Isso
Lightweight commenting server written in Python and Javascript. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for Disqus.
Description from awesome-selfhosted (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Still maintained? Yes: 19 commits in the last 90 days, latest release 0.14.0 (Mar 2026).
Also an alternative to Disqus.
At a glance
Isso quick facts
- Health score
- 80/100 GOOD
- Stars
- 5,310
- Last commit
- 5 days ago (Oct 2026)
- Latest release
- 0.14.0, Mar 2026
- Licence
- MIT
Top alternatives to Isso
Full rankings: Disqus alternatives
Why it ranks here
Health score explained
Isso scores 80/100, #23 of 40 in Communication - Social Networks and Forums: 19 commits in the last 90 days earn 22.2 of 35 points, the latest release (0.14.0, 7 months ago) earns 23.2 of 25, 5,310 stars add 14.9 of 20, an active, unarchived repository keeps 10 and Docker support adds the final 10. That places it in the good band (70 and above). The biggest shortfall is commit activity, worth 12.8 more points.
Recomputed nightly from the GitHub API. How the score is calculated.
- Commit activity biggest shortfall 22.2 / 35
19 commits in 90 days (30+ scores full marks)
- Release recency 23.2 / 25
0.14.0 released 7 months ago
- Stars 14.9 / 20
5.3k stars on GitHub (logarithmic)
- Not archived 10.0 / 10
Repository is active
- Docker support 10.0 / 10
Docker image or Compose file available
Commit activity
- 19
- Last 90 days
- 97
- Last 12 months
- 5 days ago
- Last push
Ranked #23 of 40 tools in Communication - Social Networks and Forums by health , between qpixel (#22) and Misago (#24) .
Details
| Licence | MIT |
| Platforms | Python, Docker |
| Latest release | 0.14.0 · 7 months ago |
| Stars | 5,310 |
| Open issues | 51 |
| Docker | Yes |
| Repository | isso-comments/isso ↗ |
Isso vs its top 5 alternatives
Active tools that share a comparison page or a category with Isso (Communication - Social Networks and Forums), scored on the same five terms.
Isso: common questions
What does Isso replace?
Repoly lists Isso as an open-source alternative to Disqus. Each comparison page ranks every alternative by the same health score, so you can see where Isso stands against the others.
Is Isso still maintained?
Isso had 19 commits in the last 90 days and its last push was 5 days ago; the latest tagged release, 0.14.0, is from 7 months ago. Repoly recomputes this nightly.
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