Akkoma vs Hometown
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
Hometown
Mastodon fork with local-only posting
| Feature | Akkoma | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 823 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Tumblr | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Akkoma and Hometown?
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
Hometown
Hometown is a friendly fork of Mastodon that adds local-only posting, full-text content support, and other community-oriented features. It is aimed at small, close-knit fediverse instances.
- Local-only posts
- Full-text content
- Mastodon compatibility
- Small-community focus
Akkoma vs Hometown: key differences
Akkoma is written in Elixir, while Hometown is built with Ruby. Akkoma is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Hometown. Hometown is the more established project (first released 2019), while Akkoma arrived in 2022. Hometown has the considerably larger community, at 823 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 Hometown if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Akkoma or Hometown better?
Neither is universally better. Hometown 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 Hometown free and open-source?
Yes. Akkoma is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Hometown under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Akkoma and Hometown with Docker?
Akkoma: yes. Hometown: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Akkoma or Hometown?
Akkoma has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Hometown. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.