head to head · open source
Lemmy vs Loops
Lemmy has 14,659 GitHub stars, 973 forks, 129 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Loops has 465 stars, 63 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lemmy leads on adoption by 3,052% (14,659 vs 465 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 14%. Lemmy 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 | ★ 465 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 973 | ⑂ 63 |
| 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
English Español Русский 汉语 漢語 日本語 Lemmy A link aggregator and forum for the fediverse. Join Lemmy · Documentation · Matrix Chat · Report Bug · Request Feature · Releases · Code of Conduct About The Project Lemmy is similar to sites like Reddit, Lobste.rs, or Hacker News: you subscribe to forums you're interested in, post links and discussions, then vote, and comment on them. Behind the scenes, it is very different; anyone can easily run a server, and all these servers are federated (think email), and connected to the same universe, called the Fediverse. For a link aggregator, this means a user registered on one…
read the full Lemmy overview →
About Loops
Loops The short video sharing platform for the social web. Federated, open source, creator friendly, and powered by ActivityPub . Website · API Documentation · Installation · Server List About Loops Loops is a federated, open source platform for sharing short videos. It gives creators and communities a modern short video experience without locking them into a centralized platform. This repository contains the Loops server and web application. Communities can operate their own Loops instance while connecting with people across Loops, Pixelfed, Mastodon, and other compatible ActivityPub platforms. Highlights…
read the full Loops overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Lemmy or Loops more popular?
Lemmy has 14,659 GitHub stars and Loops has 465. 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 (14,659 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.