20 self-hosted Bluesky alternatives

Mastodon is an open-source, ActivityPub-compatible social network server for microblogging, offering federated timelines, moderation tools, media support, and APIs.

50.3k stars7.5k forksAGPL-3.0last commit 26 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Open-source federated social network built around independently run pods, privacy via Aspects, and standard social features; implemented in Ruby on Rails.

13.7k stars2.9k forksAGPL-3.0last commit 28 Jul 2026Actively maintained

Misskey is an open-source federated microblogging platform using ActivityPub, enabling communities to run their own social server and interact across the fediverse.

11.3k stars1.6k forksAGPL-3.0last commit 25 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Ech0 is a lightweight open-source, self-hosted federated publishing platform (ActivityPub) with a Vue-based UI, SQLite storage, Docker deployment and built-in Markdown editor.

2.1k stars158 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 22 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Friendica is a decentralized, federated social network server that connects to the Fediverse, offering posts, profiles, events, photos, and strong privacy controls.

1.7k stars377 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 26 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Hyphanet (formerly Freenet) is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication and publishing using an encrypted, decentralized data store and plugin-based apps.

1.2k stars237 forksGPL-2.0last commit 16 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Self-hosted, federated catalog and social tracker for books, movies, TV, music, podcasts, games, and performances with ratings, reviews, lists, and ActivityPub.

875 stars66 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 25 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Adds ActivityPub federation to Nextcloud so users can post, follow, and interact with the fediverse while keeping content on their Nextcloud instance.

498 stars58 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 3 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Headless federated microblogging server for single users that implements ActivityPub and Mastodon-compatible REST APIs for use with Mastodon clients.

486 stars57 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 26 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Lightweight single-user ActivityPub server using SQLite; supports rich text, Markdown, images, polls, threading, translations and MCP.

437 stars22 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 26 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Mbin is a federated content aggregator offering voting, discussion and microblogging via ActivityPub. A community-focused fork of kbin, built with PHP and Symfony.

426 stars33 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 25 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Lightweight federated social network served over the Gemini protocol; implements ActivityPub, stores data in a single SQLite file, and is written in Go.

203 stars7 forksApache-2.0last commit 26 Aug 2026Actively maintained

Hubzilla is a federated server platform for social networking, groups, publishing, and file sharing with strong privacy controls, nomadic identity, and SSO across hubs.

Activity unknown

Socialhome is a federated, self-hosted social network engine enabling decentralized user profiles and cross-network federation via ActivityPub.

Activity unknown

Yarn.social is a decentralized, self-hosted social network based on the Twtxt format, offering privacy-first microblogging with web and CLI clients and a pod-based model.

Activity unknown

Pleroma is a lightweight ActivityPub server for the Fediverse, providing a self-hostable social network that federates with Mastodon and other compatible platforms.

Activity unknown

Open-source, minimal ActivityPub server in portable C — multiuser, Mastodon-API compatible, no database required, JavaScript-free web UI for small federated instances.

Activity unknown

Akkoma is an Elixir/Phoenix fork of Pleroma implementing ActivityPub, with Misskey-flavored markdown, custom emoji reactions, multiple frontends and performance improvements.

Activity unknown

Lightweight ActivityPub social network server focused on privacy, safety, and customization, with Mastodon API compatibility for many existing clients.

Activity unknown

Iceshrimp.NET is a performant, maintainable ActivityPub federated social network server with a Blazor WebAssembly frontend and a Mastodon-compatible API.

Activity unknown