Pleroma vs Socialhome
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Pleroma
Lightweight fediverse microblogging server
VS
Socialhome
Federated personal social home pages
| Feature | Pleroma | Socialhome |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Elixir | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,200 | ★ 381 |
| First released | 2017 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Tumblr | Tumblr, Facebook |
What are Pleroma and Socialhome?
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
Socialhome
Socialhome is a federated, open-source social network where users build a customizable home page of content. It federates over ActivityPub and the Diaspora protocol.
- Customizable home page grid
- ActivityPub and Diaspora federation
- Content streams
- Markdown support
Pleroma vs Socialhome: key differences
Pleroma is written in Elixir, while Socialhome is built with Python. Pleroma has the considerably larger community, at 2,200 GitHub stars versus 381.
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 Socialhome if…
- Unique personal-page focus
- Multi-protocol federation
Watch out for
- Small community
- Slower development
Frequently asked questions
Is Pleroma or Socialhome 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 Socialhome free and open-source?
Yes. Pleroma is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Socialhome under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pleroma and Socialhome with Docker?
Pleroma: yes. Socialhome: yes.