diaspora* vs Pixelfed
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
Pixelfed
Federated photo-sharing social platform
| Feature | diaspora* | Pixelfed |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,656 | ★ 7,055 |
| First released | 2010 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Pixelfed 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 Pixelfed free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pixelfed under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Pixelfed with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Pixelfed: yes.