Cusdis

Minimalist self-hosted comments

Open-source, self-hostable, ~5kb JavaScript comment system — the opposite of Disqus on every dimension that matters to indie publishers. Free if you self-host, cheap on the hosted tier. No tracking, no cookies, no required sign-in for commenters. The trade-off: minimal feature set and self-hosting needs real DevOps comfort.

Cusdis is the minimalist, open-source, self-hostable comment system that's become the indie-developer favorite for static-site podcasts and personal blogs. The embedded JavaScript is around 5kb gzipped — roughly 1/50th of what Disqus loads — which is meaningful if you care about Core Web Vitals or run a JAMstack site where page speed is a competitive advantage. The platform doesn't require commenters to sign in (just name + comment), doesn't use cookies, doesn't track anyone, and includes built-in i18n, dark mode, and email notifications with quick-approve links from the email itself. You can self-host the open-source version on your own server (free, but you handle ops, backups, and spam filtering) or use the hosted version on a small free tier with limited comments or pay for higher limits. For podcast sites that are static-generated (Hugo, Astro, Next.js), where the producer is technical, and where comment volume is low-to-medium, Cusdis is the cleanest possible solution — drop it in, forget about it. Downsides: the feature set is intentionally narrow (no reactions, no advanced moderation, no analytics dashboard), and self-hosting requires real DevOps comfort if anything goes wrong. For everyone not tech-savvy enough to manage their own deployment, the hosted tier is fine but limited. Repo is still actively maintained as of early 2026.