Mastodon vs snac
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mastodon | snac |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 50,319 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2016 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, X | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Mastodon and snac?
Mastodon
Mastodon is a free, open-source decentralized social network and microblogging server. It is part of the fediverse, federating with other ActivityPub servers so users can follow accounts across instances.
- ActivityPub federation
- Chronological timelines
- Content warnings and moderation tools
- Rich third-party app ecosystem
snac
snac is a minimalist, lightweight ActivityPub instance server written in C with very low resource requirements. It implements the core fediverse features without a database or heavy runtime.
- Tiny C implementation
- No database needed
- ActivityPub federation
- Runs on minimal hardware
Mastodon vs snac: key differences
Mastodon is written in Ruby, while snac is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Mastodon versus MIT for snac. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Mastodon. Mastodon is the more established project (first released 2016), while snac arrived in 2022. Mastodon has the considerably larger community, at 50,319 GitHub stars versus 900. Mastodon lists first-class Docker deployment; snac does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Mastodon if…
- Large fediverse network
- Strong moderation features
Watch out for
- Resource-heavy to host
- Operationally complex
Choose snac if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Mastodon or snac better?
Neither is universally better. Mastodon has the larger community, while snac is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mastodon and snac free and open-source?
Yes. Mastodon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and snac under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mastodon and snac with Docker?
Mastodon: yes. snac: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Mastodon or snac?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Mastodon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.