diaspora* vs Socialhome
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Socialhome
Federated personal social home pages
| Feature | diaspora* | Socialhome |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 59 · Fair |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,649 | ★ 381 |
| First released | 2010 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Tumblr, Facebook |
What are diaspora* and Socialhome?
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
Socialhome
Socialhome is a federated, open-source social network where users build a customizable home page of content. It federates over ActivityPub and the Diaspora protocol.
- Customizable home page grid
- ActivityPub and Diaspora federation
- Content streams
- Markdown support
diaspora* vs Socialhome: key differences
Diaspora* is written in Ruby, while Socialhome is built with Python. Socialhome is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for diaspora*. Diaspora* is the more established project (first released 2010), while Socialhome arrived in 2016. Diaspora* has the considerably larger community, at 13,649 GitHub stars versus 381.
Why pick each one
Choose diaspora* if…
- Strong privacy ethos
- Established network
Watch out for
- Limited fediverse interoperability
- Slower development
Choose Socialhome if…
- Unique personal-page focus
- Multi-protocol federation
Watch out for
- Small community
- Slower development
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Socialhome better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Socialhome is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Socialhome free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Socialhome under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Socialhome with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Socialhome: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, diaspora* or Socialhome?
Socialhome has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for diaspora*. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.