Friendica

Decentralised, Facebook-style social network with profiles, groups and events, federated across protocols.

Open sourceSelf-hostableSocial networks

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 3
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Friendica

Friendica is open-source social networking software closer to Facebook than to Twitter: long posts with comments and likes, photo albums, events, groups, private conversations and detailed access lists for who sees each item. Each Friendica server is independent, and they connect not only with each other but with Mastodon, Pixelfed and other ActivityPub services, diaspora*, OStatus networks, email contacts and RSS feeds, so it can act as a hub for several networks. You can also set old content to expire automatically and export all your data. It runs on PHP and MySQL, so it can be hosted almost anywhere WordPress can, or you can join a public server. Friendica is free software licensed under the AGPL, maintained by volunteers. Its interface looks dated next to commercial networks, and finding friends who use it is the main challenge.

Best for: Facebook leavers who want profiles, groups and events on a decentralised network.

What works

Facebook-style features with fine-grained privacy
Connects to ActivityPub, diaspora* and email
Runs on cheap PHP and MySQL hosting

Why people leave

Dated interface
Few mainstream users
Mobile use relies on third-party apps

Top Friendica alternatives

See all 3

1
Facebook
The mainstream network with the people and Groups you already know.
66.5
2
diaspora*
Another decentralised network with circles-based privacy.
62.6
3
Mastodon
A larger fediverse network, focused on microblogging.
59.6

Why people left Friendica

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Friendica: common questions

Is Friendica free?

Yes. Friendica is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Friendica open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at friendica/friendica. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Friendica run on?

Friendica is available for Web and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Friendica?

The highest-ranked Friendica alternatives right now are Facebook, diaspora* and Mastodon. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 3 Friendica alternatives

Friendica facts

4 of 4 verified

License: AGPL-3.0; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: AGPL-3.0 (GNU Affero General Public License v3.0).”
Protocols: ActivityPub, OStatus, diaspora*; Checked Oct 25, 2026friendi.ca(opens source in a new tab); “Interoperability Built-in support for ActivityPub (e.g. Funkwhale, Hubzilla, Mastodon, Pleroma, Pixelfed), OStatus (e.g. StatusNet, GNU social, Quitter) and diaspora* protocols.”
Hosting requirements: PHP and MySQL; Checked Oct 25, 2026friendi.ca(opens source in a new tab); “Friendica runs on PHP with MySQL as a database.”
Latest release: 2026.05; Checked Oct 25, 2026friendi.ca(opens source in a new tab); “Friendica 2026.05 released A Decentralized Social Network Try It!”