Vanilla Forums vs wpDiscuz
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Vanilla Forums v1.3.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 2.8/5 Visit Details | wpDiscuz v7.6.73 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 100+ | 60,000+ |
| Last updated | July 3, 2020 | October 25, 2026 |
| Editions | Vanilla Forums | wpDiscuz · wpDiscuz add-ons ($) |
| Pros | Embeds the forum or replaces blog comments with forum threads; Forum widgets for discussions, activity and active users; Single sign-on through jsConnect | Comments stored in the site's own WordPress database; AJAX comments, threaded replies, voting and ratings; Social login and reCAPTCHA in the free core |
| Cons | Needs a Vanilla forum, hosted or self-hosted, to connect to; Last tested with WordPress 5.3 per the readme; Replaces native comments once a forum URL is set | Some options appear as locked previews until a paid add-on is bought; Some features depend on third-party provider settings; Admin add-on screens and paid teasers add to the settings screens |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Embed the Vanilla forum inside a WordPress page, Replace native blog comments with Vanilla threads, Discussion, activity and active-user widgets, Single sign-on with jsConnect, Choose forum category for embedded content and widgets | AJAX comment posting and live comment area, Comment voting and post ratings, Email subscriptions to posts and comment threads, Social login with a dozen or more providers, Google reCAPTCHA on the comment form, Comments shortcode for any page, Paid add-ons managed from the wpDiscuz admin ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Social | — | Facebook Graph API, Google sign-in, LinkedIn API, Instagram API, Disqus |
| Other | Vanilla Forums | Google reCAPTCHA |
| Requires WordPress | 3 | 6.0 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 5.3 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | — | api.x.com, graph.qq.com, openapi.baidu.com, www.google.com, graph.facebook.com, api.instagram.com, api.linkedin.com, oauth2.googleapis.com, api.weibo.com, id.vk.ru, oauth.yandex.ru, api.weixin.qq.com, disqus.com, public-api.wordpress.com |
| Blocks | — | 1 |
| Shortcodes | — | 3 |