Honk vs Streams
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Honk | Streams |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | ISC | MIT |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 100 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Facebook, Mastodon |
What are Honk and Streams?
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
Streams
Streams is a free, decentralized social communication server that supports nomadic identity, letting accounts move and clone between instances. It federates with the fediverse and offers fine-grained permissions.
- Nomadic identity
- Account cloning across servers
- Fediverse federation
- Granular permissions
Honk vs Streams: key differences
Honk is written in Go, while Streams is built with PHP. Licensing differs — ISC for Honk versus MIT for Streams. Honk is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Streams. Honk is the more established project (first released 2019), while Streams arrived in 2021. Honk has the considerably larger community, at 400 GitHub stars versus 100. Streams 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 Streams if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Honk or Streams better?
Honk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Streams if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Honk and Streams free and open-source?
Yes. Honk is licensed under ISC and Streams under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Honk and Streams with Docker?
Honk: check the project docs for container support. Streams: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Honk or Streams?
Honk has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Streams. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.