PixelFed

Self-hosted photo sharing that connects to the fediverse, for communities that want pictures to reach people without algorithmic ranking.

7.1k stars, 895 forks PHP On GitHub since April 2018

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

PixelFed at a glance

Open sourceYes, AGPL-3.0No paid parts in the repository
Health80 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerOne-click in YunoHost and Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts
Interface61 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~12 hoursMedian first reply; 69% of recent issues answered

What is PixelFed?

Pixelfed is a photo-sharing platform that anyone can run on their own server. Members post casual snapshots or creative work, and the project says these find an audience without algorithmic barriers. Every instance is part of the fediverse, so sharing is not limited to one server. The application is written in PHP, stores data in MySQL or MariaDB, uses Redis, and has documented APIs for developers. Its interface has been translated into 61 languages.

Good fit if

  • You want a photo community for a club, a city or a group of photographers without handing images to a commercial platform.
  • You already take part in the fediverse and want a picture-first service next to text-based ones.
  • Your members speak many languages and need the interface in their own.

Look elsewhere if

Before you adopt it

Pixelfed is released under the AGPL, which requires anyone running a modified version for users over a network to share their changes. No paid parts were found in the repository; development is funded through Patreon and sponsors such as the NLnet Foundation. Two people wrote the commits of the last 90 days, one of them about four in five, so a single developer carries most of the work. Since September 2026 the maintainers recommend Docker Compose for new instances; the compose file runs five services including MySQL and Redis. PostgreSQL support is best effort only. The project does not accept contributions substantially generated by AI.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 7 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run PixelFed yourself

One-click install

Not listed in Umbrel, TrueNAS, Unraid, CasaOS, Runtipi and Coolify. Checked against each panel’s app catalog on 12 November 2026.

Ways to install

Docker files
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Docker image
ghcr.io/pixelfed/pixelfed: x86-64, ARM64
Compose file
docker-compose.yml: 5 services (mysql, redis)
Setup effort
4 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
61 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish
Show all 61

Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bangla, Basque, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malay, Mongolian, Nepali, Occitan, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uyghur, Vietnamese, Welsh

Install instructions: pixelfed.org or the README on GitHub. Docker images and packages are checked weekly.

PixelFed health: is it still maintained?

80 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~2 daysLatest: v0.15.2, 21 October 2026
Issue repliesWithin ~12 hoursMedian first reply; 69% of recent issues answered
Bus factorMedium riskThe most active of 2 authors wrote 62% of recent commits
  • Activity
    3,942 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 12 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 62% of them.
    6 / 20
  • Releases
    13+ releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v0.15.2, on 21 October 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 69% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 12 hours.
    18 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 6.6 of 10.
    7 / 10

Read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. How the score works

PixelFed security

Security advisories are the vulnerabilities the maintainers disclosed on GitHub, with the versions that fix them; many advisories can mean careful disclosure as much as weak code. OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

Security advisories1 published1 critical; all list a fixed version
OpenSSF Scorecard6.6 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyPartlyExplains how to report a vulnerability

Latest advisories

What each Scorecard check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Static analysis10 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on every change
  • Security policy9 / 10A security policy exists but leaves things out
  • Pinned dependencies8 / 10Some dependencies use fixed versions
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Code review0 / 10Changes are merged without review
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

Advisories read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 9 November 2026; checks that do not apply to PixelFed are left out.

PixelFed license: is it open source?

PixelFed uses AGPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. April 2018First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayAGPL-3.0.

PixelFed for developers

Written in

  • PHP 70%
  • Vue 20%
  • Blade 9%
  • HTML <1%
  • Dockerfile <1%
  • Other <1%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues100On GitHub
Authors, 90 days2Of the latest 100 commits
Donations3 waysGitHub Sponsors, Patreon, Open Collective

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to PixelFed

  • MastodonYour self-hosted, globally interconnected microblogging community 88 health · AGPL-3.0 · 50.6k stars
  • MisskeyA completely free and open interplanetary-microblogging platform 81 health · AGPL-3.0 · 11.4k stars
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All 18 projects in Social networks & forums

Questions about PixelFed

Is PixelFed open source?

Yes. PixelFed is published under AGPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is PixelFed still maintained?

Its health score is 80 of 100 (actively developed). It had 3,942 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 12 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 21 October 2026.

How do I run PixelFed?

You can run it with the Docker image ghcr.io/pixelfed/pixelfed and in one click from YunoHost and Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is PixelFed written in?

PixelFed is written mainly in PHP (70% of the code), with Vue (20%) and Blade (9%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is PixelFed available in?

The repository has interface translations for 61 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to PixelFed?

Close alternatives in the Social networks & forums category include Mastodon, Misskey, Lemmy.