Firefish vs ActivityPub for WordPress

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?
FeatureFirefishActivityPub for WordPress
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalsource
GitHub stars★ 1,300★ 576
First released20222019
ReplacesTwitter, MastodonTwitter, Medium

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 ActivityPub for WordPress if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in PHP
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
ActivityPub for WordPress details

Frequently asked questions

Is Firefish or ActivityPub for WordPress better?

Neither is universally better. Firefish has the larger community, while ActivityPub for WordPress is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Firefish and ActivityPub for WordPress free and open-source?

Yes. Firefish is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ActivityPub for WordPress under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Firefish and ActivityPub for WordPress with Docker?

Firefish: yes. ActivityPub for WordPress: check the project docs for container support.

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