Pleroma vs Takahe

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeaturePleromaTakahe
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseAGPL-3.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguageElixirPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,200★ 1,174
First released20172022
ReplacesTwitter, TumblrTwitter, Mastodon

Why pick each one

Choose Pleroma if…

  • Runs on small servers
  • Compatible with Mastodon apps
Pleroma details

Choose Takahe if…

  • Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
Takahe details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pleroma or Takahe 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 Takahe free and open-source?

Yes. Pleroma is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Takahe under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pleroma and Takahe with Docker?

Pleroma: yes. Takahe: yes.

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