Epicyon vs Glitch-soc
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Epicyon | Glitch-soc |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 803 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Epicyon and Glitch-soc?
Epicyon
Epicyon is a modern, minimalist ActivityPub server designed to be lightweight, accessible, and easy to run on small hardware. It focuses on a no-JavaScript interface and strong moderation controls.
- No-JavaScript interface
- Runs on small servers
- Strong moderation tools
- Accessible by design
Glitch-soc
Glitch-soc is a community-maintained fork of Mastodon that adds experimental features and customization options ahead of upstream. It federates fully with the rest of the fediverse over ActivityPub.
- Extra customization options
- Experimental features
- Full fediverse federation
- Themeable interface
Epicyon vs Glitch-soc: key differences
Epicyon is written in Python, while Glitch-soc is built with Ruby. Epicyon is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Glitch-soc is the more established project (first released 2017), while Epicyon arrived in 2019. Glitch-soc has the considerably larger community, at 803 GitHub stars versus 300. Glitch-soc lists first-class Docker deployment; Epicyon does not.
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 Glitch-soc if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Epicyon or Glitch-soc better?
Neither is universally better. Glitch-soc has the larger community, while Epicyon is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Epicyon and Glitch-soc free and open-source?
Yes. Epicyon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Glitch-soc under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Epicyon and Glitch-soc with Docker?
Epicyon: check the project docs for container support. Glitch-soc: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Epicyon or Glitch-soc?
Epicyon has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.