario vs Remark42
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Comentario
Privacy-friendly, self-hosted web comments engine
VS
Remark42
Privacy-focused lightweight commenting engine
| Feature | Comentario | Remark42 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 5,615 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Disqus | Disqus |
What are Comentario and Remark42?
Comentario
Comentario is a fast, privacy-conscious commenting platform that you can embed on any website. It is a lightweight self-hosted alternative to Disqus written in Go.
- Embeddable comments widget
- No tracking or ads
- Multiple identity providers
- Moderation dashboard
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
Comentario vs Remark42: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Remark42 is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Comentario. Remark42 is the more established project (first released 2017), while Comentario arrived in 2023. Remark42 has the considerably larger community, at 5,615 GitHub stars versus 700.
Why pick each one
Choose Comentario if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Watch out for
- Comments only, not a forum
- Younger project
Choose Remark42 if…
- Privacy-respecting
- Simple single-binary deploy
Watch out for
- Comments only
- Limited theming
Frequently asked questions
Is Comentario or Remark42 better?
Neither is universally better. Remark42 has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Comentario and Remark42 free and open-source?
Yes. Comentario is licensed under MIT and Remark42 under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Comentario and Remark42 with Docker?
Comentario: yes. Remark42: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Comentario or Remark42?
Remark42 has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Comentario. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.