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Pleroma vs diaspora*: catalog facts
Pleroma	diaspora*
Free Free and open source under the AGPL. Hosting is separate.	Free Free and open source under the AGPL. Hosting is separate.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Runs comfortably on hardware far smaller than Mastodon needs Mastodon-compatible API, so existing apps work	Aspects give fine control over who sees each post One of the longest-running decentralised social networks
Smaller contributor base and slower release cadence Moderation tooling is less developed than Mastodon's	Does not speak ActivityPub, so it does not federate with Mastodon Activity levels are low compared with newer networks
Self-hosted, Web application	Self-hosted, Web application
Open source	Open source
License: AGPL-3.0	License: AGPL-3.0
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
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

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