Decentralized Web Projects
A list of all projects that aim to make the web more decentralized
# |
Project Name |
Open Source |
Description |
Design |
Status |
Link(s) |
1 |
Mastodon1 |
Yes |
SN2, most widely used, part of Fediverse3 |
Federated server, uses ActivityPub |
Functional |
site |
2 |
Diaspora |
Yes |
SN. widely used, part of Fediverse |
Federated server, uses ActivityPub |
Functional |
site |
3 |
Secure Scuttlebutt |
Yes |
SN, Mesh, p2p, widely used |
Mesh, p2p |
Functional |
site, Another version, Manyverse, SSB Protocol guide |
4 |
Clients of Matrix Open Standard |
Yes |
Chat - Real time communication over TCP/IP, widely used |
Interconnected Distributed servers; clients that use them |
Functional; bridges for Gitter, XMPP |
site |
5 |
Retroshare |
Yes |
SN, File sharing |
Mesh, p2p |
Functional but breaking, no maintenance |
site, Github |
6 |
Aether |
Yes |
Reddit like SN |
Flood mesh, p2p |
Functional |
site and about info |
7 |
Iris |
Yes |
SN, marketplace, chat |
Mesh, p2p |
Functional |
site |
8 |
Movim |
Yes |
SN |
Based on XMPP |
Functional, in development |
site, Github |
9 |
SOLID |
Yes |
Data store model, led by Tim Berners Lee |
Data store pods |
In development |
site |
10 |
Nostr |
Yes |
SN, chat |
Websocket relays, schnorr sigs |
Functional, in Development |
Intro to Nostr, Awesome Nostr List, NIP, client list |
# |
Project Name |
Open Source |
Description |
Design |
Status |
Link(s) |
1 |
Beaker Browser |
Yes |
Allows accessing websites hosted on peer computers |
Hypercore/DAT protocol |
Functional |
site, Intro to Hypercore |
2 |
PeerTube |
Yes |
Federated video solution, part of Fediverse |
Uses ActivityPub, federated servers |
Functional |
site, BitcoinTV - an instance of PeerTube |
3 |
Keet |
to be open-source released in Dec'22 |
p2p video call app |
|
live, released in Aug 2022 |
annoucnement |
4 |
Wildland |
Yes |
Distributed storage, Data ownership, distributed file system(s) |
One con is that they seem to have integrated a token(eth) into their system |
In development, Beta |
site, introduction to Wildland |
5 |
Magic Wormhole |
Yes |
File transfer/sharing application, open source, and a website |
Uses a mailbox server to connect two endpoints |
Functional |
Github, docs, file transfer site |
6 |
GNUnet stack |
Yes |
Collection of applications |
Tech stack with file system, VPN support |
Functional |
how to use, tool Anastasis for password recovery |
7 |
Dark Crystal |
Yes |
Allows safeguarding your private key(s) by sharing them among number of other individuals you trust |
Like Anastasis; shamir secret sharing and similar techniques |
In development, being used by Secure Scuttlebutt apps |
Protocol spec |
# |
Name |
Other related technologies |
Main driver |
Users |
1 |
WEB545 |
DID, "Control your identity, Control your Data" |
Jack Dorsey's Block Inc |
In development |
2 |
ActivityPub |
Based on Pump.io's ActivityPump protocol, applications using it are called Fediverse |
W3C |
Mastodon, NextCloud |
3 |
OStatus |
Atom, Activity Streams, WebSub, Salmon, and WebFinger |
GNU |
GNU Social,Friendica |
4 |
WebRTC |
Communication, p2p, browser to browser comm, WebTorrent uses it |
Supported by Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla |
WebRTC.org |
5 |
GUN |
Stack to build decentralized applications, including SEA Api for password backup, RAD api for storage |
Supported by Mozilla and others |
In development, p2p video and other sample apps in github samples |
6 |
Slashtags |
Identity and Data sharing |
Synonym.to |
In development, with proof of concepts available |
6 Nov 2022 - Removed mention of abandoned project Trsst and Twister.
- Wikipedia page for social networking software
- Alternative Internet list
- NLNet list of projects, including Briar chat app.
- Ecosystem overview at Bluesky community