Open-source, federated alternative to Reddit built on ActivityPub. No ads, no tracking, no corporate owner. Communities are hosted across thousands of independent instances that talk to each other and to the wider Fediverse.

Quick facts

Company Lemmy contributors
Founded 2019
Ownership Non-profit
Hosting 🇩🇪 Germany
Infrastructure Own infrastructure
Data jurisdiction EU
Open source Full
GDPR Compliant
Pricing Free · from Free
Free tier Yes
Platforms Web, iOS, Android, Self-hosted
Languages
ENDEFRESITNLPLPT
85 · Strongly European
Join Lemmy

Why does it score 85?

Legal jurisdiction
European HQ (outside EU/EFTA)
18/30
Ownership & control
Non-profit ownership
25/25
Data sovereignty
Own infrastructure
30/30
Accountability & trust
Fully open source + GDPR
12/15
EuroPoints total
85/100
How we calculate EuroPoints →

See how they compare

Lemmy
Mastodon
BeReal
EuroPoints
85 Strongly European
97 Certified European
60 Mostly European
Legal jurisdiction
European HQ (outside EU/EFTA)18/30
EU member-state HQ30/30
EU member-state HQ30/30
Ownership & control
Non-profit ownership25/25
Non-profit ownership25/25
Acquired/corporate, EU/EFTA parent10/25
Data sovereignty
Own infrastructure30/30
Own infrastructure30/30
Mixed infrastructure12/30
Accountability & trust
Fully open source + GDPR12/15
Fully open source + GDPR12/15
GDPR compliant8/15
Independence bonus
—
—
—
Headquarters
Federated, EU
Berlin, Germany
Paris, France
Founded
2019
2016
2020
Open source
Full
Full
No
Infrastructure
Own infrastructure
Own infrastructure
Mixed infrastructure
GDPR
✓
✓
✓
Free tier
✓
✓
✓
Pricing
Free · from Free
Free · from Free
Free · from Free
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android, Self-hosted
Web, iOS, Android
iOS, Android
Languages
en, de, fr, es, it, nl, pl, pt
en, de, fr, es, pt, ja, nl, pl
en, fr, de, es, it, pt, ja

What does it replace?

Reddit

More European Social media & communities alternatives

#1

Mastodon

97 · Certified European

Germany EU

German non-profit social network founded by Eugen Rochko in 2016. Federated and open-source, with no ads, no algorithms, and no single point of control. Used by 47M+ accounts across 80,000+ independent servers. Hosts the European Commission's official server.

See Mastodon details
#2

BeReal

60 · Mostly European

France EU

French social app that sends a daily random notification prompting users to share an unfiltered two-minute photo. Founded in Paris in 2020, acquired by French mobile publisher Voodoo in 2024 for €500M. 40M+ active users.

See BeReal details
#3

Mobilizon

92 · Certified European

France EU

French open-source federated event platform originally created by Framasoft and now maintained by French non-profit Kaihuri. Organise events and groups without ads, tracking, or data exploitation. Federated via ActivityPub: host your own instance or join an existing one.

See Mobilizon details
#4

Pixelfed

97 · Certified European

Open-source federated photo sharing platform built on ActivityPub. Choose a European instance or self-host for full data sovereignty. No ads, no algorithms, no data mining. Major EU-hosted instances include pixelfed.social and pixelfed.de. Available on iOS and Android.

See Pixelfed details