Honk vs Sharkey
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Honk | Sharkey |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | ISC | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2019 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Honk and Sharkey?
Honk
Honk is an opinionated, single-user ActivityPub server written in Go that federates with the wider fediverse. It deliberately omits algorithmic feeds and trends in favor of a simple chronological timeline.
- Single-user fediverse server
- Chronological timeline
- SQLite storage
- Minimal dependencies
Sharkey
Sharkey is a feature-rich fork of Misskey that adds quote posts, improved moderation, and additional customization for fediverse instances. It supports a rich timeline with reactions and drive file storage.
- Quote posts and reactions
- Drive file storage
- Extensive customization
- Improved moderation
Honk vs Sharkey: key differences
Honk is written in Go, while Sharkey is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — ISC for Honk versus AGPL-3.0 for Sharkey. Honk is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Sharkey. Honk is the more established project (first released 2019), while Sharkey arrived in 2023. Sharkey lists first-class Docker deployment; Honk does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Honk if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Sharkey if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Honk or Sharkey better?
Neither is universally better. Sharkey has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Honk and Sharkey free and open-source?
Yes. Honk is licensed under ISC and Sharkey under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Honk and Sharkey with Docker?
Honk: check the project docs for container support. Sharkey: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Honk or Sharkey?
Honk has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Sharkey. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.