An alternative to the Applause Button
The Applause Button by Colin Eberhardt made the Medium-style clap easy to add to any site. Its README now says the free and hosted version "is no longer operational". If your claps stopped counting, here are the options.
As of September 2026. Sources are linked in the text.
Your options
- Host its server yourself. The README points to applause-button-server and keeps the button as it is.
-
Use a community server. The README mentions one run by a community
member,
applause.chabouis.fr. - Switch to Appreciate Button. Sign in on the hosted instance and create a button, or run your own.
Side by side
| Applause Button | Appreciate Button | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted service | The free one no longer runs | Yes, sign in with GitHub |
| Self-hosting | Yes, a separate server project | Yes, one Node.js server and MySQL, Docker image included |
| Embed | <applause-button> element, a script and a stylesheet |
One script tag, or the <appreciate-button> element |
| Claps per reader | One, or several with the multiclap attribute |
Set per button, 1 to 1,000, enforced on the server |
| Dashboard | None documented | Sites, buttons, counts per page, allowed origins |
| Icon | Its clapping-hands icon, in a color you choose |
A heart or your own SVG, coloured per state |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
Moving over
Replace the Applause Button's script, stylesheet and element with one tag:
<script src="https://appreciate-button.com/widget.js" data-key="pk_YOUR_BUTTON_KEY" async></script>Counts start from zero: the old claps were stored by the Applause Button's server, and there is no import from it. The guides show where the tag goes on each platform.