Bridgy Fed vs Sharkey
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?
Bridgy Fed
Bridge connecting IndieWeb sites to the fediverse
VS
Sharkey
Feature-rich Misskey fork for the fediverse
| Feature | Bridgy Fed | Sharkey |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | Unlicense | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,229 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2017 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon |
Why pick each one
Choose Bridgy Fed if…
- Released under the Unlicense license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Sharkey if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Bridgy Fed or Sharkey better?
Neither is universally better. Bridgy Fed has the larger community, while Sharkey is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bridgy Fed and Sharkey free and open-source?
Yes. Bridgy Fed is licensed under Unlicense and Sharkey under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bridgy Fed and Sharkey with Docker?
Bridgy Fed: check the project docs for container support. Sharkey: yes.