296 open-source projects for the open internet, grouped by category.
Open protocol for decentralized social networking. Powers various fediverse related projects such as Mastodon, PeerTube, Funkwhale and Pixelfed.
Homepage: https://atproto.com
Federated protocol developed by Bluesky for social applications. Combines portable DID-based identity, signed user repositories, and large-scale indexing relays; focused on social networking rather than filesystem semantics.
Open syndication formats that turn any website into a feed independent readers and aggregators can subscribe to. The original federation of the open web.
Decentralized Social Networking Protocol. Open specification for storing social graph and content as a public good on shared infrastructure rather than per-application silos.
Decentralized social protocol where identities live on Ethereum and message data is replicated across a network of hubs. Open source clients (e.g. Warpcast) and SDKs build on top.
W3C protocol for creating posts on a user's own domain using third-party clients. Letting any client publish to any compliant server.
Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays β a simple protocol where clients sign events with a public key and publish them to multiple relays. Identity is the keypair, not an account on any server.
Google-led API for building social applications across multiple social networks. Adopted by Orkut, MySpace, hi5, LinkedIn. Stewardship moved to W3C Social Web WG in 2014.
Predecessor to ActivityPub β a bundle of older standards (Atom, PubSubHubbub, Salmon, WebFinger) that powered the first wave of federated microblogging.
Push-based extension to Atom and RSS β publishers ping a hub, the hub fans out updates to subscribers in real time. Standardized as WebSub by the W3C in 2018.
Peer-to-peer gossip protocol where each user has an append-only signed log. Replication is opportunistic over local network, internet peers, and "pubs," making it well-suited to offline-first social use.
Decentralized social protocol where each user runs (or rents) their own Tent server and owns their data. Defunct after 2015.
W3C recommendation for cross-site notifications. Lets a site tell another site it has been linked, enabling decentralized comments, likes, and reposts.
W3C Decentralized Identifiers β a URI scheme for identifiers controlled by their owner rather than registered with a central authority.
Early Internet protocol for looking up information about a user on a remote system. Predecessor to WebFinger.
Distributed reputation and identity protocol β web-of-trust ratings signed by keypairs, no central registrar. Inspiration for several later WoT systems.
Decentralized authentication using your own domain as identity. Part of the IndieWeb stack.
Self-sovereign identity wallet and SDK. Hierarchical-deterministic DIDs anchored to Ethereum or IPFS for credential exchange.
Identity service that proved cross-platform identity via cryptographic signatures, plus end-to-end encrypted chat, teams, and files. Acquired by Zoom in 2020; original client and CLI remain open source but development has largely stopped.
Federated avatar hosting service β DNS SRV lookup directs requests to the avatar server for a given email domain. Decentralized alternative to Gravatar.
Open standard for delegated authorization. Foundation for OpenID Connect, IndieAuth, and most modern federated auth flows.
Original decentralized identity standard β users proved ownership of a URL to sign in to any participating site. Superseded by OpenID Connect.
Federated identity layer on top of OAuth 2.0. Lets any site sign users in via an independently operated identity provider.
Scalable timestamping protocol that anchors arbitrary hashes to the Bitcoin blockchain via aggregation, proving data existed at a point in time.
Pretty Good Privacy β cryptographic system for email encryption, signatures, and web-of-trust identity. OpenPGP formalized in RFC 4880.
Universal action protocol layered over Hypercore β drag-and-drop keypairs, contacts, and capabilities across apps with self-sovereign identity.
Smart contract and identity layer anchored to Bitcoin. Originally Blockstack (2017), pivoted to a full L1 with Clarity contracts and BNS naming.
Peer-to-peer end-to-end encrypted messenger built on libp2p and IPFS. Works without internet over Bluetooth or local network.
Bluetooth-mesh peer-to-peer chat app. No internet, no servers, no accounts β phones in proximity form an encrypted gossip network.
Peer-to-peer messaging protocol with broadcast-style delivery: every node receives every message, so observers can't tell which was meant for which recipient.
Peer-to-peer encrypted messenger that syncs over Tor, Bluetooth, or local Wi-Fi. Has no central servers β designed for activists and journalists in hostile network conditions.
Peer-to-peer group chat built on Hypercore append-only logs. Channels are addressed by a shared key; there are no servers, accounts, or central moderators.
Lightweight single-binary Matrix homeserver in Rust, optimized for personal and small-group self-hosting.
Open source Android XMPP client with first-class OMEMO end-to-end encryption. Popular reference client for modern XMPP.
Metadata-resistant, decentralized group chat that runs as a Tor onion service per user. Successor in spirit to Ricochet, with multi-party conversations and offline message delivery.
Self-hosted federated messaging server with end-to-end encryption. Mobile and web clients connect to any Databag node and chat across nodes.
Chat client that uses ordinary email (IMAP/SMTP) as transport, with Autocrypt-based end-to-end encryption. Federation is inherited from the global email system.
Second-generation Matrix homeserver in Go, focused on horizontal scaling and microservice-style deployment.
Modern, end-to-end encrypted XMPP client for desktop. GTK-based, supports OMEMO, audio/video calls via Jingle.
Highly scalable Erlang XMPP server. Powers many large federated chat deployments and also speaks MQTT and SIP.
Flagship Matrix client (originally Vector / Riot). Provides desktop, web, and mobile interfaces to any Matrix homeserver.
The original federated messaging system of the internet. Independently operated mail servers exchange messages over SMTP using DNS-based addressing.
Long-running cross-platform XMPP client written in Python/GTK. Full feature set including OMEMO, MUC, file transfer.
Internet Relay Chat β a 1988 federated text chat protocol. Networks like Libera.Chat consist of multiple independently operated servers that share channels and users.
GNU peer-to-peer communication platform for messaging, voice, and video. Uses an OpenDHT-based distributed network to discover peers; no accounts on any central server.
Turnkey email server installer for a single Ubuntu VPS β IMAP, SMTP, webmail, DNS, spam filtering, and TLS in one box.
Self-hosted webmail client with built-in PGP and a search-first UI. Runs locally; speaks IMAP/SMTP to any provider.
Homepage: https://matrix.org
Open protocol for decentralized, federated real-time communication. Provides end-to-end encryption via the Olm/Megolm ratchets (not MLS) and supports messaging, VoIP, and file sharing across independently operated homeservers.
Type-II anonymous remailer. Messages travel through a chain of operator-run nodes, each peeling one layer of encryption, to deliver mail untraceably.
Type-III anonymous remailer protocol. Successor to Mixmaster with replay prevention, directory servers, and forward-secure exit replies.
XMPP extension providing multi-end, multi-device end-to-end encryption based on the Signal Protocol's Double Ratchet.
Tool for securely and anonymously sharing files, hosting websites, and chatting via Tor onion services. Each share spins up an ephemeral onion service on the sender's machine.
Off-the-Record Messaging β protocol layered on top of instant-messaging transports (XMPP, AIM, etc.) providing end-to-end encryption with perfect forward secrecy and message deniability. The Signal Protocol's Double Ratchet directly descends from OTR's design.
Multi-protocol instant messaging client. Started as Gaim (1998); supports XMPP, IRC, and (historically) AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ via libpurple.
Lightweight, modular XMPP server written in Lua. A common choice for self-hosted federated chat.
Infrastructure-independent peer-to-peer mesh messenger over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and LAN. Works without internet, mobile data, or central servers.
Friend-to-friend encrypted communication platform β messaging, forums, file sharing, and mail across a network of explicitly trusted contacts.
Original anonymous peer-to-peer instant messenger using Tor onion services. Discontinued; lineage continued as Ricochet Refresh and Cwtch.
Anonymous peer-to-peer instant messenger. Each user is reachable as a Tor onion service, so there are no servers, accounts, or metadata trails. Continuation of the original Ricochet project.
Whistleblower submission system run by news organizations. Sources connect via a Tor onion service to deliver documents to journalists without revealing their identity.
End-to-end encrypted messenger that routes traffic through a decentralized network of service nodes (onion routing). Uses anonymous public-key identifiers instead of phone numbers or emails.
End-to-end encrypted messenger using the Signal Protocol (Double Ratchet). Open source clients and server but operated as a single centralized service by the Signal Foundation.
Messaging protocol with no user identifiers at all. Conversations route through unidirectional queues on (potentially many) relay servers, so even the network can't link two parties via a shared ID.
Session Initiation Protocol β the IETF standard for federated voice, video, and messaging session setup. Underpins most interoperable VoIP between independent providers.
Packaged XMPP for self-hosting. Bundles a server, mobile clients, and configuration tooling for small groups who want chat infrastructure without operating each piece themselves.
Open source mobile messenger built on the Waku peer-to-peer protocol, with an Ethereum-based identity and wallet.
End-to-end encrypted SMS and messaging app from Whisper Systems. Merged with RedPhone into Signal in 2015.
Peer-to-peer encrypted instant messaging and audio/video calling protocol. Friend discovery happens via a public DHT; conversations are end-to-end encrypted with no servers in the middle.
Encrypted friend-to-friend chat and file sharing system briefly released by Nullsoft/AOL in 2003 and quickly pulled. Code survives as community forks; influenced RetroShare.
Defunct peer-to-peer messaging protocol that ran on Ethereum's devp2p network. Deprecated in favor of Waku.
End-to-end encrypted messenger and team collaboration platform. Open source clients and server; mostly run as a single service with self-hosted options for enterprises.
Local-first, end-to-end encrypted knowledge graph. Object-typed blocks sync peer-to-peer with optional backup nodes; no central server holds plaintext.
Real-time collaborative editor and federated communication protocol. Originated as Google Wave (2009), donated to Apache in 2010, retired in 2018.
Homepage: https://automerge.org
CRDT library for building local-first applications with automatic merging of concurrent changes. Provides JSON-like data structures with cryptographic change history; covers merge semantics but not transport or storage.
Composable CRDT library for collaborative apps. Provides primitive CRDTs (counters, sets, lists, text) that compose into custom data types.
End-to-end encrypted collaborative office suite (documents, sheets, slides, kanban). Servers store only encrypted blobs; keys are derived from URLs.
Local-first sync layer for Postgres and SQLite. Replicates relational data to clients and syncs writes back through standard SQL semantics.
Real-time collaborative document editor. Self-hosted, with thousands of public instances; influenced the design of Google Docs.
Collaborative markdown editor with live preview, originally forked from HackMD/CodiMD. Self-hostable; popular for shared notes and meeting minutes.
Local-first toolkit for collaborative apps β CoValues (CRDT-backed objects) sync between devices and peers through a Jazz cloud or your own server.
Open source video-conferencing platform built on WebRTC and the Jitsi Videobridge SFU. Easy to self-host; many independent public instances; optional E2EE.
Peer-to-peer audio/video/chat app built by Holepunch on the Pear runtime. No servers β calls and rooms are negotiated directly between participants.
Open source real-time audio/video infrastructure based on WebRTC. Self-hostable SFU plus SDKs for embedding calls and live audio into apps.
Local-first outliner-based knowledge graph. Files stored as Markdown/Org on disk; optional encrypted sync between devices.
High-performance CRDT library for local-first apps. Aims to combine the ergonomics of Yjs/Automerge with better historical-version performance.
Local-first, self-hosted personal knowledge management. Block-based notes with bidirectional links, stored as plain JSON on disk.
Federated wiki where every reader can fork pages into their own site. Edits propagate as forks across personal wikis rather than mutating shared text.
Reactive in-memory data store for the browser with optional sync to CRDTs, IndexedDB, or remote databases. Local-first by default.
Hierarchical note-taking app with rich text, code, mind maps. Server-sync between desktop and self-hosted instance.
Browser-based peer-to-peer video conferencing and broadcasting tool β guests publish into an OBS-friendly room via WebRTC, no server stores media.
Homepage: https://yjs.dev
High-performance CRDT framework for shared editing of structured data. Supports rich text, arrays, and maps with pluggable network and persistence providers; widely used for real-time collaboration in editors.
Open-source document store for real-time collaboration. Server-based CRDT sync with JSON-like operations for text, lists, and trees.
Decentralized storage protocol aimed at permanent data β a one-time upload fee endows nodes to host the data indefinitely. Backed by a blockweave structure rather than a linear chain.
Distributed database with blockchain characteristics β Tendermint consensus, MongoDB storage, immutable signed transactions. Largely inactive since 2020.
Original peer-to-peer file distribution protocol. Files are split into pieces and exchanged among swarms of downloaders; popular content gets faster as more peers join.
Deduplicating, compressing, encrypted backup program. Stores chunk-indexed backups to local or SSH-reachable repositories.
Decentralized data network for mutable, composable documents anchored to blockchains. Built around streams of signed commits managed by the Ceramic node software.
Personal cloud platform β files, contacts, photos, banking aggregation. Designed for self-hosting or as a managed service from Cozy Cloud.
SQLite extension that adds CRDT semantics β multi-master merging without conflict. Makes any SQLite database into a local-first sync target.
Securely transfer files between two computers from any network using a relay and PAKE-derived key. Cross-platform Go binary.
Homepage: https://dat-ecosystem.org
Original peer-to-peer data sharing protocol built on append-only logs. Largely succeeded by the Hypercore Protocol, but the Dat ecosystem continues to maintain related tooling for versioned, distributed datasets.
Homepage: https://earthstar-project.org
Distributed, offline-first database for small, cozy networks of people. Provides shared key-value "shares" with cryptographic identities; recent versions are built on the Willow Protocol.
End-to-end encrypted, secure sync for contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes. Server only sees opaque ciphertext.
Local-first platform built on SQLite β type-safe schemas, end-to-end encryption with user-owned mnemonic key, sync across devices.
Incentive layer for IPFS-style storage. Miners commit to storing client data for a fixed term and prove they're doing so via proofs-of-spacetime, paid in FIL.
Browser-to-browser file transfer via WebTorrent. Recipient downloads directly from the sender's browser; no server stores the file.
Local-first, end-to-end encrypted database that runs in the browser. Verifiable storage with content-addressed CRDT log; pluggable replication.
Homepage: https://freenetproject.org
Peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, decentralized storage and communication. Data is encrypted and distributed across nodes; participants do not know what content their node hosts.
Early decentralized peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol using query flooding. Influenced BitTorrent, YaCy, and many later P2P systems.
Distributed, real-time graph database for the web. Peers sync directly in the browser using a conflict-resolution algorithm; relays optionally help with discovery and persistence.
Homepage: https://holepunch.to / https://github.com/holepunchto/hypercore
Peer-to-peer append-only log with cryptographic integrity and sparse replication. Forms the foundation of the Hypercore Protocol (formerly Dat) for building distributed apps and filesystems like Hyperdrive.
POSIX-like peer-to-peer filesystem built on Hypercore. Versioned, sparse, and replicates over Hyperswarm.
Streaming file transfer over WebTorrent β drag a file in the browser, share the magnet, recipient downloads via the same WebTorrent swarm.
Homepage: https://ipfs.tech
Content-addressed, peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol. Files are identified by cryptographic hashes (CIDs) and retrieved from any peer holding the content. Not end-to-end encrypted by default; uses a different federation model than MLS-based systems.
Live-shared linked data as a library β CRDT-based JSON-LD that any number of clients edit concurrently and converge without a central server.
Get things from one computer to another, safely. Short human-readable codes authenticate a direct PAKE-secured transfer between two peers.
Decentralized metadata layer for digital media β image attribution, provenance, licensing β built on IPFS and IPLD. Acquired by Spotify in 2017 and discontinued.
Early commercial peer-to-peer file storage system with a micropayment-based bandwidth/storage market. Direct ancestor of Tahoe-LAFS.
The original peer-to-peer music sharing network. Centralized index served file lookup; transfers happened directly between peers. Sued out of existence in 2001 but defined the p2p era that followed.
Self-hosted file storage, collaboration, and groupware platform. Nextcloud servers can federate shares with each other via the Open Cloud Mesh protocol.
Local-first, end-to-end encrypted decentralized graph database and collaboration platform built on RDF and CRDTs.
Peer-to-peer database built on IPFS. Provides several CRDT-backed store types (log, feed, key-value, document) that sync between peers without a central server.
Self-hosted file sync and share platform, the parent project from which Nextcloud forked. Supports federated sharing via the Open Cloud Mesh protocol.
End-to-end encrypted personal storage on IPFS. Cryptree-based access control lets you share by capability without trusting the server.
Homepage: https://perkeep.org
Open-source personal storage system for life's data. Content-addressed, schema-flexible storage designed to outlive any single service, with support for syncing across multiple backends.
Postgres-to-SQLite sync service for offline-first apps. Server tracks per-user data buckets and streams diffs to client SQLite stores.
Self-hosted file sync and sharing platform. Originally AjaXplorer (2008); modern Pydio Cells server (Go) with sync and collaboration features.
Command-line program to sync files and directories to and from dozens of cloud storage providers β "rsync for cloud storage."
Open protocol for personal-data storage β apps connect to a user's chosen storage server (their own or a provider) over a simple HTTP API.
Client-side sync engine for offline-capable web apps. Local SQLite-style mutation log replays through a server-defined replication function.
Peer-to-peer file sync using the BitTorrent protocol. Originally BitTorrent Sync (2013), spun out to Resilio in 2016. Proprietary.
Fast incremental file transfer utility using a rolling-checksum algorithm to send only changed parts of files. Foundation of nearly every later sync tool.
Reactive, offline-first NoSQL database for browser and Node. Pluggable storage backends and pluggable replication (CouchDB, GraphQL, WebRTC, P2P).
Autonomous, decentralized data network from MaidSafe. Stores encrypted, self-authenticating chunks distributed across community-run nodes paid in network tokens.
Self-hosted file sync and share β Dropbox alternative with optional client-side encryption per library. Server in C and Python, mature clients across platforms.
WebRTC-based file sharing in the browser β Apple AirDrop-style transfer between devices on the same network or via a room code.
Decentralized cloud storage marketplace. Renters and hosts agree to storage contracts on the Sia blockchain, with files encrypted and erasure-coded across many hosts.
Self-hosted file sync using Git as the storage backend. Drop files in a folder; SparkleShare commits and pushes to your Git server.
Decentralized object storage network. Files are encrypted client-side, erasure-coded, and distributed across independently operated storage nodes; access is paid in STORJ tokens.
Decentralized storage and communication layer in the Ethereum stack. Chunks are content-addressed and replicated across nodes, with incentives settled via the BZZ token.
Continuous peer-to-peer file synchronization between devices. Uses a global discovery server for NAT traversal but transfers are direct, end-to-end encrypted, and require no third-party storage.
Decentralized relational tables anchored to EVM chains. Permissions enforced on-chain; queries served by a permissionless validator network.
Homepage: https://tahoe-lafs.org
Distributed, encrypted, fault-tolerant filesystem. Uses erasure coding to spread encrypted shares across untrusted storage nodes, with capability-based access control via cryptographic URIs.
Anonymous BitTorrent client that routes traffic through other Tribler users (Tor-like) for download privacy. Also experiments with decentralized search and content discovery.
Open-source local-first sync database. Triplestore data model with relational queries, real-time sync, and offline-by-default semantics.
Reactive database for React/React Native β lazy-loaded SQLite with built-in synchronization protocol for offline-first apps at scale.
BitTorrent over WebRTC, runnable in the browser. Lets web pages distribute files peer-to-peer without plugins.
Homepage: https://willowprotocol.org
Specification for synchronizable, authenticated key-value stores. Provides fine-grained capability-based access control and efficient set reconciliation between peers.
Open source metasearch engine that aggregates results from many upstream engines without tracking. Forked as SearXNG.
Self-hostable metasearch engine that aggregates results from many upstream search engines without tracking. A loose federation of independently operated public instances.
Decentralized protocol for indexing blockchain data. Indexers, curators, and delegators stake GRT to serve queryable subgraphs over GraphQL.
Wide Area Information Server. Early-1990s clientβserver protocol for searching and retrieving full-text documents across distributed servers. Largely superseded by the Web, but open-source implementations (freeWAIS, freeWAIS-sf) influenced later distributed search systems.
Encrypted mesh networking protocol with cryptographic IPv6 addresses derived from public keys. Foundation of the Hyperboria experimental network.
Open-source mesh networking toolkit from the Open Technology Institute, intended for community wireless and resilience in censored or disaster-struck regions.
German non-profit community wireless mesh network movement. Local groups run open Wi-Fi nodes that route through batman-adv or babel to share internet uplinks.
GNU framework for secure, decentralized peer-to-peer networking. Provides transport, DHT, pseudonymous identity, and naming primitives intended as a privacy-respecting alternative to internet infrastructure.
Open, free, neutral community mesh network in Catalonia and beyond. Tens of thousands of nodes operated under a shared commons agreement.
Open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. Lets a group of devices form a private WireGuard mesh without relying on Tailscale's hosted coordinator.
Volunteer-run network built on cjdns β the largest deployment of cjdns's encrypted IPv6 mesh, used for community routing experiments.
Distributed swarm-of-peers networking layer underpinning Hypercore. Uses a Kademlia DHT for discovery and direct UDP/UTP connections.
Invisible Internet Project β an anonymous overlay network using garlic-routed tunnels. Designed primarily for hidden services ("eepsites") inside the network rather than browsing the open web.
Modular peer-to-peer networking stack β transports, multiplexing, peer discovery, DHTs, pub/sub. Used by IPFS, Filecoin, Ethereum, and many others.
Firmware framework for community mesh networks. Multi-radio mesh on top of OpenWrt with auto-configuration so devices form a network without per-node setup.
Onion-routed network using the Oxen service-node infrastructure. An alternative to Tor with different incentive and routing tradeoffs.
Open source mesh networking and messaging over LoRa radios. Forms self-organizing off-grid networks for text messaging, telemetry, and location sharing.
Decentralized VPN marketplace β node operators sell residential exit bandwidth, clients pay per-byte in the network's token over a p2p tunnel.
Mesh overlay network built around a private certificate authority and lighthouse coordinators. Originally from Slack.
Fully distributed self-organizing routing protocol intended to scale to billions of nodes via fractal Hamiltonian-cycle topology. Mostly historical.
Peer-to-peer content distribution library for mobile apps β fetches resources from nearby peers when servers are blocked or unreachable.
Encrypted, networking-stack-agnostic mesh protocol for resilient communication over LoRa, packet radio, TCP/IP, and more.
Open-source remote desktop with optional self-hosted rendezvous and relay servers. Direct p2p connections when network allows.
Mobile-phone mesh network for emergencies and infrastructure-free communication. Phone-to-phone voice and messaging over Wi-Fi without cell towers.
JSON+UDP DHT protocol for end-to-end encrypted messaging between any two endpoints. Influenced later p2p stacks; never reached production traction.
Self-organizing, encrypted peer-to-peer VPN daemon. Nodes form tunnels and route around each other; predecessor to Nebula.
Anonymity overlay network of volunteer-run relays. Routes traffic through encrypted multi-hop circuits and hosts onion services that are reachable without revealing their location.
Modern open-source VPN protocol designed for simplicity and performance. Foundation for Tailscale/Headscale, Nebula, and many other overlay networks.
End-to-end encrypted IPv6 mesh overlay. Self-organizes peers into a spanning tree to provide a flat, globally-routable address space without any central allocation.
Decentralized web platform using Bitcoin cryptography for identity and BitTorrent for content distribution. Sites are addressed by public keys and served peer-to-peer by visitors.
Domain Name System β the hierarchical, federated naming system that maps human-readable names to internet resources. Operated as a globally distributed tree of independent authoritative servers.
Ethereum Name Service β decentralized naming on Ethereum smart contracts, mapping human-readable names like alice.eth to addresses and resources.
GNU Name System β petname-based, censorship-resistant naming on GNUnet. Each user maintains their own zone and delegates trust explicitly.
Blockchain-based decentralized naming system for top-level domains. Aims to replace the ICANN root with cryptographic ownership.
Earliest blockchain-based decentralized name system. Pioneered the .bit TLD outside ICANN.
Distributed version control system based on a theory of patches rather than snapshots. Influenced Pijul.
Federation protocol for git forges β extends ActivityPub with vocabulary for repositories, issues, pull requests, and CI events.
ActivityPub-based federation for the Forgejo (and Gitea-lineage) self-hosted code forge. Aims to let issues, stars, and follows cross instance boundaries.
Distributed version control with a built-in bug tracker, wiki, and forum. A single self-contained binary aimed at self-hosted code collaboration.
Distributed file management on top of git. Tracks where copies of large files live across many remotes (S3, rsync, removable drives, IPFS) without putting the content into git itself.
Open source self-hosted Git forge. Friendly fork from Gogs; Forgejo later forked from Gitea.
Full DevOps platform β git hosting, CI/CD, issues, packages. Self-hostable; ActivityPub federation in incubator stage.
Distributed version control based on a sound theory of patches. Resolves merges in cases git handles awkwardly.
Minimal peer-to-peer web browser. First-class fetch support for ipfs://, hyper://, bittorrent://, and gemini:// alongside http(s).
Multi-platform IPFS browser, content explorer, and identity (DID) manager. PyQt-based desktop app for the dweb.
Lightweight application-layer protocol for hypertext, sitting between Gopher and HTTP in complexity. Mandatory TLS, line-oriented responses, and a "small internet" ethos; many independent servers and clients.
Pre-Web hierarchical document and menu protocol from 1991. Still has a small, actively maintained "gopherspace" of independently operated servers.
Minimal peer-to-peer web browser with first-class support for ipfs://, hyper://, web3://, and ipns:// protocols alongside http(s).
Even-simpler successor proposal to Gemini, dropping TLS and client identity in exchange for minimal implementation surface.
Self-hosting platform sponsored by the FreedomBox Foundation. Pure-Debian system with web-based admin for running personal communication and storage services.
Self-hostable platform for running web apps in capability-secured sandboxes. Each "grain" is an isolated instance shared via cryptographic capability URLs.
Self-hosting OS focused on sovereignty and Tor-by-default networking. Ships an app store of self-hosted services and runs on Raspberry Pi / dedicated hardware.
Linux distribution for personal servers β install IndieWeb apps (Nextcloud, Mastodon, WordPress, etc.) by name with one command. Successor to Indie Box Project.
Home server OS for running self-hosted apps (Nextcloud, Bitcoin node, Jellyfin, etc.) on a Raspberry Pi or x86 box. Provides an app store and a single-user dashboard.
Personal server stack designed from scratch β a deterministic OS (Arvo), functional language (Hoon), and overlay identity/network (Azimuth, Ames). Each user runs their own "ship."
Debian-based self-hosting OS with a catalog of installable services (mail, chat, blogs, cloud). Aims to make running your own server approachable.
Defunct experimental browser for the peer-to-peer web. Could create, host, and visit websites over the Hypercore Protocol with no servers.
Decentralized digital currency on a proof-of-work blockchain. The original cryptocurrency; foundational to many later distributed systems.
Network of interoperable blockchains connected by IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication). Cosmos SDK lets developers spin up app-specific chains.
Framework for building local-first, peer-to-peer collaborative applications. Provides ECHO (data sync), HALO (identity), and MESH (networking).
Programmable smart-contract blockchain. Substrate for many distributed app systems including ENS, Status, DSNP, Farcaster, and Swarm.
Decentralized marketplace for computation. Requestors rent CPU/GPU time from providers worldwide; payment and matching brokered on-chain.
Agent-centric framework for distributed applications. Every participant maintains their own signed source chain and validates a shared DHT, rather than a global consensus blockchain.
Data model for content-addressed linked data β the substrate beneath IPFS, Filecoin, and other content-addressed systems. Defines how typed data structures hash, link, and traverse.
Homepage: https://iroh.computer
Peer-to-peer networking and content-addressed data toolkit from number0. Provides direct QUIC connections between devices (with relay fallback), blob transfer, and document sync built on Willow-inspired concepts.
Peer-to-peer application runtime from Holepunch. Built on Hypercore, Hyperswarm, and Hyperdrive, it lets developers ship serverless apps that distribute and update themselves over P2P.
Long-developed (and still mostly aspirational) project for a fully decentralized social network on top of GNUnet. A reference design for federation-without-servers thinking.
Homepage: https://solidproject.org
Tim Berners-Lee's specification for decentralized web applications. Users store data in personal "pods" they control, and apps request access via WebID-based authentication and Linked Data permissions.
Distributed object capability framework from the Spritely Institute. Provides secure, transactional actor-style programming across machines as a foundation for decentralized social networks.
Modular Rust framework for building blockchains. Powers Polkadot, Kusama, and dozens of independent chains via shared runtime primitives.
Homepage: https://veilid.com
Open-source, peer-to-peer, privacy-focused application framework from the Cult of the Dead Cow. Provides a distributed hash table, encrypted routing, and identity primitives for building applications without centralized servers.
social (68)
Distributed peer-to-peer public-discussion network. Posts are replicated across all participating nodes; communities are ephemeral and locally moderated.
Decentralized social network built on Ethereum and IPFS. Posts, identities, and reputation anchored in the dweb stack.
Fork of Pleroma maintained by a different community. ActivityPub-compatible microblogging server with additional features and a distinct moderation stance.
Microblogging social network built on the AT Protocol. The reference implementation of atproto and its largest deployment.
Modular federated social platform built in Elixir. Aims to let communities assemble custom social experiences (microblogging, groups, classifieds, etc.) on shared ActivityPub plumbing.
Federated social reading platform β a Goodreads-style site built on ActivityPub. Lets users track reading, review books, and follow readers across instances.
Hosted webmention bridge from silos (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to personal websites. Predecessor to Bridgy Fed.
Bridges between ActivityPub, AT Protocol/Bluesky, and Nostr. Lets users on one network follow and reply to users on the others.
Federated social network built on XMPP, with channels analogous to topic-based feeds. Defunct.
Federated comment system for the web backed by Matrix. Each comment thread is a Matrix room; readers comment with any Matrix account.
Self-hosted podcast platform with built-in ActivityPub federation. Listeners on any Fediverse server can follow shows and discuss episodes inline.
Early federated social network organized around user-run "pods" and aspect-based sharing. Uses its own Diaspora federation protocol rather than ActivityPub.
Peer-to-peer video sharing platform built on the Hive blockchain with IPFS for content storage. YouTube-style UI, blockchain-anchored social layer.
Federated social server that speaks multiple protocols (ActivityPub, Diaspora, OStatus, ATOM/RSS). Designed for cross-network interoperability.
Federated audio platform for music, podcasts, and other sounds. Communicates over ActivityPub so libraries on different instances can be browsed and followed.
Lightweight federated events platform β create and share events with ActivityPub-aware calendars without a user account.
Modern publishing platform with built-in newsletters, memberships, and (since 2024) ActivityPub federation for cross-fediverse following.
Mastodon fork with experimental features that may or may not land upstream β local-only posts, content types, formatting toolbar, granular reply controls.
Federated microblogging server descended from StatusNet (the software that ran identi.ca). Interoperates with the Fediverse via OStatus and ActivityPub.
Lightweight Go-based ActivityPub server. Mastodon-API compatible but designed to run comfortably on small/low-power instances.
Blockchain-based social media platform forked from Steem in 2020. Posts, votes, and tokens live on-chain; clients (PeakD, Ecency) read the same data.
Mastodon fork emphasizing local community: local-only posting, larger character limits, full content from federated instances.
Minimalist single-user ActivityPub server. No likes, no notifications, no algorithms β just federated honking.
Federated platform built around "nomadic identity" β accounts can clone across hubs so identity survives any one server going down. Supports ActivityPub and the Zot protocol.
Misskey-lineage ActivityPub server with a rewrite-in-progress (Iceshrimp.NET) aimed at a cleaner codebase and better federation behavior.
Self-hosted IndieWeb server providing Micropub, Webmentions, and content syndication endpoints for a personal site.
Federated book inventory and lending network. Catalog data sourced from Wikidata; ownership and lending tracked per user across federated instances.
Federated link aggregator and microblog combining Lemmy-style threaded discussion with Mastodon-style posting. The original project is dormant; the community now develops Mbin.
IndieWeb-flavored publishing platform supporting POSSE (publish on own site, syndicate elsewhere), micropub, and webmentions.
Federated link-aggregator and discussion forum, similar in shape to Reddit. Communities live on individual instances and federate over ActivityPub.
Mobile (and desktop) client for Secure Scuttlebutt. Brings off-grid, peer-to-peer social feeds to phones with no servers or accounts.
Federated microblogging server speaking ActivityPub. Independently operated instances form a shared social network with local and federated timelines.
Community-maintained fork of Kbin. Threaded discussion and microblogging in one federated ActivityPub server.
Federated media publishing platform β images, video, audio. Predates ActivityPub; uses the older Pump.io / ActivityStreams flow.
Hosted (with self-host option) blogging-first social platform built on RSS, IndieWeb, and ActivityPub. Posts originate as plain feeds and federate outward.
Single-user ActivityPub microblogging server. Designed to be self-hosted by one person, with the fediverse as the social layer.
Feature-rich ActivityPub server with reactions, custom emoji, drive storage, and rich timelines. Popular in the Japanese Fediverse and basis for several forks.
Rust ActivityPub server with built-in monetization features (subscriptions, tips) on top of standard Fediverse interop.
Federated platform for organizing events and groups. Speaks ActivityPub so events and RSVPs can be discovered and joined from across the Fediverse.
Social and chat front-end on top of XMPP. Gives the federated XMPP network a modern social-network UI with posts, comments, and groups.
Federated catalog of books, films, music, podcasts, and games with personal shelves and reviews. Speaks ActivityPub so entries and reviews flow into the Fediverse.
Modern forum software with optional ActivityPub federation. Topics and posts can be shared between NodeBB instances and the wider fediverse.
Defunct decentralized peer-to-peer marketplace using IPFS for storage and Bitcoin for payments. The company shut down in 2021 but the protocol design and code remain a useful reference for trust-minimized commerce.
Collaboratively edited open map of the world. Single centralized database but openly licensed, with many independent renderers, mirrors, and forks downstream.
Self-hosted live video and chat server. Streams to a single instance but supports ActivityPub for federated discovery and follower notifications.
Desktop client for Secure Scuttlebutt β reads and writes the local SSB log and syncs with peers over the gossip protocol.
Federated video hosting platform on ActivityPub. Uses WebTorrent for peer-assisted video delivery, reducing bandwidth load on instances.
Lemmy-alternative federated link aggregator written in Python. Speaks ActivityPub to the rest of the Threadiverse.
Federated photo-sharing platform on ActivityPub, with an Instagram-like UX. Self-hostable and interoperable with the wider Fediverse.
Lightweight federated microblogging server written in Elixir. Implements ActivityPub and is Mastodon-API compatible.
Federated long-form blogging platform speaking ActivityPub. Multi-author "blogs" can be followed and commented on from anywhere in the Fediverse.
Federated activity streams server, the successor to identi.ca. Its protocol directly influenced ActivityPub.
Beaker-based peer-to-peer microblog where each user hosts their own Dat site. Followed peers' Dats directly; no servers. Defunct with Beaker.
Self-hosted, single-user bookmark manager. Generates Atom/RSS feeds, supports tagging, runs as static-ish PHP with no database.
Misskey fork focused on improvements to moderation, accessibility, and UX. Federates with the rest of the ActivityPub-speaking Fediverse.
Federated social network in the shape of early VK / Facebook β walls, photos, groups β speaking ActivityPub to the rest of the Fediverse.
Minimalist single-user ActivityPub server in C. Designed to be tiny, self-contained, and easy to self-host on small hardware.
Federated personal profile and stream server. Speaks both the Diaspora protocol and ActivityPub.
Federated microblogging platform that powered identi.ca. Renamed and continued as GNU social; conceptual predecessor of Mastodon.
First blockchain social network β posts, votes, and tokens on-chain. Hostile takeover in 2020 triggered the Hive fork; the original chain continues as Steem.
Mike Macgirvin's successor to Hubzilla β a federated social platform with nomadic identity, speaking ActivityPub (and Nomad/Zot extensions).
Multi-domain ActivityPub server written in Django. One install can host accounts under many domains from a shared infrastructure.
Decentralized microblog built on signed Atom feeds with strong identity. Aimed at a Twitter alternative without a central server. Defunct.
Defunct peer-to-peer microblogging platform combining BitTorrent for content distribution and a Bitcoin-style blockchain for user registration.
Decentralized minimalist microblogging β each user serves a plain twtxt.txt file over HTTP(S). Clients fetch files from people you follow and merge timelines.
Distributed discussion system from 1980 using NNTP to propagate articles between servers. The original federated social network β newsgroups still operate today.
Official WordPress plugin that exposes blogs and authors as ActivityPub actors. Lets Fediverse users follow and comment on WordPress posts.
Minimalist federated blogging platform. Published posts can be followed from Mastodon and other Fediverse software over ActivityPub.