head to head · open source
Bluesky vs Smithereen
Bluesky has 18,364 GitHub stars, 2,872 forks, 2,400 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Smithereen has 548 stars, 37 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Bluesky leads on adoption by 3,251% (18,364 vs 548 stars). Bluesky is written in TypeScript under MIT; Smithereen is written in Java under Unlicense. Bluesky has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Smithereen 7%. Bluesky was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Bluesky | Smithereen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 548 |
| License | MIT | Unlicense |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 37 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bluesky if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Smithereen if
- You want the Smithereen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Unlicense license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Smithereen fits your workflow better
About Bluesky
Bluesky Social App Welcome friends! This is the codebase for the Bluesky Social app. Get the app itself: Web: bsky.app iOS: App Store Android: Play Store Development Resources This is a React Native application, written in the TypeScript programming language. It builds on the atproto TypeScript packages (like @atproto/api ), which are also open source, but in a different git repository. There is a small amount of Go language source code (in ./bskyweb/ ), for a web service that returns the React Native Web application. The Build Instructions are a good place to get started with the app itself. The Authenticated…
read the full Bluesky overview →
About Smithereen
Federated, ActivityPub compatible social network with friends, walls, and groups. If you have any questions or feedback, there's a Telegram chat you can join. Building/installation Running directly on your server Recommended: use the installation script 1. Install JRE or JDK 21 or newer from your distribution's package manager, here, here or here 2. Install MySQL. Note: on Debian, apt get install mysql server would instead install MariaDB, which is known to be incompatible with Smithereen. 3. Download a prebuilt bundle for your CPU architecture from the latest release to your server and unpack it somewhere 4…
read the full Smithereen overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bluesky or Smithereen more popular?
Bluesky has 18,364 GitHub stars and Smithereen has 548. Bluesky has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bluesky and Smithereen free?
Both are open source. Bluesky is licensed under MIT and Smithereen under Unlicense. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Bluesky and Smithereen?
Bluesky is written in TypeScript and Smithereen in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Bluesky or Smithereen?
Choose Bluesky if you want the larger community (18,364 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Smithereen if its feature set, stack or Unlicense licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.