Distributed social network projects generally develop software, protocols, or both.
Project Name | Features | Software Type | Programming Language | License | Protocols | Privacy Support (name specific technologies used) | Federation (with other applications or services) | Instances | Maturity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AT Protocol [1] | microblogging | server | TypeScript [2] | Dual (MIT, Apache 2.0) | AT Protocol | Yes (E2EE) | Yes | Primarily Bluesky | beta |
diaspora* | Status messages, blogging, photo sharing, privacy enhanced | server [3] | Ruby | AGPL v3 | Diaspora, [4] Salmon [5] | Yes, through "aspects" | Yes, own federation protocol [6] | 232 'nodes/pods' listed on The-Federation.info [7] | stable 0.7.12.0 [8] |
Friendica [9] | Rich profiles, networking groups, community/group/celebrity pages, richtext status (not specifically length limited), photo albums, YouTube share, location, like/dislike, multiple profiles w/assignment to specific friends, single sign on to post directly to friend's profiles on co-operating systems. Communications encryption. Fans and one-way relationships. Local and global directory services. Ability to restrict connection endpoints. | server [10] | PHP | AGPL v3 [11] | ActivityPub, OStatus, [12] Diaspora, OpenID, DFRN, [13] | extensive | Friendica, Diaspora, GNU-Social, Mastodon, email, RSS feeds via native protocol support. Pump.io, Libertree, Twitter, Wordpress and Tumblr via connectors and/or third party services. | more than 113 servers according to external statistics, [14] more than 300 servers in total according to internal federation statistics. | stable |
GNU social [15] | microblogging | server [16] (formerly known as StatusNet) | PHP | AGPL v3 | OStatus, [17] OpenID, partial Diaspora support | ? | Yes | Around 200 servers [18] | stable [19] |
Hubzilla | decentralised identity and community platform, also provides blogs, rich social networking, cloud storage and internet-scale access control/privacy | server | PHP, Javascript | MIT | ActivityPub, [20] diaspora, [20] OStatus, [20] Zot, [21] Zot6 [22] | Extensive | via external connectors | 279 [23] | stable |
Mastodon | microblogging | server | Ruby on Rails, React.js | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | Yes | Yes | Around 18,400 servers [24] | stable |
Minds | Free, open source, decentralized, and based on a foundation of transparency and privacy | server, [25] front, [26] mobile app [27] | PHP [25] [28] | AGPL v3 [29] | OpenSSL, RabbitMQ [30] | Yes [31] | Yes [32] | beta | |
Misskey [33] [34] | Microblogging social-network | server, web-client | Node.js, Typescript / JavaScript | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | Yes | Yes, nodes supporting ActivityPub | More than 700 instances [35] [36] | stable |
Movim | XMPP client + Microblogging | server and webclient | PHP | AGPL v3 | XMPP | Yes | XMPP | 16 'pods' [37] | stable |
Mobilizon | Events & Communities (similar to Meetup.com), Groups, shared folders, Account Not Required (to search events), Multiple Profiles, anti-addiction-by-design (Saving Your Attention {"…not a social media, nor a hobby: it is a tool…"})} | Server and…? [38] | Phoenix (web framework) / Elixir (programming language), and Vue.js for UI/front-end | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub [39] | Yes (but needs to be looked up to add here) | ActivityPub | 83 'instances' listed on the site [40] | stable 3.1.3 [41] |
Nostr | Open protocol that enables global, decentralized, and censorship-resistant social media. | Servers (relays) and clients | Multiple implementations | Public Domain | Nostr | Yes | with Minds | Hundreds of relays | stable |
Peergos [42] | P2P storage, social network, and application protocol | p2p, server, web-client | Java, Go, Javascript | AGPLv3 | libp2p, bitswap | Yes (E2EE) | Yes, via libp2p | stable | |
Pleroma [43] | Microblogging social-network | server, web-client | Elixir (programming language) | AGPL v3 | OStatus, ActivityPub, Gopher [44] | Yes | Yes, nodes supporting ActivityPub and OStatus (except StatusNet for now) | Over 500 instances [45] | stable |
Plume [46] | Federated blogging engine | server, web-client | Rust (programming language) | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | Yes | Yes, nodes supporting ActivityPub | Around 12 instances [47] | stable/beta (0.2.0 not released yet) |
pump.io | stream server supporting social networking capabilities | server, clients | Node.js, JavaScript | Apache 2.0 | pump.io API [48] | Yes | Yes | 72, [49] including Identi.ca | stable |
Retroshare | Private messaging and VoIP, group chats, distributed forums, file transfers | client-server, [50] web interface | Qt, C++ | Various Open Source licenses (with some exceptions) [51] | DHT, GPG, OpenSSL | Yes | Just with apps based on the same API | stable | |
Libervia (formerly "Salut à Toi") [52] [53] | multi-frontends, microblogging, group microblogging, file sharing, games, XMPP client | XMPP client (multi-frontends), web server, SMTP/IMAP server | Python, C++ | AGPL | XMPP, and ActivityPub in beta as of 2022 [update] . [54] | through XMPP groups, presence authorisation | XMPP native federation | demo [55] | alpha |
Secure Scuttlebutt | social networking, messaging, games, development tools | client-server, [56] applications [57] | JavaScript (reference implementation) | Various FLOSS licenses | Secret Handshake, [58] Scuttlebutt Protocol [59] | End-to-end encryption for private messages. | Peer-to-peer network. Limited outside syndication. | stable | |
Socialhome [60] | Microblogging, blogging, rich-text federated profiles, home page builder. | Server | Python, JavaScript | AGPL | Diaspora, ActivityPub | Yes | Socialhome.network Other servers findable from The-Federation.info | alpha | |
Sone [61] | microblogging, media library, decentralized spam protection | P2P client, web interface | Java, Javascript | GPL | Freenet | Yes, Multiple Anonymous Identities, private messages via the Freemail plugin with Forward secrecy | Partial, Sone messages can be read from the FMS Forum system | beta | |
twtxt [62] | microblogging | Terminal | Python (reference implementation) | MIT (reference implementation) | HTTP(S), REST | No | ? | Approximately 100 [63] | alpha |
Project Name | Features | Software Type | Programming Language | License | Protocols | Privacy Support | Federation (with other applications or services) | Instances | Maturity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6d [64] (Dead Project) | Blog, media library, addressbook, themeable, private messaging | server [65] | PHP | MIT | HTTP + REST, microformats [66] | Addressbook to send posts to either individuals or groups. | not yet | demo [67] 5 total | alpha |
Aether | Peer-to-peer, ephemeral, self-governing public communities with auditable and democratic moderation. [68] | P2P client | Go, JavaScript [69] | AGPL v3 [70] | Mim [71] | Yes | stable, no commit or post since 2021 | ||
Appleseed [72] | Photos, Journals, Messaging, Groups, Privacy controls, Status Updates, Newsfeeds | server [73] | PHP | GPL v2 | QuickSocial [74] | Friend circles used to categorize friends and restrict/allow access | Internally, others easily added (plugin architecture) | Appleseed [75] Approximately 120 total | cancelled project |
Buddycloud [76] [77] | Personal and topic channels, Buddycloud directory, channel search, channel recommender, media server, friend-finder, mobile and email push service, location, messaging | server, [78] client [79] | JavaScript, NodeJS, Java | Apache 2.0 | XMPP, [77] Buddycloud Protocol, [80] Atom, [81] Activity Streams, [82] Location Query[ clarification needed ] | Yes | Yes | Domains running buddycloud: 90 [83] | last update 2015 |
Cunity [84] | Friends, Photo Album, Filesharing, Messaging, Pinboard, Newsfeed, Memberlist, Forum, Connecting Cunities | server, [84] client [84] | PHP, Javascript, AJAX, JQuery | AGPL v3 | HTTP, P2P | Yes | Connecting P2P | Hosted on your own webspace | beta (v1.0) |
Diaspora X2 [85] (Dead Project) | client [86] using buddycloud for federation | XMPP, buddycloud channels, [87] Activity Streams [85] | ? | ? | Diaspora X2 [88] | ? | |||
Diatum [89] | Supports contact and social media apps | server, [90] clients [91] [92] | Java, Typescript | Apache 2.0 | CoreDB [93] | Yes | Yes | no commit since 2021, main repository removed, alpha 0.01 [94] | |
DiSo Project [95] | WordPress plugins [96] | microformats (XFN, hCard, XOXO), OpenID, OAuth, XMPP [95] | ? | ? | ? | ||||
DSNP [97] | DSNPd (server daemon), ChoiceSocial (web interface) [97] | Distributed Social Networking Protocol (DSNP) [97] [98] | ? | ? | Friends in Feed, ChoiceSocial.net, DistribSocial.net | beta (v0.6) | |||
Friend2Friend [99] | Strong encryption, XML for all data exchange, Data is digitally signed | LGPL | Connect to known individuals. | ? | alpha (updated: 2009) | ||||
Jappix [100] | XMPP client + Microblogging | server, web client | AGPL | XMPP | Excellent: based on presence authorizations | ? | demo [101] | stable | |
Knowee [102] | OpenID Signup, Activity Stream import and export, contact import from Web 2.0 services via XFN and FOAF, automatically updated address book from remote data sources, consolidated profile with RDF/FOAF export, personal SPARQL API | server [103] | PHP [103] | W3C | OpenID, FOAF | ? | ? | alpha | |
Kopal [104] | OpenID Core, multiple profiles | server [105] | Ruby | MIT | OpenID, Kopal Connect protocol, [106] Kopal Feed microformat [107] | ? | ? | alpha | |
Kune [108] | real-time collaborative edition, XMPP chat, groups, calendar, lists, tasks, blogs, Apache Wave inbox (modern email), wave extensions (gadgets, robots), public webpages, profiles, galleries (photos, videos), maps, federation, usability | server, integrates Apache Wave | Java-based GWT (generates AJAX) | AGPL v3 | XMPP, Wave Federation Protocol | Excellent | Total federation/interoperability with other Kune installations and Apache Wave accounts. XMPP chat interoperable with other XMPP-compliant | kune.cc, [109] demo, [110] 3 in total | stable (updated: 2017) |
Libertree [111] | Social network | server and webclient | Ruby | AGPL v3 | No | 3 | beta (updated: 2015) | ||
Lorea [112] | Profiles, microblogging, streams, groups, plugins, group mailing lists, tasks, calendar, subgroups, tagclouds | Elgg, [113] plugins [114] | GPL | OpenID, Activity Streams, PubSubHubbub, WebID. Working on: OStatus [113] (60% production), XMPP/psyc (50% development), rdf+sparql (10% development) | Excellent | Supported through plugin. | 5: project's group [115] | stable (seems dead by 2016-12-28) | |
Mr. Privacy [116] | SMTP, IMAP | Yes | Yes | ? | |||||
Multichan [117] | Anonymous textboard / imageboard network [118] | server, webclient | Python | Public domain | Multichan, Atom | Yes | Yes | 5-10 instances [119] | paused on 2021-07-01, alpha 1.7 [117] |
Newebe [120] | one user = one node; microblogging, picture sharing, activity stream | server, web client | Python / Coffeescript | AGPL | HTTP, REST API | alpha (updated: 2016) | |||
NoseRub [121] | sample server [122] | NoseRub protocol / WebID [123] | ? | ? | demo [124] | ? | |||
Numaverse [125] | Microblogging | P2P app | "MIT" [126] | Ethereum, IPFS, ActivityPub planned but never completed | Alpha, no commits since April 2018 | ||||
OneSocialWeb [127] | Microblogging | Openfire plugin, clients [128] | Java | Apache 2 | XMPP, XMPP extensions [129] | Yes | Yes | alpha | |
OpenAutonomy [130] | Micro-blogging, RSS aggregation, Cloud storage | server, [131] web client, [131] non-web applications, [132] | PHP (server), Javascript (web client), Java (native applications) | MIT | OpenAutonomy, XML-RPC | Trusted user list and fine-grained trusted sub-groups | All components intrinsically federated | 4 known | stable (r210) [131] (updated: 2015) |
OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS) [133] | Profile Management, Blogs, Wikis, Address Books, Calendars, Feed Aggregation, Discussion Forums (includes NNTP support), File Servers (WebDAV based Briefcase). | Dual (Commercial and GPL for Open Source Edition) | WebID, WebFinger, OpenID, OAuth, HTTP, SPARQL, Atom Publishing, PubSubHubbub, Semantic Pingback, OpenSocial, Social Graph API, Portable Contacts, more. | WebID and others | Yes | id.myopenlink.net [134] among others | stable (updated: 2016) | ||
OpenMicroBlogger | User-toggleable "apps" to add/remove functionality. RSSCloud and partial OStatus (PubSubHubbub) federation as well as Open Microblogging 0.1. Local follow/unfollow. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr integration. (partial) Twitter API support. Fully Restful design, user interface consumes Rest API. | MIT | Open Microblogging 0.1, RSSCloud, (partial) OStatus (PubSubHubbub) | Yes | Yes | alpha | |||
Osada | social network, microblogging | server | PHP, JavaScript | Zot/6, ActivityPub | Extensive | Everyone connected to ActivityPub | ? | unmaintained | |
Project Danube | 1) Sharing personal data with companies/organizations 2) Sharing personal data with "friends" 3) Use of personal data for "personal applications" | TBD, likely Eclipse or Apache | OStatus, OAuth 2.0, WebFinger, hCard, Portable Contacts, XRI, XDI, PubSubHubbub, Salmon | ? | StatusNet and Cliqset, among others | alpha | |||
Project Nori | OStatus, OAuth, Portable Contacts, WebFinger, and other open protocols | ? | Yes | alpha | |||||
psyced | profiles, chat, microblogging | server, clients optional | LPC [135] | GPL v2 MIT [136] | PSYC, XMPP, IRC, TELNET, HTTP, Applet, SMTP, WAP, RSS | OTR, friends-only functions and profile, secret chatrooms, presence, tor integration | PSYC and XMPP | 5 public known ones in 2016 [137] | stable (updated: 2016) |
postActiv | microblogging | server, web client | PHP, Javascript | OStatus, ActivityPub and Zot support proposed but never implemented | homepage and code forge went offline late 2019 | ||||
Prismo [138] | link sharing | server, web client | Ruby | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | No commits since May 2019 | |||
Safebook [139] | GPL | Extensive, including communication untraceability | ? | demo [140] | beta [141] | ||||
SMOB | microblogging | FOAF | ? | ? | unmaintained | ||||
Social-Igniter [142] | friends, places, status, comments, modular apps (messages, blog, cart, media), themes, mobile themes, 3rd party integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), editable widgets, | server | GPL | Webfinger, PubSubHubbub, OpenID, OAuth, Activity Streams | Yes | Yes | 3 | alpha | |
SocialRiver [143] | GPL AGPL | OStatus, [144] OpenID, will add support for OAuth | Private Messaging, Privacy Controls | Yes | ? | ||||
SocialZE [145] | server, web client | OSMP (Open Social Message Protocol) | Yes | ? | alpha | ||||
Sonic [146] [147] [ citation needed ] | Federation protocol for OSN services | API, SDK | PHP / JSON | MIT | Yes | beta (updated: 2018) | |||
Synology applications package | Chat, Photo Album Filesharing, Calendar, Video player, office suit, Notes, Mailserver | Server and (mobile) clients | ? | Proprietary | JumpChat, Appear.in, AD/LDAP | Yes | No | Stable, some beta | |
Tent [148] | Profiles, Developer-extensible Post and Profile Types, Data Import, Groups, Privacy Controls, Content versioning | server, [149] clients [150] | Ruby (reference implementations) | MIT (reference implementation) | Tent, HTTPS | Yes Granular permissions (Access Control Lists for all content) | Yes | Tent.is | alpha (0.2) |
Thimbl [151] | microblogging | Finger, SSH | ? | Planned for future | alpha | ||||
Twister [152] | microblogging | P2P client, web interface | C++, Javascript | MIT and BSD | Bitcoin, Torrent, DHT | Yes End-to-end encryption for private messages | not yet | beta, abandoned by author in 2020, no issues closed or commits since 2022 | |
Zap | social network, microblogging, cloud storage | server | PHP, JavaScript | MIT | Zot/6, ActivityPub | Extensive | Yes | ? | stable, repository deleted [153] |
Project Name | Features | Software Type | Programming Language | License | Protocols | Privacy Support | Federation (with other applications or services) | Instances | Maturity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Element | FOSS Chat with strong encryption | Web client, desktop app, android app, ios app | JavaScript, ObjectiveC, Swift, Java, Kotlin | Apache License 2.0 | Matrix protocol | Yes. e2ee in Personal message by default. e2ee must be enabled for group chat | Freenode, snoonet, gitter, OFTC. Can bridge to many other services | 2117 matrix nodes [154] | stable |
Lemmy | Social news or internet forum (like Reddit) | server and webclient | Rust, Actix, Diesel, Inferno, Typescript [155] | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | Development not yet complete, more privacy options are likely to be implemented. | Yes | lemmy.ml and more | stable |
Nextcloud | online storage, data synchronization, file encryption, calendar, task scheduler, address book, media streaming, content sharing, bookmarking, photo gallery, video viewer, RSS/Atom feed reader, drawing, polls, markdown editing, Collabora office suite, mind mapping, notes, PDF viewer, 2FA, custom terms of service, maps, and many more | server, client, web client, mobile apps | PHP, JavaScript | GNU AGPLv3 | WebDAV, HTTP, OAuth, OpenID | Yes | Yes | service providers | stable |
ownCloud | online storage, data synchronization, file encryption, calendar, task scheduler, address book, media streaming, content sharing, bookmarking, photo gallery, video viewer, RSS/Atom feed reader | server, client, web-client | PHP, JavaScript | AGPL v3 | WebDAV, Federated Cloud Sharing API, [156] Open Collaboration Services | Yes | Yes | service providers [157] | stable |
SparkleShare [158] | Collaboration and sharing tool inspired by Dropbox | Python (Nautilus plugin), C# (rest) | GPLv3 | SSH | Yes, encryption option | planned | alpha |
Mercurial is a distributed revision control tool for software developers. It is supported on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and other Unix-like systems, such as FreeBSD and macOS.
The tables below compare general and technical information for some notable active microblogging services, and also social network services that have status updates.
Elgg is open source social networking software that provides individuals and organizations with the components needed to create an online social environment. It offers blogging, microblogging, file sharing, networking, groups and a number of other features. It was also the first platform to bring ideas from commercial social networking platforms to educational software.
Diaspora is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network. It consists of a group of independently owned nodes which interoperate to form the network. The social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it from being subject to corporate take-overs or advertising. According to its developer, "our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora."
OStatus is an open standard for federated microblogging, allowing users on one website to send and receive status updates with users on another website. The standard describes how a suite of open protocols, including Atom, Activity Streams, WebSub, Salmon, and WebFinger, can be used together, which enables different microblogging server implementations to route status updates between their users back-and-forth, in near real-time.
Friendica is a free and open-source software distributed social network. It forms one part of the Fediverse, an interconnected and decentralized network of independently operated servers.
F-Droid is an open-source app store and software repository for Android, serving a similar function to the Google Play store. The main repository, hosted by the project, contains only free and open source apps. Applications can be browsed, downloaded and installed from the F-Droid website or client app without the need to register for an account. "Anti-features" such as advertising, user tracking, or dependence on non-free software are flagged in app descriptions.
Twister is a decentralized, experimental peer-to-peer microblogging program which uses end-to-end encryption to safeguard communications. Based on BitTorrent- and Bitcoin-like protocols, it has been likened to a distributed version of Twitter.
Movim is a distributed social network built on top of XMPP, a popular open standards communication protocol. Movim is a free and open source software licensed under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license. It can be accessed using existing XMPP clients and Jabber accounts.
Matrix is an open standard and communication protocol for real-time communication. It aims to make real-time communication work seamlessly between different service providers, in the way that standard Simple Mail Transfer Protocol email currently does for store-and-forward email service, by allowing users with accounts at one communications service provider to communicate with users of a different service provider via online chat, voice over IP, and videotelephony. It therefore serves a similar purpose to protocols like XMPP, but is not based on any existing communication protocol.
PeerTube is a free and open-source, decentralized, ActivityPub federated video platform powered by WebTorrent, that uses peer-to-peer technology to reduce load on individual servers when viewing videos.
Framasoft is an education-oriented social network created in November 2001 by Alexis Kauffmann, Paul Lunetta, and Georges Silva. Since 2014, it has been supported by a nonprofit organization of the same name based in Lyon, France. Mainly focused on free software valorisation, it is divided into three main branches of activity based upon a collaborative model: promotion, dissemination, and development of free software, enrichment of the free culture movement, and online services.
Mastodon is a free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services. It has microblogging features similar to Twitter, which are offered by a large number of independently run nodes, known as instances or servers, each with its own code of conduct, terms of service, privacy policy, privacy options, and content moderation policies.
The fediverse is a collection of social networking servers which can communicate with each other, while remaining independently controlled from each other. Users on different social networks and websites can send and receive status updates, multimedia and other files to and from others across the network.
ActivityPub is an open, decentralized social networking protocol based on Pump.io's ActivityPump protocol. It provides a client/server API for creating, updating, and deleting content, as well as a federated server-to-server API for delivering notifications and content.
Secure Scuttlebutt (SSB) is a peer-to peer communication protocol, mesh network, and self-hosted social media ecosystem. Each user hosts their own content and the content of the peers they follow, which provides fault tolerance and eventual consistency. Messages are digitally signed and added to an append-only list of messages published by an author. SSB is primarily used for implementing distributed social networks, and utilizes cryptography to assure that content remains unforged as it is propagated through the network.
Bluesky, also known as Bluesky Social, is a microblogging social platform and a public benefit corporation based in the United States. Jay Graber serves as the company's CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and XMPP creator Jeremie Miller sit on its board of directors.
Lemmy is a free and open-source software for running self-hosted social news aggregation and discussion forums. These hosts, known as "instances", communicate with each other using the ActivityPub protocol.
Mobilizon is an open source software for event planning and group management, launched in October 2020 by Framasoft to offer a free alternative to the platforms of GAFAM. Mobilizon gained much visibility in hacker circles relatively fast, but also soon within cultural scene in Europe and more recently in the mainstream IT media.
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