Hometown vs Piped
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?
| Feature | Hometown | Piped |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Language | Ruby | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 819 | ★ 10,168 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | YouTube |
Why pick each one
Choose Hometown if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Choose Piped if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Vue
Frequently asked questions
Is Hometown or Piped better?
Piped is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Hometown if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Hometown and Piped free and open-source?
Yes. Hometown is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Piped under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hometown and Piped with Docker?
Hometown: yes. Piped: check the project docs for container support.