head to head · open source
giscus vs Artalk
giscus has 12,204 GitHub stars, 491 forks, 127 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Artalk has 2,360 stars, 213 forks, 108 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. giscus leads on adoption by 417% (12,204 vs 2,360 stars). giscus is written in TypeScript under MIT; Artalk is written in Go under MIT. giscus has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Artalk 9%. Artalk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (blog, comment-system, comments, comments-widget), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| giscus | Artalk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-05-26 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 491 | ⑂ 213 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick giscus if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Artalk if
- You want the Artalk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Artalk fits your workflow better
About giscus
[giscus][giscus] A comments system powered by [GitHub Discussions][discussions]. Let visitors leave comments and reactions on your website via GitHub! Heavily inspired by [utterances][utterances]. [Open source][repo]. 🌏 No tracking, no ads, always free. 📡 🚫 No database needed. All data is stored in GitHub Discussions. :octocat: Supports [custom themes][creating custom themes]! 🌗 Supports [multiple languages][multiple languages]. 🌐 [Extensively configurable][advanced usage]. 🔧 Automatically fetches new comments and edits from GitHub. 🔃 [Can be self hosted][self hosting]! 🤳 Note giscus is still under…
read the full giscus overview →
About Artalk
Artalk Homepage • Documentation • Latest Release • Changelog • 简体中文 • 日本語 Artalk is an intuitive yet feature rich comment system, ready for immediate deployment into any blog, website, or web application. 🍃 Client 40KB, crafted with pure Vanilla JS, framework agnostic 🍱 Server powered by Golang, offering efficient and lightweight cross platform performance 🐳 One click deployment via Docker, ensuring ease and speed 🌈 Open source software, self hosted with privacy as a priority Features Sidebar: Quick management, intuitive browsing Social Login: Fast login via social accounts Email Notification: Various…
read the full Artalk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is giscus or Artalk more popular?
giscus has 12,204 GitHub stars and Artalk has 2,360. giscus has the larger community by that measure.
Are giscus and Artalk free?
Both are open source. giscus is licensed under MIT and Artalk under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between giscus and Artalk?
giscus is written in TypeScript and Artalk in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, giscus or Artalk?
Choose giscus if you want the larger community (12,204 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Artalk if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.