Honk vs Phanpy
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?
Honk
Opinionated single-user ActivityPub server
VS
Phanpy
Minimalistic opinionated Fediverse ⁂ web client
| Feature | Honk | Phanpy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | ISC | MIT |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 100 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 1,472 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads |
Why pick each one
Choose Honk if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Phanpy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Honk or Phanpy better?
Phanpy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Honk if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Honk and Phanpy free and open-source?
Yes. Honk is licensed under ISC and Phanpy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Honk and Phanpy with Docker?
Honk: check the project docs for container support. Phanpy: check the project docs for container support.