20 self-hosted Mastodon (mastodon.social) alternatives

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

50.1k stars7.5k forksAGPL-3.0last commit 27 Jul 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 16 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 28 Jul 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.

2k stars150 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 28 Jul 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 stars373 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 27 Jul 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 stars236 forksGPL-2.0last commit 10 May 2026Actively maintained

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

864 stars65 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 26 Jul 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 10 Jun 2026Actively maintained

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

478 stars57 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 27 Jul 2026Actively maintained

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

434 stars22 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 25 Jul 2026Actively maintained

Hatsu is a self-hosted ActivityPub bridge that automates federation for static sites by mapping site users and posts to Fediverse actors, handling follows, posts, and replies via feeds.

257 stars8 forksAGPL-3.0last commit 14 Dec 2025Slowing down

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

204 stars7 forksApache-2.0last commit 24 Jul 2026Actively maintained

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

Activity unknown

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

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

Activity unknown

Lightweight ActivityPub microblogging platform with Mastodon-compatible API, rich post interactions, and optional paid subscriptions via Monero.

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

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

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

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