Friendica 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.
Friendica
Decentralized social network with broad federation
VS
Glitch-soc
Community-maintained Mastodon fork with extra features
| Feature | Friendica | Glitch-soc |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 81 · Excellent |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,690 | ★ 803 |
| First released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Friendica and Glitch-soc?
Friendica
Friendica is a free, open-source decentralized social network. It connects to the fediverse and other networks, offering a Facebook-style experience with groups, photos, and events.
- Federates with many networks
- Groups and forums
- Photo albums and events
- Addon system
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
Friendica vs Glitch-soc: key differences
Friendica is written in PHP, while Glitch-soc is built with Ruby. Friendica is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Friendica is the more established project (first released 2010), while Glitch-soc arrived in 2017. Friendica has the considerably larger community, at 1,690 GitHub stars versus 803.
Why pick each one
Choose Friendica if…
- Connects to multiple protocols
- Facebook-like experience
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Smaller user base
Choose Glitch-soc if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Friendica or Glitch-soc better?
Friendica 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 Friendica and Glitch-soc free and open-source?
Yes. Friendica 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 Friendica and Glitch-soc with Docker?
Friendica: yes. Glitch-soc: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Friendica or Glitch-soc?
Friendica has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.