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Bonfire vs Streams: catalog facts
BonfireStreams
Free

Self-hosting is free; cooperative hosting is also offered.

Free

Free to download and run on your own server.

Web, Self-hosted Web, Self-hosted
  • Federated with the open social web
  • Modular building blocks for different community needs
  • Nomadic identity not tied to one server
  • Fine-grained permissions on content
  • Self-hosting needs some sysadmin experience
  • Smaller ecosystem than Mastodon
  • Requires running and maintaining a PHP web server
  • Documentation lives mainly inside the repository
Self-hosted, Hosted service Self-hosted
Open source Open source
License not stated License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline Not stated if it works offline

Checked September 23, 2026

Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.