Having a comments section on your blog is very valuable. It allows users to see what others have said or asked regarding your blog posts. WordPress has a built-in comment system for users to drop comments on your post. But, is this system the best? One of the cons of the WordPress preconfigured comment system is that it doesn’t prevent spam. So, you may have to spend a lot of time on comment moderation instead of doing other important things. Also, after users comment, they don’t receive support for their comments such as upvotes or downvotes. In this article, we will provide you with our 10 best comment plugins for WordPress.
Why WordPress comments aren’t that good?
WordPress comments have been around for a while. It has been undergoing drastic changes and getting constant updates from the community and the developers. But still, it is a very basic comment system That can be only utilized by basic WordPress websites. If you have a professional website with a lot of users, and you want to engage your community, using the default WordPress comments may not be enough for your requirements.
First of all, it lacks a good user interface. The comment system will be completely switched by the look and feel of your theme. Customizing it to look different will be a tedious task, especially if you are a beginner to WordPress.
The comment system also fails to filter out spam. Even though it does work most of the time, the spam comments still get accumulated in your database, consuming your valuable disk space. While there are other plugins that can prevent spam even before it happens, what WordPress does is very basic.
What are the best Comment Plugins for WordPress?
WordPress comment system may not be enough for all your needs. If you find yourself in a position that requires a separate plugin to manage your comments, use one of these –
1. wpDiscuz
wpDiscuz is a WordPress plugin that is active on over 50,000 websites. Although it wasn’t so long since it was released, it has quickly placed itself among the best comment plugins in the WordPress plugin repository. One of the most interesting features of wpDiscuz is that it comes with built-in lazy loading. This means that the comment section never loads until the visitor reaches the bottom of the page. So, it doesn’t affect your site speed in any way.
The plugin also comes with various integrations. It supports BuddyPress, anti-spam plugins like Askimet, and also social media integration. This plugin is free, but there’s an option to purchase any premium add-on of your choice from the 16 add-ons available.
2. Disqus Comment System
Thousands of websites use Disqus to manage comments on their sites. This is because this plugin comes with a lot of interesting features. One of these includes the ability to import comments from other platforms such as Blogger to blogging platforms that use WXR XML data. You may choose to migrate or delete all your WordPress comments.
So, even though you’re migrating from one site to another, you do not need to worry about losing old comments. One of the problems users have with Discus is that it monetizes the sites. Without your permission, it puts ads on your site, causing it to load slightly slower. To know more about this plugin, read our Disqus review.
3. Thrive Comments
When using Thrive Comments, you completely do away with the native WordPress comment system. It takes on a new interface and gives you fantastic features. This self-hosted WordPress plugin allows visitors to upvote and downvote comments they see on the site depending on how helpful it is to them, just like you see on Reddit. Then, you can set the comment section in a way that the most upvoted comments appear at the top.
At the top and bottom of the comment feed, there’s a button for users to leave comments. So, they don’t have to scroll to the bottom of the feed before they can drop a comment. All your Thrive comments are stored in the WordPress site’s database, so you don’t have to worry about importing them again.
4. Jetpack Comments
Jetpack provides so many features that make it one of the best plugins for WordPress. One of the features it provides is a very unique commenting module – Jetpack Comments. Jetpack Comments doesn’t bring its layout with new features like most other plugins on this list. Instead, it is an improvement of the native WordPress comment system. It focuses on all the shortcomings and makes everything better.
This plugin supports social login features – It integrates with Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress.com. Keep in mind that Jetpack comments utilize the default WordPress comment system. So, you cannot disable WordPress comments.
5. ReplyBox
ReplyBox by Delicious Brains is new, but users already find it very helpful. This WordPress comments plugin is very easy to set up. It is a hosted comments platform, but you can sync your comments to your WordPress site database. Also, you can export comments from your WordPress database to ReplyBox’s servers. One feature most users love about ReplyBox is its privacy.
It doesn’t track your users’ comments or sell their profile data. On this platform, users can edit their comments even after they submit them, subscribe to new comments, and style comments using markdown.
6. Postmatic (closed plugin)
If your post has massive engagement, it becomes difficult to reply to everyone using the comment section on your post. Postmatic gives you a better option. It allows you to reply to comments on your post via email. So, you don’t have to log in. You can do everything easily with your phone. Interaction with visitors on your site becomes easier. Other features this plugin offers include monetization options, email subscribe widgets, and also the ability to send out newsletters. Pricing starts at $20 per month.
7. Lazy Load for Comments
If you’re worried that plugins may eat up unnecessary space and cause the site to load slower, you should try Lazy Load for Comments. This plugin allows the comments function to stop when the page is being loaded. If you prefer a faster website to a plush comment feature, then you should get Lazy Load for Comments. This plugin is very easy to configure, has a filter system that reduces the HTTP requests you get, and supports automatic translation features.
8. CommentLuv
CommentLuv is not a standalone plugin. Instead, it is an upgrade to the WordPress comments system, just like Jetpack. In this plugin, when a visitor inserts their website into the field, it pulls up their latest blog post and adds the titled link to the comment. The only problem here is that you’ll have to carry out a lot of comment moderation because most people will want to use the comment backlinks for self-promotion.
9. GraphComment
Graph comment puts a twist on commenting systems. This plugin allows you to change the native WordPress commenting system to a social discussion group. This plugin is for you if your site has a large number of visitors with an equally massive engagement. Its unique moderation system takes care of users’ interactions and displays their comments in real-time, just like a group discussion platform. It also uses special algorithms to prevent spam comments on your site.
10. Yoast Comment Hacks
Almost all WordPress sites use Yoast to carry out search engine optimization. Apart from SEO, Yoast has other effective plugins for your site. One of these is Yoast Comment Hacks. This plugin doesn’t stop you from using the native WordPress plugin. It only makes your comment section more advanced by optimizing the default functions. So, you’ll be able to use features like send broadcast, limit the number of words in a comment, and also redirect users to special pages.
