Pleroma

Lightweight, efficient ActivityPub server. Run your own fediverse instance on minimal hardware.

Overview

Pleroma is a free, open-source social networking server implementing ActivityPub. Known for its efficiency, Pleroma can run on low-power devices like a Raspberry Pi while still providing full fediverse compatibility.

Key Features

Lightweight Design

Resource Comparison (approximate):

Mastodon:  ████████████████████ 2GB+ RAM
Pleroma:   ████ 512MB RAM

Mastodon:  ████████████████████ Multi-container
Pleroma:   ████ Single binary

Perfect for:
- Raspberry Pi
- Low-cost VPS
- Personal instances
- Resource-constrained environments

Full Federation

Pleroma federates with all ActivityPub servers:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Fediverse                          │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                       │
│  ┌─────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────┐            │
│  │Mastodon │  │  Pleroma │  │Pixelfed │            │
│  └────┬────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬────┘            │
│       │            │              │                  │
│       └────────────┼──────────────┘                  │
│                    │                                  │
│              ActivityPub                             │
│                    │                                  │
│       ┌────────────┼──────────────┐                  │
│       │            │              │                  │
│  ┌────┴────┐  ┌────┴─────┐  ┌────┴────┐            │
│  │PeerTube │  │ Misskey  │  │Friendica│            │
│  └─────────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────┘            │
│                                                       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Mastodon API Compatibility

Use any Mastodon client with Pleroma:

// Same API works for both
const response = await fetch('https://pleroma.example/api/v1/timelines/home', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`
  }
});

Supported clients:

• Tusky (Android)
• Toot! (iOS)
• Pinafore (Web)
• Fedilab (Android)
• Any Mastodon-compatible app

Pleroma Extensions

Additional features beyond Mastodon API:

Feature	Description
Custom reactions	Emoji reactions on posts
Quote posts	Quote and comment
Bookmark folders	Organize bookmarks
Rich media	Better embed handling
MRF	Message Rewrite Facility
Chat	Pleroma-specific chat

Message Rewrite Facility (MRF)

Powerful moderation through content filtering:

# Example MRF policy
defmodule Pleroma.Web.ActivityPub.MRF.SimplePolicy do
  # Reject from specific instances
  reject: ["spam.instance"],

  # Media removal
  media_removal: ["nsfw.instance"],

  # Followers-only enforcement
  followers_only: ["locked.instance"],

  # Report forwarding
  report_removal: []
end

Technical Stack

Component	Technology
Language	Elixir
Framework	Phoenix
Database	PostgreSQL
Frontend	Pleroma-FE (Vue.js)
Protocol	ActivityPub

Installation

OTP Releases (Recommended)

For Linux (glibc or musl) on x86/arm:

# Download latest release
wget https://git.pleroma.social/api/v4/projects/2/jobs/artifacts/stable/download?job=amd64-musl -O pleroma.zip

# Extract
unzip pleroma.zip -d /opt/pleroma

# Configure
cp /opt/pleroma/config/config.exs.example /opt/pleroma/config/prod.secret.exs

# Setup database
/opt/pleroma/bin/pleroma_ctl migrate

# Start
/opt/pleroma/bin/pleroma daemon

From Source

# Clone
git clone https://git.pleroma.social/pleroma/pleroma.git
cd pleroma

# Install dependencies
mix deps.get

# Configure
cp config/dev.exs.example config/dev.secret.exs
# Edit config/dev.secret.exs

# Setup database
mix ecto.create
mix ecto.migrate

# Start
mix phx.server

Docker

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3'
services:
  db:
    image: postgres:14-alpine
    volumes:
      - ./postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: pleroma
      POSTGRES_USER: pleroma
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pleroma

  pleroma:
    image: git.pleroma.social:5050/pleroma/pleroma
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - "4000:4000"
    volumes:
      - ./uploads:/var/lib/pleroma/uploads
      - ./static:/var/lib/pleroma/static
      - ./config.exs:/etc/pleroma/config.exs

Package Managers

Available for:

• YunoHost — One-click install
• NixOS — Nix package
• Arch Linux — AUR
• Gentoo — GURU overlay

Raspberry Pi

Flash the community-maintained image:

# Download from github.com/guysoft/PleromaPi
# Flash to SD card
# Boot and configure

Configuration

Basic Setup

# config/prod.secret.exs

config :pleroma, Pleroma.Web.Endpoint,
  url: [host: "pleroma.example.com", scheme: "https", port: 443]

config :pleroma, :instance,
  name: "My Pleroma",
  email: "admin@example.com",
  description: "A cozy Pleroma instance",
  limit: 5000,  # Character limit
  registrations_open: true

config :pleroma, Pleroma.Repo,
  adapter: Ecto.Adapters.Postgres,
  username: "pleroma",
  password: "your_password",
  database: "pleroma",
  hostname: "localhost"

Federation Settings

config :pleroma, :mrf,
  policies: [
    Pleroma.Web.ActivityPub.MRF.SimplePolicy
  ]

config :pleroma, :mrf_simple,
  reject: [],
  accept: [],
  media_removal: [],
  media_nsfw: [],
  federated_timeline_removal: []

Recent Updates (2.7+)

• IPFS uploads — Decentralized file storage
• Bookmark categories — Organize saves
• Improved theming — Better customization
• Quote posts — Added in 2.6
• Custom emoji reactions — Added in 2.6

Comparison

Feature	Pleroma	Mastodon	Misskey
Memory usage	~500MB	~2GB+	~1GB
Character limit	Configurable	500 (default)	Configurable
Reactions	Custom emoji	❤️ only	Custom
Quote posts	Yes	No	Yes
MRF	Yes	Limited	No
API	Mastodon + extensions	Mastodon	Own API

Links

• Website: pleroma.social
• GitLab: git.pleroma.social/pleroma/pleroma
• Docs: docs.pleroma.social

See Also

• ActivityPub Protocol — The protocol
• Mastodon — Larger ActivityPub server
• Federation — The concept
• Ditto — Nostr + ActivityPub bridge