diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 617c3927..9d08c92c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ _this is the recommended way to run remark42_
 | auth.yandex.cid         | AUTH_YANDEX_CID         |                       | Yandex OAuth client ID                           |
 | auth.yandex.csec        | AUTH_YANDEX_CSEC        |                       | Yandex OAuth client secret                       |
 | auth.dev                | AUTH_DEV                | `false`               | local oauth2 server, development mode only       |
+| auth.anon               | AUTH_ANON               | `false`               | enable anonymous login                           |
 | notify.type             | NOTIFY_TYPE             | none                  | type of notification (none or telegram)          |
 | notify.queue            | NOTIFY_QUEUE            | `100`                 | size of notification queue                       |
 | notify.telegram.token   | NOTIFY_TELEGRAM_TOKEN   |                       | telegram token                                   |
@@ -475,6 +476,11 @@ type User struct {
 
 _currently supported providers are `google`, `facebook`, `github` and `yandex`_
 
+Optionally, anonymous access can be turned on. In this case and extra `anonymous` provider will allow logins without any social login with any name satisfying 2 conditions:
+
+- name should be at least 3 characters long 
+- name has to start from the letter and contains letters, numbers, underscores and spaces only.
+
 ### Commenting
 
 * `POST /api/v1/comment` - add a comment. _auth required_
diff --git a/backend/app/cmd/server.go b/backend/app/cmd/server.go
index 80325d6e..6579398a 100644
--- a/backend/app/cmd/server.go
+++ b/backend/app/cmd/server.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"path"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
@@ -66,11 +67,12 @@ type ServerCommand struct {
 			JWT    time.Duration `long:"jwt" env:"JWT" default:"5m" description:"jwt TTL"`
 			Cookie time.Duration `long:"cookie" env:"COOKIE" default:"200h" description:"auth cookie TTL"`
 		} `group:"ttl" namespace:"ttl" env-namespace:"TTL"`
-		Google   AuthGroup `group:"google" namespace:"google" env-namespace:"GOOGLE" description:"Google OAuth"`
-		Github   AuthGroup `group:"github" namespace:"github" env-namespace:"GITHUB" description:"Github OAuth"`
-		Facebook AuthGroup `group:"facebook" namespace:"facebook" env-namespace:"FACEBOOK" description:"Facebook OAuth"`
-		Yandex   AuthGroup `group:"yandex" namespace:"yandex" env-namespace:"YANDEX" description:"Yandex OAuth"`
-		Dev      bool      `long:"dev" env:"DEV" description:"enable dev (local) oauth2"`
+		Google    AuthGroup `group:"google" namespace:"google" env-namespace:"GOOGLE" description:"Google OAuth"`
+		Github    AuthGroup `group:"github" namespace:"github" env-namespace:"GITHUB" description:"Github OAuth"`
+		Facebook  AuthGroup `group:"facebook" namespace:"facebook" env-namespace:"FACEBOOK" description:"Facebook OAuth"`
+		Yandex    AuthGroup `group:"yandex" namespace:"yandex" env-namespace:"YANDEX" description:"Yandex OAuth"`
+		Dev       bool      `long:"dev" env:"DEV" description:"enable dev (local) oauth2"`
+		Anonymous bool      `long:"anon" env:"ANON" description:"enable anonymous login"`
 	} `group:"auth" namespace:"auth" env-namespace:"AUTH"`
 
 	CommonOpts
@@ -477,6 +479,24 @@ func (s *ServerCommand) addAuthProviders(authenticator *auth.Service) {
 		providers++
 	}
 
+	if s.Auth.Anonymous {
+		log.Print("[INFO] anonymous access enabled")
+		var isValidAnonName = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-zA-Z][\w ]+$`).MatchString
+		authenticator.AddDirectProvider("anonymous", provider.CredCheckerFunc(func(user, _ string) (ok bool, err error) {
+			user = strings.TrimSpace(user)
+			if len(user) < 3 {
+				log.Printf("[WARN] name %q is too short, should be at least 3 characters", user)
+				return false, nil
+			}
+
+			if !isValidAnonName(user) {
+				log.Printf("[WARN] name %q should have letters, digits, underscores and spaces only", user)
+				return false, nil
+			}
+			return true, nil
+		}))
+	}
+
 	if providers == 0 {
 		log.Printf("[WARN] no auth providers defined")
 	}
diff --git a/backend/app/cmd/server_test.go b/backend/app/cmd/server_test.go
index 4140693b..9e0f2309 100644
--- a/backend/app/cmd/server_test.go
+++ b/backend/app/cmd/server_test.go
@@ -83,6 +83,48 @@ func TestServerApp_DevMode(t *testing.T) {
 	app.Wait()
 }
 
+func TestServerApp_AnonMode(t *testing.T) {
+	app, ctx := prepServerApp(t, 500*time.Millisecond, func(o ServerCommand) ServerCommand {
+		o.Port = 18085
+		o.Auth.Anonymous = true
+		return o
+	})
+
+	go func() { _ = app.run(ctx) }()
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond) // let server start
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 4+1, len(app.restSrv.Authenticator.Providers()), "extra auth provider for anon")
+	assert.Equal(t, "anonymous", app.restSrv.Authenticator.Providers()[4].Name(), "anon auth provider")
+
+	// send ping
+	resp, err := http.Get("http://localhost:18085/api/v1/ping")
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	assert.Equal(t, 200, resp.StatusCode)
+	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "pong", string(body))
+
+	// try to login with good name
+	resp, err = http.Get("http://localhost:18085/auth/anonymous/login?user=blah123&aud=remark42")
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	assert.Equal(t, 200, resp.StatusCode)
+
+	// try to login with bad name
+	resp, err = http.Get("http://localhost:18085/auth/anonymous/login?user=**blah123&aud=remark42")
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	assert.Equal(t, 403, resp.StatusCode)
+
+	// try to login with short name
+	resp, err = http.Get(`http://localhost:18085/auth/anonymous/login?user=bl%20%20&aud=remark42`)
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	assert.Equal(t, 403, resp.StatusCode)
+
+	app.Wait()
+}
 func TestServerApp_WithMongo(t *testing.T) {
 
 	mongoURL := os.Getenv("MONGO_TEST")