SHSelfHostIndex

Streams vs Takahe

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

Not the right match-up?
ST Streams Decentralized social server with nomadic identity VS TA Takahe Multi-domain ActivityPub server
FeatureStreamsTakahe
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseMITBSD-3-Clause
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 100★ 1,172
First released20212022
ReplacesFacebook, MastodonTwitter, Mastodon

What are Streams and Takahe?

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

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

Streams vs Takahe: key differences

Streams is written in PHP, while Takahe is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Streams versus BSD-3-Clause for Takahe. Takahe has the considerably larger community, at 1,172 GitHub stars versus 100.

Why pick each one

Choose Streams if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in PHP
Streams 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 Streams or Takahe better?

Takahe 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 Streams and Takahe free and open-source?

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

Can I run Streams and Takahe with Docker?

Streams: yes. Takahe: yes.

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