head to head · open source
Lemmy vs RedReader
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars, 966 forks, 129 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. RedReader has 2,661 stars, 526 forks, 457 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Lemmy leads on adoption by 449% (14,599 vs 2,661 stars). Lemmy is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; RedReader is written in Java under GPL-3.0. Lemmy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, RedReader 20%. RedReader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (reddit), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Lemmy | RedReader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 966 | ⑂ 526 |
| 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 RedReader if
- You want the RedReader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and RedReader 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 RedReader
RedReader is an unofficial open source Android application for Reddit, listed under Community & Social / Social Networking. The project is written in Java and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It lives in the Android ecosystem and targets Reddit, with topics that include android, android app, android application, and reddit.
read the full RedReader 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 RedReader more popular?
Lemmy has 14,599 GitHub stars and RedReader has 2,661. Lemmy has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lemmy and RedReader free?
Both are open source. Lemmy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and RedReader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lemmy and RedReader?
Lemmy is written in Rust and RedReader 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, Lemmy or RedReader?
Choose Lemmy if you want the larger community (14,599 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose RedReader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.