Guide · 2026
Best Social & Fediverse (2026)
The 10 most complete social & fediverse listings on Decentral Now, ranked by how much verified public information each publishes: description, services, pricing, and a live website. 68 are listed in this category. Order is not a quality rating, and no listing pays for its rank.
- 1
Mastodon
Free, open-source microblogging server that anyone can run; servers interoperate over ActivityPub so accounts on different instances can follow each other. The project site explains the network and helps new users pick a server.
- 3 services listed, including self-hosted microblogging, instance hosting docs, mobile and web apps
- Serves the whole US
- 2
PeerTube
Free software for running a video platform, developed by Framasoft. Instances federate with each other and use peer-to-peer streaming to share bandwidth, and the network hosts hundreds of thousands of videos.
- 3 services listed, including video hosting, live streaming, instance federation
- Serves the whole US
- 3
Misskey
Decentralized social networking server from Japan with a highly customizable interface and reactions. The official hub documents how to run a server and lists public instances.
- 3 services listed, including microblogging server, instance directory, plugin system
- Serves the whole US
- 4
Hubzilla
Fediverse server built around nomadic identity, where a channel can be cloned across hubs. Bundles wikis, webpages, file storage and calendars alongside social posting.
- 3 services listed, including nomadic identity, wikis and webpages, file sharing
- Serves the whole US
- 5
Lemmy
Federated link-aggregator and discussion platform in the style of Reddit. Communities live on independent servers that talk to each other and to the wider fediverse.
- 3 services listed, including federated forums, community hosting, third-party apps
- Serves the whole US
- 6
Pixelfed
Federated photo-sharing platform built on ActivityPub as an alternative to Instagram. Anyone can run a server, and posts reach followers across the fediverse.
- 3 services listed, including photo sharing, self-hosting, mobile apps
- Serves the whole US
- 7
Bluesky
Social app built on the AT Protocol, where account hosting, feeds and moderation services can come from different providers. The flagship app is open source.
- 3 services listed, including microblogging, custom feeds, moderation services
- Serves the whole US
- 8
AT Protocol
Open protocol behind Bluesky for portable accounts, self-hosted data servers and third-party feeds and apps, with specifications, SDKs and developer guides.
- 3 services listed, including protocol specification, sdks, developer docs
- Serves the whole US
- 9
Forgejo
Self-hosted lightweight software forge that is easy to install and low maintenance, developed by the Codeberg community with forge federation in progress.
- 3 services listed, including git hosting, issue tracking, ci integration
- Serves the whole US
- 10
BookWyrm
Decentralized social network for tracking reading, writing reviews and finding new books, with reviews and shelves visible across federated instances.
- 3 services listed, including reading tracking, book reviews, federated communities
- Serves the whole US