A list of all projects that aim to make the web more decentralized
| # | Project Name | Open Source | Description | Design | Status | Link(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mastodon1 | Yes | SN2, most widely used, part of Fediverse3 | Federated server, uses ActivityPub | Functional | site |
| 2 | Diaspora | Yes | SN. widely used, part of Fediverse | Federated server, uses ActivityPub | Functional | site |
| 3 | Secure Scuttlebutt | Yes | SN, Mesh, p2p, widely used | Mesh, p2p | Functional | site, Another version, Manyverse, SSB Protocol guide |
| 4 | Clients of Matrix Open Standard | Yes | Chat - Real time communication over TCP/IP, widely used | Interconnected Distributed servers; clients that use them | Functional; bridges for Gitter, XMPP | site |
| 5 | Retroshare | Yes | SN, File sharing | Mesh, p2p | Functional but breaking, no maintenance | site, Github |
| 6 | Aether | Yes | Reddit like SN | Flood mesh, p2p | Functional | site and about info |
| 7 | Movim | Yes | SN | Based on XMPP | Functional, in development | site, Github |
| 8 | SOLID | Yes | Data store model, led by Tim Berners Lee | Data store pods | In development | site |
| 9 | Nostr | Yes | SN, chat | Websocket relays, schnorr sigs | Functional, in Development | Intro to Nostr, Awesome Nostr List, NIP, client list |
| # | Project Name | Open Source | Description | Design | Status | Link(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iroh | Yes | Distributed apps, using p2p data share | Documents, Blobs, Gossip, & Networking | Has tools, and basic applications such as dumppipe and sendme; short video on sendme use; example issue | Iroh Github |
| 2 | PeerTube | Yes | Federated video solution, part of Fediverse | Uses ActivityPub, federated servers | Functional | site, BitcoinTV - an instance of PeerTube |
| 3 | Keet | to be open-source released in Dec'22 | p2p video call app | live, released in Aug 2022 | annoucnement | |
| 4 | Wildland | Yes | Distributed storage, Data ownership, distributed file system(s) | One con is that they seem to have integrated a token(eth) into their system | In development, Beta | site, introduction to Wildland |
| 5 | Magic Wormhole | Yes | File transfer/sharing application, open source, and a website | Uses a mailbox server to connect two endpoints | Functional | Github, docs, file transfer site |
| 6 | GNUnet stack | Yes | Collection of applications | Tech stack with file system, VPN support | Functional | how to use, tool Anastasis for password recovery |
| 7 | Dark Crystal | Yes | Allows safeguarding your private key(s) by sharing them among number of other individuals you trust | Like Anastasis; shamir secret sharing and similar techniques | In development, being used by Secure Scuttlebutt apps | Protocol spec |
| 8 | Earthstar | Yes | private, distributed, offline-first applications | Shares (shared folder), replicas (copy of share), Documents (describe shares data), keypairs (start with 4 letters) | In development | How Earthstar works |
| 9 | p2panda | Yes | build local-first websites, mobile- and desktop applications | Rust and JS sdk | in development, network node called aquadoggo, roadmap | History of p2panda |
| 10 | radicle | Yes | Peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on Git | p2p, git | Functional | guides |
| # | Name | Other related technologies | Main driver | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AT Protocol | DID, "Control your identity, Control your Data" | Non Profit. Previously called WEB545 | In development, BlueSky app, List of PDS's, Fediverse to BlueSky bridge |
| 2 | ActivityPub | Based on Pump.io's ActivityPump protocol, applications using it are called Fediverse | W3C | Mastodon, NextCloud |
| 3 | WebRTC | Communication, p2p, browser to browser comm, WebTorrent uses it | Supported by Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla | WebRTC.org |
9 Sept 2024 - Mentioned Iroh, Earthstar and p2Panda; removed GUN, OStatus and Slashtags
6 Nov 2022 - Removed mention of abandoned project Trsst and Twister.
- Wikipedia page for social networking software
- Alternative Internet list
- NLNet list of projects, including Briar chat app.
- Ecosystem overview at Bluesky community