Compare software

Streams vs diaspora*: catalog facts
Streams	diaspora*
Free Free to download and run on your own server.	Free Free and open source under the AGPL. Hosting is separate.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Nomadic identity not tied to one server Fine-grained permissions on content	Aspects give fine control over who sees each post One of the longest-running decentralised social networks
Requires running and maintaining a PHP web server Documentation lives mainly inside the repository	Does not speak ActivityPub, so it does not federate with Mastodon Activity levels are low compared with newer networks
Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Web application
Open source	Open source
License not stated	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 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

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