Bloat vs Invidious
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?
Bloat
Web client for Pleroma, Mitra and other Fediverse connected apps
VS
Invidious
Alternative front-end to YouTube
| Feature | Bloat | Invidious |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | Unlicense | GPL-3.0-only |
| Language | Crystal | |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | — | ★ 22,442 |
| First released | 2024 | 2023 |
| Replaces | — | YouTube |
Why pick each one
Choose Bloat if…
- Released under the Unlicense license
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Choose Invidious if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Mature project with 22.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Crystal
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Bloat or Invidious better?
Neither is universally better. Invidious has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Bloat and Invidious free and open-source?
Yes. Bloat is licensed under Unlicense and Invidious under GPL-3.0-only. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bloat and Invidious with Docker?
Bloat: check the project docs for container support. Invidious: check the project docs for container support.