Epicyon vs Fedify
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?
Epicyon
Minimalist ActivityPub server for the fediverse
VS
Fedify
ActivityPub server framework for TypeScript
| Feature | Epicyon | Fedify |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 1,017 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon |
Why pick each one
Choose Epicyon if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Fedify if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Epicyon or Fedify better?
Neither is universally better. Fedify has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Epicyon and Fedify free and open-source?
Yes. Epicyon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Fedify under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Epicyon and Fedify with Docker?
Epicyon: check the project docs for container support. Fedify: check the project docs for container support.