Glitch-soc vs Iceshrimp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Glitch-soc | Iceshrimp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 803 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2017 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Glitch-soc and Iceshrimp?
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
Iceshrimp
Iceshrimp is a decentralized, ActivityPub-compatible microblogging server derived from Misskey with a focus on stability and reduced resource use. It offers a familiar fediverse experience with custom emoji and reactions.
- Misskey-compatible features
- Custom emoji reactions
- Lower resource usage
- ActivityPub federation
Glitch-soc vs Iceshrimp: key differences
Glitch-soc is written in Ruby, while Iceshrimp is built with TypeScript. Iceshrimp is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Glitch-soc is the more established project (first released 2017), while Iceshrimp arrived in 2023. Glitch-soc has the considerably larger community, at 803 GitHub stars versus 300.
Why pick each one
Choose Glitch-soc if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Choose Iceshrimp if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Glitch-soc or Iceshrimp better?
Neither is universally better. Glitch-soc has the larger community, while Iceshrimp is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Glitch-soc and Iceshrimp free and open-source?
Yes. Glitch-soc is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Iceshrimp under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glitch-soc and Iceshrimp with Docker?
Glitch-soc: yes. Iceshrimp: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glitch-soc or Iceshrimp?
Iceshrimp has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Glitch-soc. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.