head to head · open source
Lemmy vs Maskbook
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars, 966 forks, 129 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Maskbook has 1,583 stars, 316 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Lemmy leads on adoption by 822% (14,599 vs 1,583 stars). Lemmy is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Maskbook is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Lemmy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Maskbook 20%. Lemmy 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Lemmy | Maskbook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 966 | ⑂ 316 |
| 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 Maskbook if
- You want the Maskbook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Maskbook 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 Maskbook
Maskbook is open source browser extension. It is TypeScript project. It carries AGPL 3.0 license. It sits in Community & Social / Social Networking. It presents itself as portal to new, open Internet. It bridges Web2.0 to Web3.0. It targets social platforms people already use. It adds encrypted posting, encrypted file sharing, NFT profile picture use, token trading on X (formerly Twitter), crypto lucky draws. It uses topics: arweave, blockchain, browser extension, crypto, cryptography, defi, dweb, encryption, ethereum, gundb, ipfs, nft. It has 1582 stars, 316 forks, 4 open issues. Repo age 7 years. Last push 2026…
read the full Maskbook overview →
More in Community & Social
Related comparisons
More Social Networking projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Social Networking field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lemmy or Maskbook more popular?
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars and Maskbook has 1,583. Lemmy has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lemmy and Maskbook free?
Both are open source. Lemmy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Maskbook under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lemmy and Maskbook?
Lemmy is written in Rust and Maskbook in TypeScript. 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 Maskbook?
Choose Lemmy if you want the larger community (14,599 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Maskbook if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.