Distributed social network projects generally develop software, protocols, or both.__TOC__
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 | (E2EE) | Primarily Bluesky | beta | |
diaspora* | Status messages, blogging, photo sharing, privacy enhanced | server[3] | Ruby | AGPLv3 | Diaspora,[4] Salmon[5] | , through "aspects" | , 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 | AGPLv3[11] | ActivityPub, OStatus,[12] Diaspora, OpenID, DFRN,[13] | 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 | AGPLv3 | OStatus,[17] OpenID, partial Diaspora support | 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, diaspora, OStatus,[20] Zot,[21] Zot6[22] | 279[23] | stable | ||
Mastodon | microblogging | server | Ruby on Rails, React.js | AGPLv3 | ActivityPub | 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[28] | AGPLv3[29] | OpenSSL, RabbitMQ[30] | [31] | [32] | https://github.com/Minds | beta |
Misskey[33] [34] | Microblogging social-network | server, web-client | Node.js, Typescript / JavaScript | AGPLv3 | ActivityPub | , nodes supporting ActivityPub | More than 700 instances[35] [36] | stable | |
Movim | XMPP client + Microblogging | server and webclient | PHP | AGPLv3 | 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) |
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] | demo[67] 5 total | alpha | |||
Aether | Peer-to-peer, ephemeral, self-governing public communities with auditable and democratic moderation.[68] | P2P client | Go, JavaScript | AGPLv3[69] | Mim[70] | Mim | stable, no commit or post since 2021 | |||
Appleseed[71] | Photos, Journals, Messaging, Groups, Privacy controls, Status Updates, Newsfeeds | server[72] | PHP | GPL | QuickSocial[73] | Appleseed[74] Approximately 120 total | cancelled project | |||
Buddycloud[75] [76] | Personal and topic channels, Buddycloud directory, channel search, channel recommender, media server, friend-finder, mobile and email push service, location, messaging | server,[77] client[78] | JavaScript, NodeJS, Java | Apache 2.0 | XMPP, Buddycloud Protocol,[79] Atom,[80] Activity Streams,[81] Location Query | Domains running buddycloud: 90[82] | last update 2015 | |||
Cunity[83] | Friends, Photo Album, Filesharing, Messaging, Pinboard, Newsfeed, Memberlist, Forum, Connecting Cunities | server, client | PHP, Javascript, AJAX, JQuery | AGPLv3 | HTTP, P2P | Hosted on your own webspace | beta (v1.0) | |||
Diaspora X2 (Dead Project) | client[84] using buddycloud for federation | XMPP, buddycloud channels,[85] Activity Streams[86] | Diaspora X2[87] | ? | ||||||
Diatum[88] | Supports contact and social media apps | server,[89] clients[90] [91] | Java, Typescript | Apache 2.0 | CoreDB[92] | no commit since 2021, main repository removed, alpha 0.01[93] | ||||
DiSo Project[94] | WordPress plugins[95] | microformats (XFN, hCard, XOXO), OpenID, OAuth, XMPP | ? | |||||||
DSNP[96] | DSNPd (server daemon), ChoiceSocial (web interface) | Distributed Social Networking Protocol (DSNP)[97] | Friends in Feed, ChoiceSocial.net, DistribSocial.net | beta (v0.6) | ||||||
Friend2Friend[98] | Strong encryption, XML for all data exchange, Data is digitally signed | LGPL | alpha (updated: 2009) | |||||||
Jappix[99] | XMPP client + Microblogging | server, web client | AGPL | XMPP | demo[100] | stable | ||||
Knowee[101] | 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[102] | PHP | W3C | OpenID, FOAF | alpha | ||||
Kopal[103] | OpenID Core, multiple profiles | server[104] | Ruby | MIT | OpenID, Kopal Connect protocol,[105] Kopal Feed microformat[106] | alpha | ||||
Kune[107] | 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 | Java-based GWT (generates AJAX) | AGPLv3 | XMPP, Wave Federation Protocol | kune.cc,[108] demo,[109] 3 in total | stable (updated: 2017) | ||||
Libertree[110] | Social network | server and webclient | Ruby | AGPLv3 | 3 | beta (updated: 2015) | ||||
Lorea[111] | Profiles, microblogging, streams, groups, plugins, group mailing lists, tasks, calendar, subgroups, tagclouds | Elgg,[112] plugins[113] | GPL | OpenID, Activity Streams, PubSubHubbub, WebID. Working on: OStatus (60% production), XMPP/psyc (50% development), rdf+sparql (10% development) | 5: project's group[114] | stable (seems dead by 2016-12-28) | ||||
Mr. Privacy[115] | SMTP, IMAP | ? | ||||||||
Multichan [116] | Anonymous textboard / imageboard network[117] | server, webclient | Python | Public domain | Multichan, Atom | 5-10 instances[118] | paused on 2021-07-01, alpha 1.7 | |||
Newebe[119] | one user = one node; microblogging, picture sharing, activity stream | server, web client | Python / Coffeescript | AGPL | HTTP, REST API | alpha (updated: 2016) | ||||
NoseRub[120] | sample server[121] | NoseRub protocol / WebID[122] | demo[123] | ? | ||||||
Numaverse[124] | Microblogging | P2P app | "MIT"[125] | Ethereum, IPFS, ActivityPub planned but never completed | Alpha, no commits since April 2018 | |||||
OneSocialWeb[126] | Microblogging | Openfire plugin, clients[127] | Java | Apache 2 | XMPP, XMPP extensions[128] | alpha | ||||
OpenAutonomy[129] | Micro-blogging, RSS aggregation, Cloud storage | server,[130] web client, non-web applications,[131] | PHP (server), Javascript (web client), Java (native applications) | MIT | OpenAutonomy, XML-RPC | 4 known | stable (r210) (updated: 2015) | |||
OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS)[132] | 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. | id.myopenlink.net[133] 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) | alpha | ||||||
Osada | social network, microblogging | server | PHP, JavaScript | Zot/6, 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 | alpha | ||||||
Project Nori | OStatus, OAuth, Portable Contacts, WebFinger, and other open protocols | alpha | ||||||||
psyced | profiles, chat, microblogging | server, clients optional | LPC[134] | GPLv2 MIT[135] | PSYC, XMPP, IRC, TELNET, HTTP, Applet, SMTP, WAP, RSS | 5 public known ones in 2016[136] | 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[137] | link sharing | server, web client | Ruby | AGPL v3 | ActivityPub | No commits since May 2019 | ||||
Safebook[138] | GPL | demo[139] | beta[140] | |||||||
SMOB | microblogging | FOAF | unmaintained | |||||||
Social-Igniter[141] | 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 | 3 | alpha | ||||
SocialRiver[142] | GPL AGPL | OStatus,[143] OpenID, will add support for OAuth | ? | |||||||
SocialZE[144] | server, web client | OSMP (Open Social Message Protocol) | alpha | |||||||
Sonic[145] [146] | Federation protocol for OSN services | API, SDK | PHP / JSON | MIT | 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[147] | Profiles, Developer-extensible Post and Profile Types, Data Import, Groups, Privacy Controls, Content versioning | server,[148] clients[149] | Ruby (reference implementations) | MIT (reference implementation) | Tent, HTTPS | Granular permissions (Access Control Lists for all content) | Tent.is | alpha (0.2) | ||
Thimbl[150] | microblogging | Finger, SSH | alpha | |||||||
Twister[151] | microblogging | P2P client, web interface | C++, Javascript | MIT and BSD | Bitcoin, Torrent, DHT | End-to-end encryption for private messages | 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 | ? | stable, repository deleted[152] |
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[153] | stable | |
Lemmy | Social news or internet forum (like Reddit) | server and webclient | Rust, Actix, Diesel, Inferno, Typescript[154] | AGPL | ActivityPub | Development not yet complete, more privacy options are likely to be implemented. | 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 | 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 | AGPLv3 | WebDAV, Federated Cloud Sharing API,[155] Open Collaboration Services | service providers[156] | stable | |||
SparkleShare[157] | Collaboration and sharing tool inspired by Dropbox | Python (Nautilus plugin), C# (rest) | GPLv3 | SSH | , encryption option | planned | alpha |