Honk vs ActivityPub for WordPress
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Honk | ActivityPub for WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | ISC | MIT |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 583 |
| First released | 2019 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Medium |
What are Honk and ActivityPub for WordPress?
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
ActivityPub for WordPress
The ActivityPub plugin lets a self-hosted WordPress site federate with the fediverse, so people can follow blog posts from Mastodon and other ActivityPub software. It also delivers comments back as replies.
- Federates WordPress posts
- Follow blogs from Mastodon
- Comments as replies
- Official Automattic plugin
Honk vs ActivityPub for WordPress: key differences
Honk is written in Go, while ActivityPub for WordPress is built with PHP. Licensing differs — ISC for Honk versus MIT for ActivityPub for WordPress. Honk is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for ActivityPub for WordPress.
Why pick each one
Choose Honk if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose ActivityPub for WordPress if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Honk or ActivityPub for WordPress better?
ActivityPub for WordPress 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 ActivityPub for WordPress free and open-source?
Yes. Honk is licensed under ISC and ActivityPub for WordPress under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Honk and ActivityPub for WordPress with Docker?
Honk: check the project docs for container support. ActivityPub for WordPress: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Honk or ActivityPub for WordPress?
Honk has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for ActivityPub for WordPress. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.