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Open source alternatives to Instagram

We track 4 open-source Instagram alternatives, of which 4 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 1 ship a Docker image. Misskey leads on health at 96/100 with 316 commits in the last 90 days; across all 4 projects you are choosing between AGPL-3.0.

4
Alternatives
70k
Combined stars
2,910
Commits / 90 days
1
With Docker
Licence family Licence

Showing 4 of 4 tools

All 4 Instagram alternatives, ranked by health

  • Top pick · highest health

    Misskey

    96 GOOD

    Decentralized app-like microblogging server/SNS for the Fediverse, using the ActivityPub protocol like GNU social and Mastodon.

    ★ 11k · ⟳ today · 2026.9.0 · AGPL-3.0

    DockerNodejs
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • PixelFed

    85 GOOD

    Ethical photo sharing platform, powered by ActivityPub federation (alternative to Instagram).

    ★ 7.1k · ⟳ today · v0.12.11 · AGPL-3.0

    PHP
    Website ↗ Source ↗

Instagram alternatives: common questions

What is the most maintained open source alternative to Instagram?

Misskey scores highest at 96/100, with 316 commits in the last 90 days, 11k GitHub stars and its latest release (2026.9.0) published 8 days ago. PixelFed has the most raw commit activity at 1089 commits in 90 days.

Which Instagram alternatives use a permissive licence?

None of the 4 tracked alternatives use a permissive licence; 4 are copyleft (GPL, AGPL or similar), which requires publishing changes to any modified version you distribute.

Which Instagram alternatives run in Docker?

1 of 4 publish a Docker image or Compose file: Misskey. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.