Open Source Self-Hosted Facebook Alternatives

Facebook is not available as a self-hosted solution but there are plenty of alternatives for power users and business that want to host a solution on-premise. The best open source Self-Hosted alternative is diaspora*. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Facebook and many of them are open source and available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Self-Hosted alternatives to Facebook are Mastodon, Friendica, Hubzilla and GNU social.

filter to find the best alternatives

Facebook alternatives are mainly Social Networks, but if you're looking for Microblogs or Blog Publishing Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Online, iPhone, EU, Mac, Windows, Free and Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Facebook.
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Alternatives list

  1. diaspora* icon

    diaspora*

     442 likes

    Diaspora is a federated social networking service, designed to be a more privacy-aware alternative to Facebook . Share what you want, with whom you want.

    119 diaspora* alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
    • Ruby
    diaspora* screenshot 1
     
    |
    13
    Comments about diaspora* as an Alternative to Facebook
    Top Positive Comment
    Yrdael
    7

    So many possibilities are available. Respectful. Nice and clear. Can be self-hosted.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    7

    group/collaboration function is absent. not a developer, so im sure i do not understand the difficulties in making this happen. but im pretty sure this is the nr 1 reason diaspora is NOT an fb alternative.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    richardh9935
    Positive
    1

    I value privacy, security and independence. I collaborate using other tools, and I don’t expect one tool to suit all tasks.

    3 of 13 comments
    diaspora* icon
    diaspora* icon
    • diaspora* is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
    • diaspora* is Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
  2. Mastodon icon

    Mastodon

     576 likes

    Decentralized and federated social platform with no ads, focusing on personal interaction, and offering 500 character posts, custom emojis, content warnings, and robust moderation tools.

    127 Mastodon alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Cloudron
    • Android Tablet
    Screenshot of the Mastodon web interface
     
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    14
    Comments about Mastodon as an Alternative to Facebook
    Top Positive Comment
    Goldmaster
    2

    No ads, no rubbish and just better than Facebook threads

    Top Negative Comment
    loziniak
    14

    Mastodon is more like Twitter.

    FitikWasTaken
    1

    Mastodon is good, but it's too different from Facebook, it doesn't even have groups, in the Fediverse the Friendica is the closest Facebook alternative

    3 of 14 comments
    Mastodon icon
    Mastodon icon
    • Mastodon is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
    • Mastodon is Privacy focused and LightweightFacebook is not according to our users
  4. Friendica icon

    Friendica

     141 likes

    Friendica is a distributed social network application. Which allow users to connect with others via their own Friendica server, but may also fully integrate contacts from other platforms including Twitter, diaspora*, Pump.io and StatusNet into their 'newsfeed'.

    117 Friendica alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Online
    • Docker
    Logo
     
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    7
    Comments about Friendica as an Alternative to Facebook
    Top Positive Comment
    arndtadler
    4

    It's independent, feature rich and decentralized.

    Digital Sorceress
    Positive
    0

    Facebook like for sure but feels very unfinished.. a good start.

    remote man
    Positive
    1

    ActivityPub and open-source

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 7 comments
    Friendica icon
    Friendica icon
    • Friendica is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
    • Friendica is Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
  5. Hubzilla icon

    Hubzilla

     87 likes

    Hubzilla is a powerful platform for creating interconnected based websites featuring a decentralised identity, communications, and permissions framework built using common webserver technology. Hubzilla is very suitable for communities (of any size).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Channel
     
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    3
    Comments about Hubzilla as an Alternative to Facebook
    themagician
    Positive
    4

    Feature for feature, Hubzilla is the best decentralized, open source competitor to Facebook.

    Compatibility with the Diaspora, OStatus (includes Mastodon), & ActivityPub (includes NextCloud) protocols allows it to communicate with nearly every other existing.

    I am happy that after he created Friendica, Mike Macgirvin & friends have continued to push forward by creating and developing Hubzilla.

    the_real_dvs1
    Positive
    2

    Every user can make private or public forums, a static webpage, an editable markdown based wiki, categorize posts and format them with BBCode. You choose what hub hosts your data, and you can clone your account on another hub to prevent distruption or data loss.

    Net Nut
    Positive
    1

    Unlike a centralized platform like facebook you can talk to other federated platforms and with a Nomadic Identity you are never locked permanently to one server , yet you can communicate across to other platforms much in the way that email does. In addition to not being locked.. you never need to give out a new address, you keep in communication when you migrate to another server, plus there are many free servers to use, or you can launch your own instance.

    Hubzilla icon
    Hubzilla icon
    • Hubzilla is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
    • Hubzilla is Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
  6. GNU social icon

    GNU social

     98 likes

    GNU social is a continuation of the StatusNet project. It is social communication software for both public and private communications. It is widely supported and has a large userbase.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    Screenshot of a GNU social website with Swedish localization. Source Wikipedia / FSF
     
  7. Pleroma icon

    Pleroma

     67 likes

    Pleroma is a free, federated social networking server built on open protocols. It is compatible with GNU Social, Mastodon, and many other ActivityPub and OStatus implementations.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Pleroma screenshot 1
     
  9. Movim icon

    Movim

     51 likes

    Our philosophy is that your data are yours and you must always be in control. Movim achieves this through a complete decentralisation of users' data and accounts.

    63 Movim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Website
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Movim as an Alternative to Facebook
    Guest
    Positive
    -2

    Nice looking interface and good chat integration.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Movim icon
    Movim icon
    • Movim is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
  10. Misskey icon

    Misskey

     30 likes

    A forever evolving, sophisticated microblogging platform.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Timeline in Home mode
     
  11. BuddyPress icon

    BuddyPress

     58 likes

    Social networking in a box. Build a social network for your company, school, sports team or niche community all based on the power and flexibility of WordPress. Install BuddyPress directly through your WordPress dashboard plugins page, or download it manually from the WordPress.

    77 BuddyPress alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Wordpress
    BuddyPress screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about BuddyPress as an Alternative to Facebook
    John Fastman
    Positive
    2

    BuddyPress can be a Facebook alternative, depending on your needs. It's a Wordpress add-on, which means if you self-host or have hosted for you a Wordpress blog or website, you can add BP to enable you to create a social network of your own. Do it on your server and keep your privacy!

    BuddyPress icon
    BuddyPress icon
    • BuddyPress is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
  12. ZeroMe icon

    ZeroMe

     44 likes

    Social network for the distributed P2P network ZeroNet.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • gevent
    • Self-Hosted
    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • ZeroNet
    ZeroMe screenshot 1
     
  13. Akkoma icon

    Akkoma

     9 likes

    This is a fork of Pleroma, which is a microblogging server software that can federate (= exchange messages with) other servers that support ActivityPub. What that means is that you can host a server for yourself or your friends and stay in control of your online identity, but...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Akkoma screenshot 1
     
  14. Sharkey icon

    Sharkey

     8 likes

    Sharkey is a Misskey fork following upstream changes when possible, with added features. Like any other ActivityPub software Sharkey can interface with the thousands of servers that form the fediverse, an interconnected social network, working in tandem with software such as...

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Sharkey screenshot 1
     
12 of 26 Facebook alternatives