head to head · open source
Lemmy vs Loops
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars, 966 forks, 129 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Loops has 453 stars, 59 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lemmy leads on adoption by 3,123% (14,599 vs 453 stars). Lemmy is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Loops is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Lemmy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Loops 13%. Loops was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (activitypub), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Lemmy | Loops | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 453 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 966 | ⑂ 59 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Lemmy if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Loops if
- You want the Loops 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 Loops fits your workflow better
About Lemmy
Lemmy is a link aggregator and forum platform for the Fediverse, written in Rust and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It supports communities where users subscribe to forums, post links and discussions, vote, and comment. Each server can operate independently while remaining federated through ActivityPub, so users on one server can interact with users and communities on other servers.
read the full Lemmy overview →
About Loops
Loops is a federated, open source short video sharing platform, licensed under AGPL 3.0, that lets creators and communities run their own video server while connecting across the open social web via ActivityPub, and it is aimed at server operators, community moderators, and creators who want short form video without centralized platform control.
read the full Loops overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Lemmy or Loops more popular?
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars and Loops has 453. Lemmy has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lemmy and Loops free?
Both are open source. Lemmy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Loops under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lemmy and Loops?
Lemmy is written in Rust and Loops 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, Lemmy or Loops?
Choose Lemmy if you want the larger community (14,599 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Loops if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.