diaspora* vs Honk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | diaspora* | Honk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | ISC |
| Language | Ruby | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,649 | ★ 400 |
| First released | 2010 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are diaspora* and Honk?
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
Honk
Honk is an opinionated, single-user ActivityPub server written in Go that federates with the wider fediverse. It deliberately omits algorithmic feeds and trends in favor of a simple chronological timeline.
- Single-user fediverse server
- Chronological timeline
- SQLite storage
- Minimal dependencies
diaspora* vs Honk: key differences
Diaspora* is written in Ruby, while Honk is built with Go. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for diaspora* versus ISC for Honk. Honk is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for diaspora*. Diaspora* is the more established project (first released 2010), while Honk arrived in 2019. Diaspora* has the considerably larger community, at 13,649 GitHub stars versus 400. Diaspora* lists first-class Docker deployment; Honk does not.
Why pick each one
Choose diaspora* if…
- Strong privacy ethos
- Established network
Watch out for
- Limited fediverse interoperability
- Slower development
Choose Honk if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Honk better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Honk is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Honk free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Honk under ISC. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Honk with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Honk: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, diaspora* or Honk?
Honk has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for diaspora*. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.