Bridgy Fed vs Takahe
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bridgy Fed | Takahe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | Unlicense | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,238 | ★ 1,172 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Bridgy Fed and Takahe?
Bridgy Fed
Bridgy Fed connects personal websites that use IndieWeb standards to the fediverse and the rest of the social web. It translates webmentions and ActivityPub so different networks can interact.
- Connects IndieWeb to fediverse
- Webmention translation
- ActivityPub bridging
- Cross-network interaction
Takahe
Takahe is an ActivityPub server that can host multiple domains and identities from a single deployment. It is designed for those who want to run several fediverse personas without separate installations.
- Multi-domain hosting
- Multiple identities per user
- Stateless workers
- ActivityPub federation
Bridgy Fed vs Takahe: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — Unlicense for Bridgy Fed versus BSD-3-Clause for Takahe. Bridgy Fed is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Takahe. Bridgy Fed is the more established project (first released 2017), while Takahe arrived in 2022. Takahe lists first-class Docker deployment; Bridgy Fed does not.
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 Takahe if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Bridgy Fed or Takahe better?
Neither is universally better. Bridgy Fed has the larger community, while Takahe is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bridgy Fed and Takahe free and open-source?
Yes. Bridgy Fed is licensed under Unlicense and Takahe under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bridgy Fed and Takahe with Docker?
Bridgy Fed: check the project docs for container support. Takahe: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Bridgy Fed or Takahe?
Bridgy Fed has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Takahe. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.