The Best Open Source Facebook AlternativesTop Social Networks and other similar apps like Facebook

The best open source alternative to Facebook is diaspora*. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Facebook and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Facebook are Mastodon, Minds, Gab and Friendica.

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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, Mac, Windows, EU, Free and Android. 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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Facebook alternatives page was last updated Jun 2, 2026

diaspora*
450 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.
126 diaspora* alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
BSD
Self-Hosted
Ruby
+2
Is diaspora* a good alternative to Facebook?

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13comments
diaspora* vs Facebook Comments

Top Positive Comment
Yrdael
Dec 10, 2016
7
So many possibilities are available. Respectful. Nice and clear. Can be self-hosted.
Top Negative Comment
Guest
Oct 1, 2019
8
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 commentJan 26, 2025
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* is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
diaspora* is Decentralized and Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
Mastodon
620 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.
146 Mastodon alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
F-Droid
Cloudron
+6
Is Mastodon a good alternative to Facebook?

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14comments
Mastodon vs Facebook Comments

Top Positive Comment
Goldmaster
Sep 16, 2024
2
No ads, no rubbish and just better than Facebook threads
Top Negative Comment
loziniak
Jan 24, 2020
15
Mastodon is more like Twitter.
FitikWasTaken
CommentJan 13, 2025
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 is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Mastodon is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightFacebook is not according to our users
Minds
329 likes
An open-source platform for decentralized social networking. Users can monetize posts through ads or monthly support, engaging in various features such as Blogs, Videos, and secure private chats. Minds supports free speech and facilitates sharing across networks and exploring global trends.
129 Minds alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+8
Is Minds a good alternative to Facebook?

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37comments
Minds vs Facebook Comments

Top Positive Comment
Guest
Mar 19, 2017
18
Open source, transparent and does not push any particular ideology.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Top Negative Comment
David Saylor
Mar 30, 2022
0
they charge money to see posts that were posted by premium members.. they have none of the features that Facebook has.. literally the only thing it has at this point in time, is a main feed wall to share posts, that's it.
Yousif Adel
Negative commentMar 18, 2024
0
Minds keeps sending messages to join groups or discover pages etc. It cannot be disabled and its annoying.
3 of 37 comments
Minds is Freemium and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Minds is Decentralized, Security-focused and Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
Ad
Minds
An open-source platform for decentralized social networking. Users can monetize posts through ads or monthly support, engaging in various features such as Blogs, Videos, and secure private chats. Minds supports free speech and fa...

https://www.minds.com
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Gab
257 likes
Gab Social is an open source and fully decentralized social network powered by the Gab Platform. It is the new social network of Gab.com. This change was made to further Gab's commitment to its users trust and privacy online.
117 Gab alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
United States
Alerts
Warning
Platforms
Online
Android
+3
Is Gab a good alternative to Facebook?

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20comments
Gab vs Facebook Comments

Top Positive Comment
Guest
Apr 4, 2017
25
Free speech. No censoring. Say what you want, mute anyone that you don't like. GabTV so you can live broadcast. Free.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Top Negative Comment
bird
Jul 10, 2019
11
Without dabbing into politics and stuff, the architecture of Gab is more like Twitter than Facebook.
Yousif Adel
Positive commentMar 21, 2024
1
This platform has extremely MINIMAL Censorship on posts. Which allows for freedom of speech.
3 of 20 comments
Gab is Freemium and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Gab is Privacy focused and DecentralizedFacebook is not according to our users
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'.
121 Friendica alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
Australia
Platforms
Online
BSD
Self-Hosted
PHP
Docker
+3
Is Friendica a good alternative to Facebook?

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7comments
Friendica vs Facebook Comments

Top Positive Comment
arndtadler
Jul 11, 2018
4
It's independent, feature rich and decentralized.
Digital Sorceress
Positive commentMar 21, 2025
0
Facebook like for sure but feels very unfinished.. a good start.
remote man
Positive commentJan 5, 2024
1
ActivityPub and open-source
Review by a new / low-activity user.
3 of 7 comments
Friendica is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Friendica is Decentralized and Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
Hubzilla
89 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
Social Network
Blog Publishing
Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
+9
Is Hubzilla a good alternative to Facebook?

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3comments
Hubzilla vs Facebook Comments

themagician
Positive commentMar 24, 2018
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 commentApr 3, 2018
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 commentNov 14, 2020
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 is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Hubzilla is Decentralized and Privacy focusedFacebook is not according to our users
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.
89 GNU social alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Is GNU social a good alternative to Facebook?
Pleroma
71 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.
61 Pleroma alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
Is Pleroma a good alternative to Facebook?
Movim
56 likes
Decentralized social and blog platform based on XMPP, enabling self-hosting, cross-network chat, video calls, and group collaboration. Users control and migrate their data, communicate across various networks, and access services from any node while preserving privacy and open-source principles.
106 Movim alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Video Calling
Social Network
Origin
France
EU
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
+6
Is Movim a good alternative to Facebook?

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1comment
Movim vs Facebook Comments

Guest
Positive commentApr 14, 2018
-2
Nice looking interface and good chat integration.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Movim is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
Movim is DecentralizedFacebook is not according to our users
Misskey
34 likes
A forever evolving, sophisticated microblogging platform.
63 Misskey alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
Japan
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
+9
Is Misskey a good alternative to Facebook?
BuddyPress
59 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.
79 BuddyPress alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Social Network
Origin
United States
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Wordpress
Is BuddyPress a good alternative to Facebook?

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1comment
BuddyPress vs Facebook Comments

John Fastman
Positive commentDec 31, 2016
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 is Free and Open SourceFacebook is Free and Proprietary
GoToSocial
14 likes
GoToSocial is an ActivityPub social network server, written in Golang.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application types
Social Network
Microblog
Origin
International
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Self-Hosted
Kubernetes
YunoHost
Is GoToSocial a good alternative to Facebook?

12 of 56 Facebook alternatives

The Best Open Source Facebook AlternativesTop Social Networks and other similar apps like Facebook

Alternatives list

diaspora*

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

diaspora* vs Facebook Comments

Mastodon

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Mastodon vs Facebook Comments

Minds

Cost / License

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Origin

Platforms

Minds vs Facebook Comments

Gab

Cost / License

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Origin

Alerts

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Gab vs Facebook Comments

Friendica

Cost / License

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Friendica vs Facebook Comments

Hubzilla

Cost / License

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Hubzilla vs Facebook Comments

GNU social

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Alerts

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Pleroma

Cost / License

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Platforms

Movim

Cost / License

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Movim vs Facebook Comments

Misskey

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BuddyPress

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BuddyPress vs Facebook Comments

GoToSocial

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