snac 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 | snac | Takahe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 900 | ★ 1,172 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, Mastodon |
What are snac and Takahe?
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
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
snac vs Takahe: key differences
Snac is written in C, while Takahe is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for snac versus BSD-3-Clause for Takahe. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Takahe. Takahe 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 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 snac or Takahe better?
Neither is universally better. Takahe has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are snac and Takahe free and open-source?
Yes. snac is licensed under MIT and Takahe under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run snac and Takahe with Docker?
snac: check the project docs for container support. Takahe: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, snac or Takahe?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Takahe. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.