EchoThread is a lightweight, privacy-first comment system — a modern Disqus alternative that doesn’t sell your readers’ data or inject ads. This plugin drops EchoThread into any WordPress theme with no code: enter your site key, choose where comments appear, and you’re live.
It’s a thin wrapper around the hosted EchoThread widget (under 65 KB gzipped, loaded async from a CDN). All storage, rendering, moderation, and spam filtering happen in the hosted service, so the plugin adds no tracking, no database tables, and no page-weight beyond the widget script.
Why EchoThread
- Privacy-first — no ad tech, no third-party trackers, no data resale. GDPR-friendly.
- AI / ML spam filtering — machine-learning moderation catches AI-generated comment spam that keyword filters miss.
- Real moderation controls — a per-site restricted-word list, ban or trust individual commenters in one click, and auto-close discussions on older posts.
- Threaded replies & reactions — a modern discussion UX, not a flat list.
- Speaks your readers’ language — the widget interface ships in English, Korean, Italian, Simplified Chinese, and Modern Greek. It follows each visitor’s browser by default, or you can pin one language for everyone.
- Fits any theme — match your light/dark mode or accent color, and switch the social sign-in buttons to compact icons for narrow layouts.
- Fast — one async script, zero render-blocking, no jQuery.
- Free tier — get started without a credit card.
- Disqus migration — import your existing comments via WXR so no conversations are lost.
- Real counts on your archives — category, tag and home-page teasers show the live EchoThread count instead of the stale WordPress number a migration leaves behind.
- Recent comments and popular threads in your sidebar — the widgets Disqus retired, back as a classic widget and the
[echothread_recent]and[echothread_popular]shortcodes (EchoThread Starter plan and above). - Share buttons and a page like — every thread gets X, Facebook, email and copy-link buttons and a heart, with no third-party scripts.
How it works
- Create a free account and a site at echothread.io.
- Install and activate this plugin.
- Go to Settings EchoThread Comments, paste your shortname and API key.
- Choose placement — Replace the theme comments (recommended), Append below content, or Manual via the
[echothread]shortcode.
That’s it. Comments render on your posts immediately.
Privacy
This plugin loads https://cdn.echothread.io/widget.js on singular posts/pages where comments are enabled, and https://cdn.echothread.io/recent.js on pages that show a recent comments or popular threads list. The widget communicates with the EchoThread API to load and post comments. The plugin itself sets no cookies and collects no personal data. See the EchoThread privacy policy for how the hosted service handles comment data.
Screenshots
The whole setup: paste your shortname and API key, choose where comments go, save. No code, no database tables.
EchoThread on a post — threaded replies, emoji reactions, and one-tap Google or GitHub sign-in. No ads anywhere in the thread.
The hosted moderation queue: ML spam filtering flags the junk before readers see it, and you can approve, reject, ban, or trust a commenter in one click.
The same thread on a phone — the widget is responsive out of the box and inherits your theme's light or dark mode.