head to head · open source
maigret vs Pixelfed
maigret has 37,735 GitHub stars, 2,959 forks, 62 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pixelfed has 7,102 stars, 880 forks, 116 open issues and last shipped yesterday. maigret leads on adoption by 431% (37,735 vs 7,102 stars). maigret is written in Python under MIT; Pixelfed is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. maigret has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Pixelfed 12%. Pixelfed 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
| maigret | Pixelfed | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 7.1K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 880 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick maigret if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Pixelfed if
- You want the Pixelfed 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 Pixelfed fits your workflow better
About maigret
Maigret is an open source Python OSINT tool that builds a dossier on a person from a username alone, checking for accounts across more than 3,000 sites without requiring API keys — it is aimed at OSINT analysts, pentesters, infosec teams, and investigators.
read the full maigret overview →
About Pixelfed
Pixelfed is an open source, ad free photo sharing platform written in PHP and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It is built on the Laravel framework and lives in the fediverse, the federated social web, communicating with other servers through the ActivityPub protocol. The project describes itself as photo sharing "the way it should be," letting casual shots and creative photography find an audience without algorithmic barriers.
read the full Pixelfed overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is maigret or Pixelfed more popular?
maigret has 37,735 GitHub stars and Pixelfed has 7,102. maigret has the larger community by that measure.
Are maigret and Pixelfed free?
Both are open source. maigret is licensed under MIT and Pixelfed under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between maigret and Pixelfed?
maigret is written in Python and Pixelfed 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, maigret or Pixelfed?
Choose maigret if you want the larger community (37,735 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pixelfed if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.