Firefish 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 | Firefish | snac |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,300 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Firefish and snac?
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
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
Firefish vs snac: key differences
Firefish is written in TypeScript, while snac is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Firefish versus MIT for snac. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Firefish. Firefish lists first-class Docker deployment; snac does not.
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 snac if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefish or snac better?
Neither is universally better. Firefish has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Firefish and snac free and open-source?
Yes. Firefish is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and snac under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefish and snac with Docker?
Firefish: yes. snac: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Firefish or snac?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Firefish. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.