pump.io vs Takahe
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | pump.io | Takahe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 48 · Fair | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,237 | ★ 1,172 |
| First released | 2013 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are pump.io and Takahe?
pump.io
pump.io is a stream server that lets users post activities to their followers and to the web, implementing the Activity Streams format. It can be self-hosted as a personal social networking node.
- Activity Streams social server
- Personal social networking node
- Federation support
Takahe
Takahe is an ActivityPub server that can host multiple domains and identities from a single deployment. It is designed for those who want to run several fediverse personas without separate installations.
- Multi-domain hosting
- Multiple identities per user
- Stateless workers
- ActivityPub federation
pump.io vs Takahe: key differences
Pump.io is written in JavaScript, while Takahe is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for pump.io versus BSD-3-Clause for Takahe. Pump.io is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Takahe. Pump.io is the more established project (first released 2013), while Takahe arrived in 2022. Takahe lists first-class Docker deployment; pump.io does not.
Why pick each one
Choose pump.io if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
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
Frequently asked questions
Is pump.io or Takahe better?
Neither is universally better. pump.io has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are pump.io and Takahe free and open-source?
Yes. pump.io is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Takahe under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run pump.io and Takahe with Docker?
pump.io: check the project docs for container support. Takahe: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, pump.io or Takahe?
pump.io has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Takahe. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.