Invidious 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?
Invidious
Alternative front-end to YouTube
VS
Phanpy
Minimalistic opinionated Fediverse ⁂ web client
| Feature | Invidious | Phanpy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-3.0-only | MIT |
| Language | Crystal | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 100 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,442 | ★ 1,472 |
| First released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Replaces | YouTube | Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads |
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 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 Invidious or Phanpy better?
Neither is universally better. Invidious has the larger community, while Phanpy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Invidious and Phanpy free and open-source?
Yes. Invidious is licensed under GPL-3.0-only and Phanpy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Invidious and Phanpy with Docker?
Invidious: check the project docs for container support. Phanpy: check the project docs for container support.