Pros and cons of commenting systems and APIs (Disqus vs Facebook Comments vs Intense Debate vs Echo)? [closed]

Question

With the release of the new Facebook commenting module, could people please share their experiences with the various commenting systems -- specifically, Disqus, Echo, Intense Debate, and Facebook Comments?

What are the pros and cons of each system?

Thanks!

Answer 1

For the All Commenting System

The pros:

1. One simple login for all sites.
2. Spam control.
3. Expanded social media presence.
4. Easy comment subscriptions.

The cons:

1. Complicates the comment process.
2. Lessens your control.

Facebook Commenting System

Pros

1. Real names and identities greatly reduces the number of trolls and anonymous cowards in comments.
2. Social virality boosts traffic by creating a feedback loop between Facebook and participating sites.  Friends pull in their friends, creating a social entry point to your site.
3. Automatic sign-in if you already signed into Facebook elsewhere, lowers the barriers to commenting.
4. Most “liked” comments get voted to the top.  It also knows who your friends are, so you will see those comments first.

Cons

1. No support for Twitter or Google IDs, which leaves out the other half of the social Web.
2. No backups and other lock-ins will make it hard for sites to leave.
3. If you work somewhere that blocks Facebook, you are out of luck.
4. Your friends might be surprised to find their replies in your Facebook News stream reproduced on another site’s comments.  Expect a backlash.
5. Moderation bugs, no view counts at the top of posts or ways to highlight site owners/writers in comments.

Source : http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/01/pros-cons-facebook-comments/

Intense Debate

Pros

1. Highly customizable. CSS style sheet is easy to work with and more importantly,
2. Well integrated into WordPress. It’s made by the same company, apparently.
3. Can add a bunch of add-ons to the comment system, such as CommentLuv.
4. Feels simple and crisp.

Cons

1. Does not render properly under IE9 and Opera (just one button misplacement in Opera).
2. Importing comments process is buggy.
3. Replies are hidden and you have to click the ‘Replies’ text to expand them. Replies were already shown for pages with few comments, but were not shown for those with many comments.

DISQUS

Pros

1. Lots of login options. You can use just about any of your login credentials (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc). Of course, you can still post comments anonymously if you choose to.
2. Looks nice and clean, though it took me a long time to customize the CSS. Still not 100% satisfied.
3. It’s popular. Lots of websites use it; therefore, many people know what they’re dealing with when they see Disqus logo in the comment section of a blog.

Cons

1. Not as customizable as Intense Debate.
2. By default, it inherits the blog’s main theme style sheet.
3. All URLs in comments are auto-linked.
4. Doesn’t integrate well with WordPress comments.
5. Comments count
6. The Help section is lacking.

Source: http://www.scamfreeinternet.com/2011/04/disqus-vs-intense-debate/