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Disqus alternative

The Disqus alternative for Hugo

Hugo builds some of the fastest sites on the web, and Hugo even ships a Disqus partial out of the box — but Disqus brings ads, trackers, and bloat. EchoThread is the privacy-first swap: one partial, included in your single template, and you are done.

Start free in 30 secondsRead the Hugo setup guide →

Short answer

Yes — EchoThread is a drop-in Disqus replacement for Hugo. Create a layouts/partials/comments.html partial with your snippet. For themes like PaperMod that already call comments.html, comments appear instantly without modifying single.html.

Why switch off Disqus on Hugo

No ads, no tracking

Disqus shows ads and loads cross-site trackers on its free tier. EchoThread serves no ads and uses no third-party cookies on any plan.

Light, not bloated

The widget is under 60 KB gzipped with zero dependencies and loads asynchronously — a fraction of Disqus's ad and tracking payload.

Free, and yours to leave

A permanent free Hobby tier, one-click import from Disqus, and a one-click export of every comment as JSON or CSV. No lock-in.

Add EchoThread to Hugo

  1. 1

    Create a free EchoThread site

    Sign up, add your Hugo site, and copy the API key from your dashboard.

  2. 2

    Add the comments partial

    Create layouts/partials/comments.html containing both the container div and script tag, using .Permalink and .File.UniqueID for page values.

  3. 3

    Include in layout (if needed)

    Themes like PaperMod include comments.html automatically. For custom themes, add {{ partial "comments.html" . }} to single.html.

Read the Hugo setup guide →

The difference that matters in 2026

Built for AI-generated comment spam.

Comment spam is now AI-generated — fluent, on-topic, and written fresh every time, which is exactly what a word list on its own can never catch. EchoThread gives you both halves: your own restricted-words rules, plus a first-party ML classifier (Siftfy) that scores every comment the moment it lands, so your Hugo comments stay clean without constant babysitting.

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Questions

Which identifier should I use in Hugo?
data-identifier with {{ .File.UniqueID }} is the safe default — it keeps comments attached to the right post even if you later change your URL structure. RelPermalink or a custom front-matter field also work.
Can I keep my existing Disqus comments on Hugo?
Yes. Import your Disqus export into EchoThread in one step; it matches old threads to your Hugo post URLs so existing discussions carry over. Export everything as JSON or CSV at any time — no lock-in.
Is EchoThread free for a Hugo site?
Yes. The Hobby tier is free forever — one site, unlimited comments, and 10,000 page views a month on sites created from 1 October 2026 (earlier sites are unmetered) — with no ads. Paid plans start at $9/month when you outgrow it.

Weighing the options? See the full Disqus alternatives lineup, the detailed EchoThread vs Disqus comparison, or our guide to comment systems for static sites.