Streams vs Zap
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Streams | Zap |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 50 |
| First released | 2021 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Mastodon | Facebook, Twitter |
What are Streams and Zap?
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
Zap
Zap is a decentralized communications platform from the Hubzilla and Streams lineage that supports nomadic identity, letting accounts move between servers. It federates over multiple protocols including ActivityPub.
- Nomadic identity
- Multi-protocol federation
- Account portability
- Fine-grained permissions
Streams vs Zap: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Zap is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Streams. Zap is the more established project (first released 2018), while Streams arrived in 2021. Streams has the considerably larger community, at 100 GitHub stars versus 50. Streams lists first-class Docker deployment; Zap does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Streams if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Choose Zap if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Streams or Zap better?
Neither is universally better. Streams has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Streams and Zap free and open-source?
Yes. Streams is licensed under MIT and Zap under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Streams and Zap with Docker?
Streams: yes. Zap: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Streams or Zap?
Zap has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Streams. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.