diaspora* vs Osada
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
Osada
ActivityPub social server with nomadic features
| Feature | diaspora* | Osada |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,656 | ★ 20 |
| First released | 2010 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Facebook, Twitter |
Why pick each one
Choose Osada if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Osada better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are diaspora* and Osada free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Osada under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Osada with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Osada: check the project docs for container support.