SHSelfHostIndex

ActivityPub for WordPress vs WriteFreely

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?
AC ActivityPub for WordPress Turn a WordPress blog into a fediverse actor VS WriteFreely Minimalist federated blogging platform
FeatureActivityPub for WordPressWriteFreely
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectUnder-an-hour setup
Health score80 · Excellent90 · Excellent
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentsourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 583★ 5,257
First released20192018
ReplacesTwitter, MediumMedium, Tumblr

What are ActivityPub for WordPress and WriteFreely?

ActivityPub for WordPress

The ActivityPub plugin lets a self-hosted WordPress site federate with the fediverse, so people can follow blog posts from Mastodon and other ActivityPub software. It also delivers comments back as replies.

  • Federates WordPress posts
  • Follow blogs from Mastodon
  • Comments as replies
  • Official Automattic plugin

WriteFreely

WriteFreely is a free, open-source, federated blogging platform written in Go. It focuses on distraction-free writing and publishes posts that can federate with the fediverse.

  • Distraction-free writing
  • ActivityPub federation
  • Multiple blogs per user
  • Markdown support

Read the full WriteFreely guide →

ActivityPub for WordPress vs WriteFreely: key differences

ActivityPub for WordPress is written in PHP, while WriteFreely is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for ActivityPub for WordPress versus AGPL-3.0 for WriteFreely. WriteFreely has the considerably larger community, at 5,257 GitHub stars versus 583. WriteFreely lists first-class Docker deployment; ActivityPub for WordPress does not.

Why pick each one

Choose ActivityPub for WordPress if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in PHP
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
ActivityPub for WordPress details

Choose WriteFreely if…

  • Clean minimalist design
  • Lightweight to host

Watch out for

  • Few social features
  • Sparse theming options
WriteFreely details

Frequently asked questions

Is ActivityPub for WordPress or WriteFreely better?

Neither is universally better. WriteFreely has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are ActivityPub for WordPress and WriteFreely free and open-source?

Yes. ActivityPub for WordPress is licensed under MIT and WriteFreely under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run ActivityPub for WordPress and WriteFreely with Docker?

ActivityPub for WordPress: check the project docs for container support. WriteFreely: yes.

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