Artalk vs diaspora*
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Artalk
Comment system built in Golang, providing a lightweight and highly
VS
diaspora*
Privacy-focused decentralized social network
| Feature | Artalk | diaspora* |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,312 | ★ 13,656 |
| First released | 2026 | 2010 |
| Replaces | — | Facebook, Twitter |
Why pick each one
Choose Artalk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Artalk or diaspora* better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Artalk is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Artalk and diaspora* free and open-source?
Yes. Artalk is licensed under MIT and diaspora* under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Artalk and diaspora* with Docker?
Artalk: yes. diaspora*: yes.