Socialhome Review, Pricing & Features

Socialhome is an open-source federated social profile and network you can self-host. Learn its features, protocols, pros, cons, and FAQs.

Category
Community Platforms
Pricing
open-source, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2014
Web AppOpen SourceSelf-Hosted

What Is Socialhome

Socialhome is an open-source, self-hostable social networking application that functions as a federated personal profile and home page. It is not a commercial SaaS product but community software that anyone can install on their own server.

Created by developer Jason Robinson, the project's first version dates to 2014 and it was rebuilt in 2016 with a focus on federation using the ActivityPub and Diaspora protocols, letting Socialhome profiles interact with users on other Fediverse platforms such as Mastodon, Friendica, and Diaspora.

Key Features

Each Socialhome profile combines a customizable personal home page with a social content stream, supporting posts, replies, reshares, and rich media, all visible to followers across federated networks.

Because the source code is open (licensed under AGPLv3) and hosted on GitHub and Codeberg, technical users can self-host their own instance, audit the code, or contribute improvements, giving them full control and no dependence on a corporate platform.

Pricing

Socialhome itself is free open-source software with no license fee. Running an instance requires server hosting, which the user or community running the instance must pay for separately, similar to other self-hosted open-source platforms.

There is no vendor subscription, tiered plan, or company selling Socialhome as a hosted product; the official socialhome.network instance and any community-run instances set their own access policies independently.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source with no licensing cost
  • Federates with the broader Fediverse via ActivityPub and Diaspora protocols
  • Full data control and privacy when self-hosted
  • No advertising or algorithmic feed manipulation typical of commercial platforms
  • Transparent, auditable codebase maintained by the community

Cons

  • Requires technical skill and server hosting to self-host an instance
  • No official company support, customer service, or SLAs
  • Smaller user base and network effect compared to mainstream social platforms
  • Not designed for business marketing, scheduling, or analytics use cases
  • Development pace and updates depend on volunteer contributor availability

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Socialhome

Socialhome is a free, open-source federated personal profile and social networking application that can be self-hosted and connects to the wider Fediverse via ActivityPub and Diaspora protocols.

Is Socialhome free to use

Yes, Socialhome is free open-source software; the only cost is server hosting if you choose to self-host your own instance.

Who created Socialhome

Socialhome was created by developer Jason Robinson, with its first version dating to 2014 and a federation-focused rebuild in 2016.

Can Socialhome interact with Mastodon

Yes, because Socialhome supports the ActivityPub protocol, it can federate and interact with Mastodon and other ActivityPub-based platforms.

Do I need to self-host Socialhome

You can join an existing community-run instance like the official socialhome.network, or self-host your own instance if you have server access and technical skills.

What license is Socialhome released under

Socialhome is released under the AGPLv3 open-source license.

Is Socialhome a company or a product by a company

No, Socialhome is community-developed open-source software with no single company, headquarters, or commercial pricing behind it.

Is Socialhome good for businesses

Socialhome is designed for individual federated social profiles rather than business marketing or scheduling, so businesses typically need dedicated social media management tools instead.

Related Tools