Invidious
Social NetworksAlternative front-end to YouTube
Replaces YouTube
Best Free Social Networks for self-hosting
The 76 best Free social networks you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
diaspora*
Social NetworksPrivacy-focused decentralized social network
Replaces Facebook, Twitter
Piped
Social NetworksAlternative front-end for YouTube
Replaces YouTube
Fizzy
Social NetworksKanban as it should be. Not as it has been
Elk
Social NetworksProgressive web client for Mastodon and Pleroma
Replaces Twitter app
LibReddit
Social NetworksAn alternative private front-end to Reddit
Campsite
Social NetworksSelf-hosted async team social and updates space
Replaces Yammer, Workplace
Campfire
Social NetworksSelf-hosted chat for teams
Redlib
Social NetworksAn alternative private front-end to Reddit, with its origins
Mixpost Pro
Social NetworksSelf-hosted social media management. Schedule and organize your social
Loomio
Social NetworksCollaborative decision-making tool that makes it easy for anyone
Artalk
Social NetworksComment system built in Golang, providing a lightweight and highly
Endurain
Social NetworksFitness tracking, Open Source, Self-Hosted
pump.io
Social NetworksStreams server for the social web
Replaces Twitter
Manyfold
Social NetworksSelf-hosted 3D model organizer with ActivityPub
Replaces Thingiverse, Printables
phpBB
Social NetworksClassic free and open-source bulletin board
Replaces vBulletin, Discourse
Phanpy
Social NetworksMinimalistic opinionated Fediverse ⁂ web client
Replaces Bluesky, Mastodon
Firefish
Social NetworksCustomizable fediverse microblogging platform
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
OSSN
Social NetworksSocial networking software that allows you to make a social networking
Bridgy Fed
Social NetworksBridge connecting IndieWeb sites to the fediverse
Replaces Twitter
Takahe
Social NetworksMulti-domain ActivityPub server
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Fedify
Social NetworksActivityPub server framework for TypeScript
Replaces Twitter
snac
Social NetworksMinimalist ActivityPub server in C
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
NeoDB
Social NetworksFederated catalog for books, movies, music, and games
Replaces Goodreads, Letterboxd
webmention.io
Social NetworksHosted endpoint for receiving Webmentions
Replaces Disqus
Bridgy
Social NetworksConnect personal websites to social networks
Replaces Disqus, Hosted social embeds
Hometown
Social NetworksMastodon fork with local-only posting
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Glitch-soc
Social NetworksCommunity-maintained Mastodon fork with extra features
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Soapbox
Social NetworksCustomizable fediverse web front-end
Replaces Twitter app
Enigma 1/2 BBS
Social NetworksEnigma 1/2 is a modern, multi-platform BBS engine with unlimited
Chirpy
Social NetworksPrivacy-friendly and customizable Disqus (comment system) alternate
Sharkey
Social NetworksFeature-rich Misskey fork for the fediverse
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
ActivityPub for WordPress
Social NetworksTurn a WordPress blog into a fediverse actor
Replaces Twitter, Medium
Wavelog
Social NetworksAmateur radio logging software
Smithereen
Social NetworksFederated social network with a familiar layout
Replaces Facebook, VK
Postmarks
Social NetworksSingle-user bookmarking site that federates
Replaces Pinboard, del.icio.us
Mastodon Bird UI
Social NetworksTwitter-like theme for self-hosted Mastodon
Replaces Twitter web interface
Hollo
Social NetworksSingle-user federated microblogging server
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Gathio
Social NetworksSimple, federated event hosting without accounts
Replaces Facebook Events, Eventbrite
Loops
Social NetworksFederated short video sharing platform
Replaces Instagram, TikTok
Libremdb
Social NetworksFree & open source IMDb front-end
Replaces IMDb
Ktistec
Social NetworksSingle-user ActivityPub server in Crystal
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Trustroots
Social NetworksSelf-hostable hospitality exchange community platform
Replaces Couchsurfing
Gancio
Social NetworksShared agenda and event platform for local communities
Replaces Facebook Events, Meetup
Honk
Social NetworksOpinionated single-user ActivityPub server
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Epicyon
Social NetworksMinimalist ActivityPub server for the fediverse
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
Iceshrimp
Social NetworksLightweight Misskey-derived fediverse server
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
mlmym
Social NetworksOld-Reddit-style alternative front-end for Lemmy
Replaces Reddit
GoBlog
Social NetworksLightweight blogging engine with ActivityPub
Replaces Medium, WordPress
Hatsu
Social NetworksBridge that interacts with Fediverse on behalf of your static site
BuddyPress
Social NetworksTurn WordPress into a social network
Replaces Ning, Mighty Networks
Sphinx Relay
Social NetworksChat and pay over the Lightning Network
noStrudel
Social NetworksA sandbox for exploring nostr
Mitra
Social NetworksFederated microblogging server with crypto integration
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
MeshChatX
Social NetworksThe future of off-grid communication. Secure, decentralized
Fedibird
Social NetworksFeature-rich Mastodon fork for advanced users
Replaces Twitter
Streams
Social NetworksDecentralized social server with nomadic identity
Replaces Facebook, Mastodon
Enafore
Social NetworksFediverse client with better support for Akkoma, glitch-soc
Replaces Elk, Masto-FE
Sublinks
Social NetworksReddit-style federated link aggregator backend
Replaces Reddit
Buddycloud
Social NetworksFederated XMPP-based social networking server
Replaces Facebook Groups
Zap
Social NetworksDecentralized social network with nomadic identity
Replaces Facebook, Twitter
Nostr Relay
Social NetworksBackup all your Nostr activity with your private relay
Squeaknode
Social NetworksA peer-to-peer status feed with Lightning monetization
Khatru Pyramid
Social NetworksNostr invite relay
Replaces Mastodon, Twitter
Route96
Social NetworksBlossom/NIP-96 media server for Nostr
Catodon
Social NetworksCommunity-driven fork of the Iceshrimp fediverse server
Replaces Twitter
Osada
Social NetworksActivityPub social server with nomadic features
Replaces Facebook, Twitter
Bloat
Social NetworksWeb client for Pleroma, Mitra and other Fediverse connected apps
Forte
Social Networksopen source ActivityPub/fediverse server
Replaces Facebook, Threads
GoToSocial
Social NetworksFast ActivityPub social network server
Replaces Akkoma, Bluesky
Masto-FE (🦥 flavour)
Social NetworksMastodon-like interface for GoToSocial, based on IceShrimp's Masto-FE
Replaces Elk, Phanpy
PeerTube search-index
Social NetworksSearch engine for PeerTube videos and channels
yarn.social
Social NetworksSelf-Hosted, Twitter™-like Decentralised micro-logging platform
AsmBB
Social NetworksFast, SQLite-powered forum engine written in ASM
Iceshrimp.NET
Social NetworksFederated microblogging server that communicates over ActivityPub
Snort
Social NetworksFast Nostr UI
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invidious | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 50 MB | GPL-3.0-only | 25,439 |
| diaspora* | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 1,024 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 13,650 |
| Piped | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 50 MB | AGPL-3.0-or-later | 10,282 |
| Fizzy | ≈5-minute setup | Easy | 512 MB | free | 8,247 |
| Elk | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 64 MB | MIT | 6,031 |
| LibReddit | ≈5-minute setup | Easy | 512 MB | free | 5,199 |
| Campsite | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 1,024 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 4,823 |
| Campfire | ≈5-minute setup | Easy | 512 MB | free | 4,779 |
| Redlib | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 512 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 3,844 |
| Mixpost Pro | ≈5-minute setup | Easy | 512 MB | free | 3,809 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Invidious (25,439 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Mastodon Bird UI (from 32 MB RAM, against 2,048 MB for the heaviest here).
- Fastest to deploy: Fizzy (one-click platform packages).
- Licensing: 25 of 76 use AGPL-3.0; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Free within the social networks category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.