[gingersnap]

Agree. I would like open source + hosted version. Really simple hosted version for a couple of $ so you can have it on personal/project pages. There is of course disqus today, but never liked their ads, and of course its lock in.

[vortico]

Seconded. Disqus is bloated beyond repair. Open source + hosted is a fantastic model for consumers and entrepreneurs, and the hosted money would be enough to get rid of advertisements.

[KajMagnus]

@therealmarv, @gingersnap and @vortico:

I suggest you take a look at EffectiveDiscussions: it's open source + hosted for €2. Demo: https://www.kajmagnus.blog/new-embedded-comments

It has improvements over Disqus ... and HackerNews: https://www.effectivediscussions.org/-32/how-hacker-news-can....

GitHub: https://github.com/debiki/ed-server. It's more lightweight: the script bundle is just 140kb in comparison to Disqus 750kb. (I'm developing it.)