head to head · open source
Pixelfed vs Reddit-Enhancement-Suite
Pixelfed has 7,105 GitHub stars, 881 forks, 116 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Reddit-Enhancement-Suite has 4,520 stars, 891 forks, 683 open issues and last shipped 16 days ago. Pixelfed leads on adoption by 57% (7,105 vs 4,520 stars). Pixelfed is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; Reddit-Enhancement-Suite is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Pixelfed has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Reddit-Enhancement-Suite 20%. 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
| Pixelfed | Reddit-Enhancement-Suite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.1K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 881 | ⑂ 891 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pixelfed if
- You weight community size — 7.1K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Reddit-Enhancement-Suite if
- You want the Reddit-Enhancement-Suite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite fits your workflow better
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 →
About Reddit-Enhancement-Suite
Reddit Enhancement Suite is a browser extension suite that adds modules to the Reddit browsing experience. It lives in the browser extension ecosystem, with builds targeting Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, and it is distributed as a GPL 3.0 licensed JavaScript project. Development happens in the open on GitHub under the honestbleeps organisation, where the README, the wiki, and the changelog directory serve as the primary documentation surfaces.
read the full Reddit-Enhancement-Suite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pixelfed or Reddit-Enhancement-Suite more popular?
Pixelfed has 7,105 GitHub stars and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite has 4,520. Pixelfed has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pixelfed and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite free?
Both are open source. Pixelfed is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pixelfed and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite?
Pixelfed is written in PHP and Reddit-Enhancement-Suite in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Pixelfed or Reddit-Enhancement-Suite?
Choose Pixelfed if you want the larger community (7,105 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Reddit-Enhancement-Suite if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.