Friendica vs Misskey
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?
Friendica
Decentralized social network with broad federation
VS
Misskey
Decentralized fediverse platform with rich features
| Feature | Friendica | Misskey |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,680 | ★ 11,271 |
| First released | 2010 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | Twitter, Tumblr |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Friendica or Misskey better?
Neither is universally better. Misskey has the larger community, while Friendica is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Friendica and Misskey free and open-source?
Yes. Friendica is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Misskey under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Friendica and Misskey with Docker?
Friendica: yes. Misskey: yes.