diaspora* vs Wafrn
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | diaspora* | Wafrn |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,648 | ★ 284 |
| First released | 2010 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Tumblr, Twitter |
What are diaspora* and Wafrn?
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
Wafrn
Wafrn is an open-source, federated social network with a Tumblr-inspired reblog-and-tag experience. It connects to the fediverse over ActivityPub so users can interact with Mastodon and other servers.
- Tumblr-style reblogs
- Tag-based discovery
- Fediverse federation
- Custom themes
diaspora* vs Wafrn: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Wafrn's repository is archived and no longer developed, while diaspora* is actively maintained. Diaspora* is written in Ruby, while Wafrn is built with TypeScript. Diaspora* is the more established project (first released 2010), while Wafrn arrived in 2023. Diaspora* has the considerably larger community, at 13,648 GitHub stars versus 284.
Why pick each one
Choose diaspora* if…
- Strong privacy ethos
- Established network
Watch out for
- Limited fediverse interoperability
- Slower development
Choose Wafrn if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Wafrn better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Wafrn is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Wafrn free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Wafrn under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Wafrn with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Wafrn: yes.