Loops is a federated, open-source short-video sharing platform, licensed under AGPL-3.0, that lets creators and communities run their own video server while connecting across the open social web via ActivityPub, and it is aimed at server operators, community moderators, and creators who want short-form video without centralized platform control.

What it is

Loops is a federated platform for sharing short videos, built on ActivityPub and living in the wider fediverse ecosystem alongside Pixelfed, Mastodon, and other compatible ActivityPub platforms. The repository contains the Loops server and web application, which together provide the video hosting, discovery feeds, and social interaction layer that an instance needs. Communities can operate their own Loops instance rather than depending on a single central service, and each server can establish its own rules, policies, and moderation practices.

The concrete problem it solves is the loss of creator and community control on advertising-driven short-video platforms. The project's topic list includes tiktok, and the README frames Loops explicitly as giving creators and communities a modern short-video experience without locking them into a centralized platform and without advertising-driven platform incentives. Where a centralized host decides reach, monetization pressure, and content policy for everyone at once, Loops pushes those decisions down to the individual instance and keeps the social graph portable: an instance federates with Loops, Pixelfed, and Mastodon servers, so following, replying, and boosting work across the boundaries of any one server.

Key capabilities

• Federated by design, using ActivityPub to connect and interact across the open social web, with interoperability documented in FEDERATION.md.
• Self-hostable: operators run an independent Loops server for their own community, with a Docker-based deployment path available.
• Modern discovery: Following and For You feeds, plus hashtags, profiles, and videos.
• Social interactions including comments, replies, mentions, likes, shares, and boosts.
• Open JSON REST API secured with OAuth 2.0, publicly documented, with no partnership, application, or prior approval required to build clients and integrations.
• Creator-friendly positioning that removes advertising-driven platform incentives from the video-sharing experience.
• Community-controlled governance, where each server sets its own rules, policies, and moderation practices.
• Open source under AGPLv3, so the software can be inspected, modified, contributed to, and redistributed.

Who uses it and how

• Community-run instances: a group or organization deploys its own Loops server and sets moderation policy for its own members.
• Fediverse participants: users on Loops, Pixelfed, and Mastodon interact with each other's videos through ActivityPub federation.
• Creators seeking an ad-free channel: creators publish short videos where distribution is not shaped by advertising incentives.
• Client and integration developers: developers build third-party apps and experiences against the JSON REST API and OAuth 2.0, with full API reference at docs.joinloops.org.
• Moderators and operators: server administrators define rules and policies per instance rather than inheriting global platform decisions.

Getting started

Deployment follows the installation guide in INSTALLATION.md, and a Docker-based setup is documented in DOCKER_COMPOSE_SETUP.md for operators who prefer containers.

How it compares

Loops sits in the same ActivityPub neighbourhood as Pixelfed and Mastodon, and its topic list places it in direct conversation with tiktok as the centralized short-video model it is built as an alternative to. Within that family, its distinguishing focus is video-first short-form content rather than microblogging or photo sharing.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster takes on real operational work, including the server and web application, the Docker Compose deployment described in DOCKER_COMPOSE_SETUP.md, and video delivery, which the project itself supports through Fastly CDN and Object Storage under the Fastly Fast Forward program. Anyone expecting a hosted, zero-maintenance product, or a team with no capacity to run and moderate an instance, should not pick it. The project also carries an honest cost: the repository shows 42 open issues and 453 stars, so operators should expect active but modest-scale community maintenance rather than a large commercial support organisation behind the AGPL-3.0 code.