Firefish vs Pleroma
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
Pleroma
Lightweight fediverse microblogging server
| Feature | Firefish | Pleroma |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,300 | ★ 2,200 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Tumblr |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefish or Pleroma better?
Neither is universally better. Pleroma has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Firefish and Pleroma free and open-source?
Yes. Firefish is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pleroma under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefish and Pleroma with Docker?
Firefish: yes. Pleroma: yes.