Firefish vs Hometown
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?
Firefish
Customizable fediverse microblogging platform
VS
Hometown
Mastodon fork with local-only posting
| Feature | Firefish | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,300 | ★ 819 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
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
Choose Hometown if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefish or Hometown better?
Firefish is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Hometown if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Firefish and Hometown free and open-source?
Yes. Firefish is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Hometown under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefish and Hometown with Docker?
Firefish: yes. Hometown: yes.