Pleroma 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 | Pleroma | snac |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Elixir | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,200 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Tumblr | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are Pleroma and snac?
Pleroma
Pleroma is a lightweight, free, open-source social networking server compatible with the fediverse. It implements ActivityPub and the Mastodon API while using fewer resources than Mastodon.
- ActivityPub federation
- Mastodon API compatible
- Low resource footprint
- Multiple frontends supported
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
Pleroma vs snac: key differences
Pleroma is written in Elixir, while snac is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Pleroma versus MIT for snac. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Pleroma. Pleroma is the more established project (first released 2017), while snac arrived in 2022. Pleroma has the considerably larger community, at 2,200 GitHub stars versus 900. Pleroma lists first-class Docker deployment; snac does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Pleroma if…
- Runs on small servers
- Compatible with Mastodon apps
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Less polished admin tools
Choose snac if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Pleroma or snac better?
Neither is universally better. Pleroma has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Pleroma and snac free and open-source?
Yes. Pleroma is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and snac under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pleroma and snac with Docker?
Pleroma: yes. snac: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Pleroma or snac?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Pleroma. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.