Akkoma vs Glitch-soc
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Akkoma
Feature-rich fediverse server forked from Pleroma
VS
Glitch-soc
Community-maintained Mastodon fork with extra features
| Feature | Akkoma | Glitch-soc |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Elixir | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 803 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Tumblr | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Akkoma and Glitch-soc?
Akkoma
Akkoma is a free, open-source fediverse microblogging server forked from Pleroma. It focuses on customization, additional features, and a friendly community while staying lightweight.
- Pleroma-compatible fediverse server
- Extensive customization options
- Mastodon API support
- Bubble timeline feature
Glitch-soc
Glitch-soc is a community-maintained fork of Mastodon that adds experimental features and customization options ahead of upstream. It federates fully with the rest of the fediverse over ActivityPub.
- Extra customization options
- Experimental features
- Full fediverse federation
- Themeable interface
Akkoma vs Glitch-soc: key differences
Akkoma is written in Elixir, while Glitch-soc is built with Ruby. Akkoma is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Glitch-soc is the more established project (first released 2017), while Akkoma arrived in 2022. Glitch-soc has the considerably larger community, at 803 GitHub stars versus 400.
Why pick each one
Choose Akkoma if…
- Lots of configuration options
- Lightweight footprint
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Hosted on a niche forge
Choose Glitch-soc if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Akkoma or Glitch-soc better?
Neither is universally better. Glitch-soc has the larger community, while Akkoma is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Akkoma and Glitch-soc free and open-source?
Yes. Akkoma is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Glitch-soc under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Akkoma and Glitch-soc with Docker?
Akkoma: yes. Glitch-soc: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Akkoma or Glitch-soc?
Akkoma has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.