SHSelfHostIndex

Firefish 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.

Not the right match-up?
FI Firefish Customizable fediverse microblogging platform VS GL Glitch-soc Community-maintained Mastodon fork with extra features
FeatureFirefishGlitch-soc
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 1,300★ 803
First released20222017
ReplacesTwitter, MastodonTwitter, Mastodon

What are Firefish and Glitch-soc?

Firefish

Firefish is an open-source, decentralized social media platform built on ActivityPub with extensive interface customization. It includes a built-in post translator, reactions, and a flexible timeline.

  • Highly customizable UI
  • Post reactions
  • Built-in translation
  • Federated timelines

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

Firefish vs Glitch-soc: key differences

Firefish is written in TypeScript, while Glitch-soc is built with Ruby. Glitch-soc is the more established project (first released 2017), while Firefish arrived in 2022.

Why pick each one

Choose Firefish if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
  • Written in TypeScript
Firefish details

Choose Glitch-soc if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Ruby
Glitch-soc details

Frequently asked questions

Is Firefish or Glitch-soc better?

Firefish is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Glitch-soc if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Firefish and Glitch-soc free and open-source?

Yes. Firefish 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 Firefish and Glitch-soc with Docker?

Firefish: yes. Glitch-soc: yes.

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