diaspora* vs Mastodon Bird UI
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?
diaspora*
Privacy-focused decentralized social network
VS
Mastodon Bird UI
Twitter-like theme for self-hosted Mastodon
| Feature | diaspora* | Mastodon Bird UI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | SCSS |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,656 | ★ 512 |
| First released | 2010 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Twitter web interface |
Why pick each one
Choose Mastodon Bird UI if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in SCSS
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Mastodon Bird UI better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Mastodon Bird UI is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Mastodon Bird UI free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mastodon Bird UI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Mastodon Bird UI with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Mastodon Bird UI: check the project docs for container support.