Remark42 – Privacy-focused lightweight commenting engine | Remark42
Remark42 is a self-hosted, lightweight, and simple (yet functional) comment engine, which doesn't spy on users. It can be embedded into blogs, articles or any other place where readers add comments.
Categories:
Remark42 is a self-hosted, lightweight, privacy-focused commenting engine for embedding into blogs, articles, and websites.
🚀 Overview
Remark42 is a self-hosted commenting system designed as a privacy-respecting alternative to services like Disqus. It allows website owners to add threaded comments to their sites without relying on third-party trackers or data harvesters.
What problem does this project solve? It addresses the privacy issues of popular commenting platforms that spy on users through cookies, analytics, and data sharing. Remark42 stores minimal user data (hashed IDs, proxied avatars), supports self-hosting in a single Docker container, and ensures no cross-site tracking.
Who is it built for? Bloggers, developers, and site owners who want full control over comments, easy integration (via JS embed), and features like social logins, moderation, and notifications.
Why did you build it? To create a simple, functional comment engine that prioritizes user privacy and deployability without external dependencies or spying.
✨ Key Features
- Multi-level nested comments with tree or plain views, Markdown support, image drag-and-drop uploads
- Social logins (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Discord, Telegram, etc.), anonymous access, email login
- Moderation tools: voting, pinning, user blocking, admin notifications (email, Telegram, Slack, webhooks)
- Import from Disqus/WordPress, JSON export/backups, RSS feeds
- Optional: Multi-site support, dark/light themes, automatic SSL
🛠 Tech Stack
- Frontend: Preact, Redux, TypeScript, CSS, JavaScript
- Backend: Go
- Database: Embedded single-file (no external DB required)
- Auth: Social OAuth providers, JWT cookies
- Hosting: Docker, self-contained binaries (Linux/Windows/macOS), Vercel not applicable (self-hosted)
👥 Who Is This For?
This project is useful for:
- Developers who want to add privacy-focused comments to static sites or apps
- Bloggers looking for self-hosted Disqus alternatives
- Teams building content platforms without vendor tracking
📸 Screenshots / Demo
- Live demo: https://remark42.com/demo/
- GitHub: https://github.com/umputun/remark42
🔥 Project Status
- 🟢 Actively building
Last updated: 2026-03-24
❓ FAQ
Is this project free?
Yes / Open Source (Fully free under MIT license, self-hostable with no costs beyond hosting.)
Is the source code available?
Yes — https://github.com/umputun/remark42
Can I contribute?
Yes — follow backend/frontend contributing guides at https://remark42.com/docs/contributing/, open issues or submit PRs on GitHub. Translations also welcome.
📬 Contact & Links
- Website: https://remark42.com
- GitHub: https://github.com/umputun/remark42
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/umputun
- Email: (via GitHub issues or Patreon)
Built with ❤️ and kept warm on WarmIndex.
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