Isso
Lightweight commenting server written in Python and Javascript. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for Disqus.
Activity has dropped noticeably. Check the repository before committing to it.
Commit activity more than 30% of tracked projects; popularity more than 68%. How this is calculated.
Commits, last 11 months
| Stars | 5.3k |
|---|---|
| Latest release | 0.14.0 · 26 Mar 2026 |
| Repo updated | 15 Sept 2026 |
| Licence | MIT |
| Built with | Python, Docker |
Is Isso actively maintained?
Isso is under active development: 101 commits landed over the last 11 months, averaging roughly 4 commits a month in the most recent quarter.
The most recent tagged release, 0.14.0, is about 6 months old.
Isso ranks #27 of 40 tracked communication - social networks and forums projects. Several better-maintained options exist in the same category — they are listed below.
What Isso actually does
Isso is a self-hosted commenting server designed as an alternative to proprietary third-party embedding services like Disqus. It allows you to integrate comment sections into static sites or blogs using a combination of a Python backend and JavaScript frontend. Users can post comments, which are stored and served directly from your own infrastructure.
Best fit: It is a good fit if you want to remove third-party tracking from your personal blog and prefer managing your own discussion threads.
Worth knowing: The project sees slower maintenance activity, which may impact how quickly future security patches or compatibility updates are released.
Deployment notes
You will typically deploy this using Docker, ensuring you attach a persistent volume for the SQLite database storage and configure a reverse proxy to handle TLS termination.
Links
Isso as a replacement for
Alternatives to Isso
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