diaspora* vs Firefish
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | diaspora* | Firefish |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,649 | ★ 1,300 |
| First released | 2010 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are diaspora* and Firefish?
diaspora*
diaspora* is a free, open-source, privacy-aware decentralized social network. It is organized into independently operated pods that federate, giving users ownership of their data.
- Federated pod network
- Aspects for sharing control
- Hashtag-based discovery
- Data ownership focus
Firefish
Firefish is an open-source, decentralized social media platform built on ActivityPub with extensive interface customization. It includes a built-in post translator, reactions, and a flexible timeline.
- Highly customizable UI
- Post reactions
- Built-in translation
- Federated timelines
diaspora* vs Firefish: key differences
Diaspora* is written in Ruby, while Firefish is built with TypeScript. Diaspora* is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Firefish. Diaspora* is the more established project (first released 2010), while Firefish arrived in 2022. Diaspora* has the considerably larger community, at 13,649 GitHub stars versus 1,300.
Why pick each one
Choose diaspora* if…
- Strong privacy ethos
- Established network
Watch out for
- Limited fediverse interoperability
- Slower development
Choose Firefish if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Firefish better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Firefish is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Firefish free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Firefish under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Firefish with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Firefish: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, diaspora* or Firefish?
diaspora* has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Firefish. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.