Hometown vs Pleroma
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?
Hometown
Mastodon fork with local-only posting
VS
Pleroma
Lightweight fediverse microblogging server
| Feature | Hometown | Pleroma |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 819 | ★ 2,200 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Tumblr |
Why pick each one
Choose Hometown if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Hometown or Pleroma better?
Pleroma is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Hometown if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Hometown and Pleroma free and open-source?
Yes. Hometown is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pleroma under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hometown and Pleroma with Docker?
Hometown: yes. Pleroma: yes.