snac vs Streams
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | snac | Streams |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | C | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 900 | ★ 100 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Facebook, Mastodon |
What are snac and Streams?
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
Streams
Streams is a free, decentralized social communication server that supports nomadic identity, letting accounts move and clone between instances. It federates with the fediverse and offers fine-grained permissions.
- Nomadic identity
- Account cloning across servers
- Fediverse federation
- Granular permissions
snac vs Streams: key differences
Snac is written in C, while Streams is built with PHP. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Streams. Snac has the considerably larger community, at 900 GitHub stars versus 100. Streams lists first-class Docker deployment; snac does not.
Why pick each one
Choose snac if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Streams if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is snac or Streams better?
snac is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Streams if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are snac and Streams free and open-source?
Yes. snac is licensed under MIT and Streams under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run snac and Streams with Docker?
snac: check the project docs for container support. Streams: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, snac or Streams?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Streams. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.