Choosing the right WordPress Comment Plugin is always been a topic of discussion among bloggers and website owners. The more you read about them, the more you find it difficult to choose the right plugin for your blog.
But it becomes even tougher when it comes to managing discussions around your blog posts, and determining which comments are valuable and which are not
It becomes a headache when you start to face those people who aggressively spam in the comment section.
To keep that thing in mind I decided to write an article on it. Where I will be discussing the best WordPress comment plugins for the website with their pros and cons.
I hope this will help you decide on the right WordPress comment plugin for your website.
But before we start discussing WordPress comment plugins, first understand the characteristics of a perfect comment system.
- Allows users to be notified every time a new comment is made.
- Which is easy to use and encourages discussion.
- Spam Protection.
- Encourages the audience to share the post on social media while commenting.
- An appealing user interface should load quickly.
- Functionality to reply to comments of other people as well as tag other users in them.
Now let’s find out what are comment systems available that have all these functionalities.
WordPress Comment Plugins For Website
1. WordPress Base Comment Systems
Despite many other powerful and advanced featured comment systems, many people still like to stick with WordPress’s base comment system. This is built-in, free, easy to use, and highly customization with a third-party plugin.
Pros
- It is easy to use and installed by default.
- It matches the User Interface of your WordPress theme.
- It pulls Gravatar for each commenter by email address.
- Certain types of content must be filtered by moderation preferences.
Cons
- It is highly susceptible to spam, even if you are using the Akismet plugin.
- It has limited functionality aside from posting and replying to comments.
2. Jetpack Comments
Jetpack is more than just a WordPress Comment plugin. It includes dozens of modules that require payment.
The interface is sleek and easy to use where users can enter their personal information to make comments. Users also get an option to subscribe to posts and follow-up comments through their own e-mails.
Features
- Akismet and Gravatars are supported
- Analytical features
- Automated social media posting and scheduling
- SEO tools for Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter and WordPress.com
- Brute force attack protection
- Secure logins with two-factor authentication (optional)
3. Thrive Comments
Thrive comments is new on the internet but grabbing the attention of bloggers and webmasters. It has been in talks among top bloggers. According to the creator of this comment system, thrive comments encourage engagement just like Facebook and Reddit.
On Facebook, if anyone updates their status or posts logical comments, within a few minutes they get likes and comments. On Reddit, they get upvoted and coveted trophies. On forums like Quora and Stackoverflow comments get rewarded and voted the best answer.
These unique features bring engagement and encourage users to participate in comments with other users.
Thrive comments system offers similar features that drive engagement and encourage people to comment on your post.
The interface includes social sharing buttons to send your audience what they have talked about to places like Facebook.
Let’s check out the infographic by Thrive Comments that explain how Thrive Comments is different from other WordPress Comment Plugins:
4. Disqus Comment System
Disqus comment system is very powerful with lots of features with social login. Disqus is the most used comment system among bloggers and website owners. It was introduced way back in 2007 and currently, it is serving more than 7,50,000 websites.
Pros
- Neat and Clean layout.
- Integrates nicely with social media for sharing content.
- Includes upvote and downvote comments.
- Notifies users of every new comment.
Cons
- Takes a few moments to load.
- Users are encouraged to create a separate account to comment.
5. Facebook Comments
Facebook comments have a lot of advantages. But the biggest advantage it has is no or very low spam as most real persons are associated with the Facebook profile. But the biggest drawback it has is that you have no comment management.
Pros
- Almost every person online has a Facebook account.
- Facebook is a trusted platform and highly recognizable.
- Easy integration and various WordPress plugins are available.
- The security level is strong. It can block accounts and moderate content.
- The comment made by any user is published on Facebook with a link to the post.
Cons
- Setting up notifications and moderation functionality requires a few skills that may be difficult for a newer blogger.
- Some users don’t like leaving comments from their personal Facebook profiles on a public website.
6. Livefyre
Livefyre is the recent addition to the 3rd party commenting and discussion system. Although it’s a new entry it is very powerful. It is very much similar to Disqus in many aspects but it is not as popular as Disqus.
Pros
- Comments can be liked.
- An easy login option for users using their existing social media accounts.
- Simple to tag to other users.
- Social Media Integration includes the ability for a user to share a comment on Facebook or Twitter.
Cons
- Slow Loading just like Disqus.
- The user interface is a little confusing.
- The free version lacks a lot of features. Unless you pay for the full version, the comment system is not that useful.
7. Comment Luv
A premium WordPress plugin and it is most used by those who love traffic and comments. Mostly because it is a great way for commenters to earn backlinks. After putting the comment, the visitor is asked to enter the link to his/her website or blog post. Just because of this functionality, blogs get spammed sometimes.
Pros
- Designed to work exclusively with WordPress.
- Automatically links the most recent blog post that encourages users to leave a comment.
Cons
- Does not look great on mobile devices.
- Some users may comment just to get a link back to their blog.
- Spam protection is not that strong.
- You will need to pay to get the full functionality of the plugin.
8. IntenseDebate Comment System
IntenseDebate is an Automattic product. There some many big names under Automattic with the likes of Polldaddy, WooCommerce, Akismet, and Longreads but it is most notable for WordPress.
If you are looking for some 3rd party plugin for the comment system IntesneComment can be a good option as the code of this plugin and your blog platform is managed by the same company.
Pros
- Highly customizable. CSS stylesheet is easy to work with.
- It is made by the same company, Automattic, and is well integrated into WordPress.
- There is a good number of add-ons available for the comment system, such as CommentLuv.
Cons
- Rendering under IE9 and Opera is not proper.
- Importing comments is a buggy process.
9. wpDiscuz
Many people think as you might be able to glean from the name, that wpDiscuz positions itself as a native WordPress comments alternative to Disqus. Essentially, you get most of the benefits of Disqus, without the baggage.
Here are some of the features of wpDiscuz:
Pros
- Ajax commenting
- Real commenting and live comment updates.
- A feature that
help s you to sort your comments by “New”, “Old”, and “Most Voted” - Anonymous commenting is similar to WordPress comments.
- “Read more” option for lengthy comments.
- Easy subscription to comment notifications via email
Cons
The user interface (UI) is not that appealing as compared to other comment systems like Disqus and Thrive Comments.
10. Postmatic
Postmatic is a super powerful, highly engaging WordPress comment plugin. This plugin helps your audience subscribe to both new posts and comments replied to via e-mail. Every time a new post is made your subscribers get the notification.
They get a notification for the subscribed comments. Here the magic starts!
People can reply to that email to post comments on the website. Which is a great way to boost engagement.
Postmatic is used by many top WordPress news and community sites like Elegant Themes, Torque, iThemes, etc.
Conclusion
If you ask me, I would recommend Thrive Comments to anyone. Since it encourages engagement and comes off with a better comment management backend
Apart from Thrive Comments, I like using the Disqus commenting system. It provides lots of features with social logins. It has better spam protection. Moreover, it has channel creation features that let you create and join various channels according to the topics on your website. It lets you drive traffic and build engagement.
Hope this will help you find the most suited plugin for your blog or website. Which WordPress Comments Plugins and discussion system do you find the most useful? Share them with us by putting them in the comment section below.
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