Newsletters & creators
What is the best comment system for a newsletter or creator website?
If you publish a newsletter archive, a podcast's show notes or a creator blog, your readers already talk about your posts — mostly somewhere else, like Bluesky or Mastodon. A comment system for your own site should bring that conversation home, bring readers back when someone replies, and never put ads next to your work. Here is what to look for, and when EchoThread is the wrong pick.
Short answer
A good comment system for a newsletter or creator site shows no ads, lets readers sign in with the social account they already use, emails them when someone replies, and pulls in the discussion your post started elsewhere. EchoThread's Starter plan ($50 a year) links a page to a Bluesky or Mastodon post so its replies appear in the page's thread, lets readers post their approved comment back to their own account, and removes the EchoThread footer. Bluesky and Mastodon sign-in and reply emails are free on every plan.
Who EchoThread fits, and who should choose something else
A good fit
- Newsletter writers who publish an archive or a blog alongside their emails.
- Creators and podcasters whose audience already discusses each post on Bluesky or Mastodon.
- Independent publishers who will not put ads or trackers next to their writing.
- Writers who want readers to come back when someone answers them.
Choose an alternative
- Paid-subscriber-only discussion behind your newsletter platform's login: use that platform's built-in comments.
- A members community with chat rooms and profiles: use a community tool.
- Comments that must live in your own database on your own server: use Commento or Remark42.
What to look for
- 1
The conversation your post started elsewhere
When you share a post on Bluesky or Mastodon, the replies stay there and your site looks empty.
In EchoThread: on Starter, link a page to a Bluesky or Mastodon post and the replies to it appear in the page's thread. See the docs.
- 2
Sign-in with the account readers already have
Readers who follow you on the fediverse will not create another account to reply.
In EchoThread: Bluesky and Mastodon sign-in are free on every plan, next to Google, GitHub, X, Facebook and Discord, and readers can post their approved comment to their own account on Starter. See the docs.
- 3
A reason for readers to come back
A reply nobody sees is a conversation that ends at one comment.
In EchoThread: readers get an email when someone replies to them, on every plan. See the docs.
- 4
Your brand, not ours
A creator site is the brand. A vendor footer under every post dilutes it.
In EchoThread: the EchoThread footer comes off from Starter, and colours and fonts are free on every plan. See the docs.
- 5
Fits your tools
New comments are a signal worth routing to wherever you already work.
In EchoThread: webhooks for new comments and approvals, and approve-from-email plus Slack and Discord alerts, from Starter. See the docs.
- 6
Light and ad-free
Readers arrive from email on phones. A heavy comment embed costs you the read.
In EchoThread: the widget is under 65 KB gzipped and loads no ads or trackers. See the docs.
Questions
- What is the best comment system for a newsletter website?
- One with no ads, social sign-in readers already use, reply emails that bring readers back, and a way to pull in the discussion your post started on social media. EchoThread does all four; Bluesky and Mastodon replies and footer removal are on Starter at $50 a year.
- Can EchoThread show Bluesky or Mastodon replies on my site?
- Yes, on Starter. Link a page to a Bluesky or Mastodon post and the replies to that post appear in the page's thread. Readers signed in with Bluesky or Mastodon can also post their approved comment to their own account. Signing in with Bluesky or Mastodon is free on every plan.
- Does it work with Ghost, Substack, Beehiiv or Buttondown?
- It works on any page where you can add a script tag, which covers Ghost and most self-hosted or static archives. Hosted newsletter platforms that do not allow custom scripts on post pages cannot run any third-party comment widget.
- Is there a free plan?
- Yes. Hobby is free for one personal site, with reply emails, social sign-in including Bluesky and Mastodon, and spam filtering. Starter adds Bluesky and Mastodon replies, polls, star ratings and footer removal for $50 a year.