Gancio vs Mobilizon
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Mobilizon
Federated tool for events and groups
| Feature | Gancio | Mobilizon |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 1,500 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Facebook Events, Meetup | Facebook Events, Meetup |
What are Gancio and Mobilizon?
Gancio
Gancio is a self-hosted, federated platform for local communities to publish and discover shared events and an agenda. It connects to the fediverse over ActivityPub so events reach followers on other servers.
- Community event agenda
- Fediverse federation
- Embeddable event lists
- Collaborative moderation
Mobilizon
Mobilizon is a free, open-source, federated platform for organizing events and managing groups. It is an alternative to Facebook Events and Meetup, federating via ActivityPub.
- Event creation and discovery
- Group management
- ActivityPub federation
- No tracking or ads
Gancio vs Mobilizon: key differences
Gancio is written in JavaScript, while Mobilizon is built with Elixir. Gancio is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mobilizon. Mobilizon has the considerably larger community, at 1,500 GitHub stars versus 400.
Why pick each one
Choose Gancio if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in JavaScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Mobilizon if…
- Privacy-respecting events
- Federates with the fediverse
Watch out for
- Smaller user base
- Elixir hosting expertise needed
Frequently asked questions
Is Gancio or Mobilizon better?
Neither is universally better. Mobilizon has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gancio and Mobilizon free and open-source?
Yes. Gancio is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mobilizon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gancio and Mobilizon with Docker?
Gancio: yes. Mobilizon: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Gancio or Mobilizon?
Gancio has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mobilizon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.