snac vs Wafrn
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | snac | Wafrn |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 900 | ★ 283 |
| First released | 2022 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Tumblr, Twitter |
What are snac and Wafrn?
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
Wafrn
Wafrn is an open-source, federated social network with a Tumblr-inspired reblog-and-tag experience. It connects to the fediverse over ActivityPub so users can interact with Mastodon and other servers.
- Tumblr-style reblogs
- Tag-based discovery
- Fediverse federation
- Custom themes
snac vs Wafrn: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Wafrn's repository is archived and no longer developed, while snac is actively maintained. Snac is written in C, while Wafrn is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for snac versus AGPL-3.0 for Wafrn. Snac is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Wafrn. Snac has the considerably larger community, at 900 GitHub stars versus 283. Wafrn 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 Wafrn if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is snac or Wafrn better?
Neither is universally better. snac has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are snac and Wafrn free and open-source?
Yes. snac is licensed under MIT and Wafrn under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run snac and Wafrn with Docker?
snac: check the project docs for container support. Wafrn: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, snac or Wafrn?
snac has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Wafrn. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.