Mastodon is described as 'Federated and open-source social network with no ads, 500-character limit, custom emojis, and content warnings, emphasizing privacy and personal interaction' and is a leading Social Network in the social & communications category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Mastodon for a variety of platforms, including Web-based, Android, iPhone, Self-Hosted and iPad apps. The best Mastodon alternative is diaspora*, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Mastodon are Pleroma, Pixelfed, Bluesky and X.
VK (originally VKontakte) is a largest social network service from Europe. Available in many languages and highly popular particularly among Russian-speaking users around the world, especially in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Israel.
This only offers the backend, you'll need something like Elk for people to be able to access via web browsers
Light-weight, easy to install
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...
The simplest open protocol that is able to create a censorship-resistant global "social" network once and for all.
This is more of a "neutral" alternative, since nostr is a complete alternative to the fediverse as a whole. You can microblog in it and configure a bridge with mastodon servers.
Mbin: a federated content aggregator, voting, discussion and microblogging platform (By the community, for the community).
It integrates with mastodon and lemmy as well, which makes it a good 2-in-1
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...
Being a fork of Pleroma, this also works as a microblog like Twitter or BlueSky and can federate with any Mastodon server.
Solcial is a decentralised social network built for privacy and freedom of speech. It give users the ability to interact with each other without fear of censorship and to allow content creators to monetize their work fairly at market value.
This only offers a web page alternative to mastodon, the server needs to have mastodon or something else running on the backend
Gridsky brings the visual charm of Instagram to Bluesky, offering a delightful client with a grid-based interface and easy scrolling. Focused on photo content, Gridsky creates a minimal, immersive experience with innovative ways to interact with feeds and profiles. Accessible online for seamless photo sharing.
Gridsky is an alternative frontend for Bluesky only
Manyverse is a social network app using the SSB protocol (Secure Scuttlebutt) where you can write posts and share with friends nearby or over the internet. It's different from mainstream social networks because your data is yours, it lives on your phone, not in the cloud.
Different take on decentralisation for social networks.
Fediverse (Mastodon and other ActivityPub compatible software) is a lot more practical, but Manyverse has interesting idea, and can be used as a fun little novelty for groups that already gather in person, also brings nostalgia about old local networks/bluetooth sharing
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.
SpaceHey is a friendly online community for you and your friends that lets you communicate with each other, share content and discover new content and people.
Russia
Sweden
EU
Finland
France
Germany
This is essentially just another facebook