Invidious vs OSSN
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?
Invidious
Alternative front-end to YouTube
VS
OSSN
Social networking software that allows you to make a social networking
| Feature | Invidious | OSSN |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-3.0-only | CAL-1.0 |
| Language | Crystal | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,442 | ★ 1,236 |
| First released | 2023 | 2026 |
| Replaces | YouTube | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Invidious if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Mature project with 22.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Crystal
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Choose OSSN if…
- Released under the CAL-1.0 license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or OSSN better?
Neither is universally better. Invidious has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Invidious and OSSN free and open-source?
Yes. Invidious is licensed under GPL-3.0-only and OSSN under CAL-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Invidious and OSSN with Docker?
Invidious: check the project docs for container support. OSSN: check the project docs for container support.