H3 Hop3 Marketplace

A lightweight commenting system, Disqus alternative

Tech Specifications

Memory 256MB light

Trust & License

Author Isso Comments
License MIT
Version 0.14.0

Isso is a self-hosted commenting server written in Python that serves as a lightweight, privacy-respecting alternative to Disqus. It stores all comments in a local SQLite database, giving site owners full control over their data instead of handing it to a third-party service. A small embeddable JavaScript client (around 20kB gzipped) drops comment threads into any static or dynamic website.

Commenters write in Markdown and can edit or delete their own posts within a short time window without registration. Isso includes a moderation queue to keep unapproved comments hidden, email/admin notifications, and importers for migrating existing comments from Disqus or WordPress. The server exposes a simple HTTP API and admin interface for managing threads.

Typical use is to add a comment section to a personal blog, documentation site, or static-site-generator output (Hugo, Jekyll, etc.) while keeping data on your own infrastructure. Its minimal footprint makes it well suited to running alongside other apps on a single small server.

On Hop3

Isso is a comment server, not a website, so its root URL is an API endpoint: opening https://<your-app>/ in a browser correctly answers 400 Bad Request — missing uri query. That is isso working, not a fault.

The two things you actually use:

  • /admin/ — the moderation dashboard. Sign in with the password from hop3 app credentials --app <name>.
  • /js/embed.min.js — the widget you embed on your own site:

```html

```

Comments live in a SQLite database on a persistent volume, so they survive redeploys and are included in backups.

Screenshots

Install on Hop3

hop3 catalog install isso

Build paths

The same application, packaged different ways. The default is the one tested most; pick another if you have a reason to.