OneTimeSelf-hosted threaded comments for any site. One script tag, one SQLite file, $69 once.
Disqus puts ads next to your writing and sells your readers' data unless you pay $12-95/month. Hyvor Talk is ad-free but still $8-24+/month, forever. Chatterbox is the same idea — one script tag adds threaded comments, votes, moderation and reply-email notifications to any site — running on your server, with your SQLite file, for a one-time $69.
Chatterbox in 60 seconds
Everything in the box
Threaded comments, votes, moderation and Disqus import — embedded with one script tag, hosted by you.
One-line embed
A script tag plus a div. Dependency-free vanilla JS (~15 KB) in a shadow DOM — your site's styles never leak in, the widget's never leak out.
Threaded comments
Replies nested to depth 4 with collapse, relative timestamps, and a 15-minute self-edit/delete window for commenters.
Voting with Wilson score
One vote per browser token per comment, server-enforced. Sort by Best, Newest or Oldest.
Spam defenses that don't annoy humans
Hidden honeypot, minimum time-to-submit, per-IP rate limiting, link-count threshold — all invisible unless you're a bot. No CAPTCHAs.
Moderation dashboard
Pending/Approved/Spam/Deleted queues, bulk actions, per-site approve-first toggle, email/IP blocklist — plus an RSS feed for moderating from any feed reader.
Reply-email notifications
BYO SMTP; commenters who opt in get emailed on replies, with a signed one-click unsubscribe link.
Disqus import
Upload your XML export, dry-run the counts, commit. Re-importing the same file is a no-op — idempotent by disqus_id.
Privacy-first & XSS-safe
IPs are salted-hashed before touching disk, never stored raw. Comment bodies render as text nodes only — never string-concatenated HTML.
Chatterbox vs Hyvor Talk
Hyvor Talk charges $8/mo. Here's what actually differs.
| Chatterbox | Hyvor Talk | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $69 once | $8-24+/mo ($96+/yr) |
| Cost over 3 years | $69 | $288-$864+ |
| Threaded comments + voting | Yes | Yes |
| Disqus import | Dry-run first, idempotent | Partial |
| Ads on your site | Never | Never |
| Your readers' data | Your server, IPs hashed | Their cloud |
| Reply-email notifications | Yes (your SMTP) | Yes |
| Source code | MIT, on GitHub | Closed |
Against Hyvor Talk's $8/mo starter tier, Chatterbox pays for itself in 9 months. Against Disqus Plus, 6 months. Then it's free forever.
Pick how you pay
Subscriptions if you want them — but the whole point is the lifetime tier.
Up and running in three steps
Buy once on Whop
One-time $69 for the packaged desktop installer and lifetime updates — no subscription, no per-pageview tiers.
Deploy the server
docker compose up on a $5 VPS makes the embed publicly reachable. The desktop app is great for local moderation of the same database.
Paste the embed snippet
Copy the script tag from the Embed tab into any page — blog, static site, anything. Comments, votes and moderation work immediately.
Fair questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — the full source is MIT at github.com/bensblueprints/chatterbox-comments-mvp. The $69 buys the packaged installer and updates instead of npm-and-docker setup.
Can I migrate from Disqus?
Yes — upload your Disqus XML export, dry-run to see the counts, then commit. The import is idempotent by disqus_id, so re-running the same file never double-imports.
Do I need a server?
For a public site, yes — a $5 VPS with the included docker compose file covers it. That's the honest trade-off vs Hyvor Talk: they host everything for you, and if you never want to touch a server, a hosted service is genuinely simpler. Chatterbox is for people who'd rather own the data and skip the monthly bill.
How does it handle spam without CAPTCHAs?
Layered, invisible defenses: a hidden honeypot field, a minimum time-to-submit, per-IP rate limiting (5 per 10 minutes by default), and a link-count threshold — plus an approve-first mode and blocklists when you want a human in the loop.
Is it safe to embed on my site?
The widget runs in a shadow DOM so styles can't leak either way, and comment bodies are only ever rendered as text nodes — autolinked URLs are built as real anchor elements with rel="nofollow noopener ugc", never concatenated HTML. The test suite includes an explicit XSS check.
Related tools
More pay-once apps from the OneTimeSuite catalog.
More about Chatterbox
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Stop renting. Own Chatterbox.
Threaded comments, votes, moderation and Disqus import — embedded with one script tag, hosted by you.
Get Chatterbox — $69 forever