Epicyon vs snac
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Epicyon | snac |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Epicyon and snac?
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
snac
snac is a minimalist, lightweight ActivityPub instance server written in C with very low resource requirements. It implements the core fediverse features without a database or heavy runtime.
- Tiny C implementation
- No database needed
- ActivityPub federation
- Runs on minimal hardware
Epicyon vs snac: key differences
Epicyon is written in Python, while snac is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Epicyon versus MIT for snac. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Epicyon. Epicyon is the more established project (first released 2019), while snac arrived in 2022. Snac has the considerably larger community, at 900 GitHub stars versus 300.
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 snac if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Epicyon or snac better?
Neither is universally better. snac has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Epicyon and snac free and open-source?
Yes. Epicyon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and snac under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Epicyon and snac with Docker?
Epicyon: check the project docs for container support. snac: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Epicyon or snac?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Epicyon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.