Pixelfed vs WriteFreely
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?
Pixelfed
Federated photo-sharing social platform
VS
WriteFreely
Minimalist federated blogging platform
| Feature | Pixelfed | WriteFreely |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,055 | ★ 5,216 |
| First released | 2018 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Medium, Tumblr |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Pixelfed or WriteFreely better?
Neither is universally better. Pixelfed has the larger community, while WriteFreely is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Pixelfed and WriteFreely free and open-source?
Yes. Pixelfed is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WriteFreely under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pixelfed and WriteFreely with Docker?
Pixelfed: yes. WriteFreely: yes.