head to head · open source
misskey vs core
misskey has 11,326 GitHub stars, 1,615 forks, 2,535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. core has 8,829 stars, 2,059 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. misskey leads on adoption by 28% (11,326 vs 8,829 stars). misskey is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; core is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. misskey has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, core 23%. misskey 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
| misskey | core | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick misskey if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick core if
- You want the core feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and core fits your workflow better
About misskey
Misskey is an open source, federated social media platform that is free forever, released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It is written in TypeScript and lives in the fediverse, the network of interoperable social platforms built on the ActivityPub protocol. The project has been developed for roughly ten years and carries the topics activitypub, federation, fediverse, microblog, and misskey. Its homepage and documentation hub is hosted at misskey hub.net.
read the full misskey overview →
About core
ownCloud Core is the server side component of ownCloud Classic, an open source file platform written in PHP and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It provides file storage, synchronization, and sharing, and it ships WebDAV, CalDAV, and CardDAV servers alongside a plugin architecture that other ownCloud apps extend. The repository is the main one for ownCloud Classic and serves as the foundation for apps such as Activity, Calendar, and Contacts. Development is stewarded by the Kiteworks Open Source Program Office under the ownCloud brand.
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Frequently asked questions
Is misskey or core more popular?
misskey has 11,326 GitHub stars and core has 8,829. misskey has the larger community by that measure.
Are misskey and core free?
Both are open source. misskey is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and core under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between misskey and core?
misskey is written in TypeScript and core in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, misskey or core?
Choose misskey if you want the larger community (11,326 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose core if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.