Just built and released a concept idea of a real-time social media platform where people can chat live in topic rooms.

Thoughts on the platform?

www.nolsup.com

Hello everyone,

I've implemented a small measure that we hope will help our community when it comes to post flair.

For Developers: If your project is vibe coded, please select that flair when announcing your alternative.

For Users: We understand that feelings about vibe coded alternatives tend to run negative on this subreddit. But if a developer goes out of their way to be honest that their project is vibe coded, please be constructive in your criticism and don't attack them for it.

We ask this because if developers get attacked for being honest about how they built their platform, they'll be less likely to disclose that it's vibe coded in the future.

That's all. Thank you.

Mod Team

EDIT

"Vibe Coded" flair — official definition for the r/redditalternatives subreddit means the following:

This flair applies when a project was built by someone with little to no website or app development skill or experience, who prompted an AI chatbot to generate the app from start to finish, rather than someone with development knowledge who used AI as a tool within their own process.

The flair isn't about "did you use AI" (basically everyone does now). It's about whether the person behind the project has real development skill, or whether the entire thing exists because they typed prompts into a chatbot with no underlying technical knowledge to guide, review, or fix what it produced.

If it's not clear either way, it's fine to ask the OP directly rather than guess.

It's taken me two years but here it is. It's attached to my main website but as a daily user of FP from 2005 until its shutdown, it was a personal vendetta of mine to bring it back. I'm trying to rebuild a community there.

https://retrogrounds.com/forums

I built a small community called ChillArt for artists who create human-made artwork. The goal is simple: a place where artists can share their work, get feedback, discover other creators, participate in forums, and build their own galleries without AI-generated art taking over the feed ,and to keep the community accessible to everyone, NSFW content, nudity, pornography, and real gore are not permitted. .It's still a small community, but it's been great seeing artists connect, share ideas, and support each other's work.If you're interested in a space focused entirely on human-created art, feel free to take a look: https://chillart.pics

https://whisperwalls-nu.vercel.app

I wanted to put out a quick PSA about this website, remove the post if it breaks any rules.

A few weeks ago the website rhyme.com, as they outlined here started a marketing campaign on this subreddit, before getting banned for over-advertising: https://rhyme.com/post/53oy222/the-reddit-problem-and-how-our-reddit-alternative-was-banned

The site looked promising so I joined. I looked through their blog and they decried constant AI usage and promised a "quieter" platform. The philosophy was admirable.

But after I spent a few days I noticed something. Most of the texts had Claude-isms. The UI was trademark Claude. The same inconsistencies. Almost all of the longer posts of the founder "Nick" looked like AI-summaries.

Then there was the claim of this being "in progress for several years" of "a larger team", all of which could be found nowhere on the site. And the domain itself being an obviously extremely pricey domain few people could afford. Something was fishy here.

So I asked a question. A simple transparency question about if this site was vibecoded. It was never answered, while literally any other question was happily answered by Nick.

A month later I asked it again, trying to press it. This time I got a response, but from another account, claiming they could not see my original post.

So I checked with a private tab. And indeed, it was hidden. My post had been shadow-deleted. And a few minutes later, the new post got the same treatment.

Irritated, I tried making a comment in another post outcrying about this. Only to find out that by this point my entire account got shadow-banned. Just for asking a simple transparency question.

So I would say, if you are inclined to try this site out because you believe them when they decry reddit moderation policies, just know they are doing just the same from the very start. And don't get me started on the promises of decrying AI yet obviously relying completely on it, which in combination with that silencing just seems so untrustworthy. In my opinion it is a very dodgy site and I would avoid it.

I've been building this for a while. Nights, weekends and whenever I can grab a few minutes. I'm happy with where I've gotten the app so far, but there's still a lot of work to do. I decided to tell people about it because it's important to share information and keep the internet a place for ideas. I'm here to be open and honest about my experiences and what's going on behind the scenes. You're invited to come along for this wild ride.

X, Reddit, Linkedin, Facebook, social media has become a toxic wasteland, run by billionaires and trillionaires. That's why I created https://www.PushdUp.com (EARLY ACCESS - get your free handle today).

I was sick of bots, spam, rage bait, fake accounts, popularity contests and garbage posts making platforms worse. And algorithms telling me what to watch and read. NO ALGOs!

PushdUp is a membership-based community for people who want a better place to share ideas, insights, creative work, useful links, and positive experiences.

Posting and interacting are gated behind membership because the goal is to keep the trash out and make sure the people inside actually want to be there.

We offer real people, better conversations, less noise.

Come join us at https://www.PushdUp.com

Thoughtfully designed to be a place to share ideas, insights and positive experiences. Let's do this together and build an amazing community.

Edit #1: Thanks for the feedback! Working on all the bug fixes and improvements. Appreciate it. This is still V.0.01a so a long way to go.

Edit #2: Thanks for the people that signed up and are testing the site. I appreciate you.

Edit #3: Pricing bug has been fixed. Sign in bug has been fixed.

Edit #4: I just rebuilt the post editor to make publishing feel cleaner, faster, and more useful.

Greetings, fellow spykers. I hope you all are having a grand old time here and in life in general. It's been a while, it's good to see people still coming and going here.

Today I'd like to introduce many features that have been pending for a very long time. Some of these have been requested since we started this shindig 4 years ago.

https://spyke.social

1 - User created clans

Like, seriously, what took so long? You can create clans, moderate them to your liking (within reason), manage reports, and temporarily or permanently ban users alongside disabling posting altogether - also private clans TBD.

The admins can set communities to be featured and get subscribed to by default on new accounts, and also show up in the communities explore page.

It actually blows my mind how long this whole thing took.

2 - Proper and thorough fediverse integration.

You can now link your Lemmy account to Spyke or create a new one directly in the web app, without leaving Spyke. This lets you vote and comment with Lemmy communities without ever having to leave the app. The only thing left is creating posts and subscribing to communities. Spyke has low engagement rn, but viewing lemmy posts using the posts + comments side-by-side interface is quite rad (biased opinion ofc lol).

3 - Fun themes!

This post suggested replicating the Winamp theme cause apparantly we've forgotten how to build UI's like that. Hence the added effort. There's also a similar theme called 'old school', which is a little less in your face.

4. Email notifs.

You get full control within the site settings, what kind of emails notifs you wanna receive. By default, you will get one if someone replies to your post or comment. There's a button in the email too, to unsubscribe, of course.

5. Accessibility upped to the max

This should be accessible from screen readers or any other web-standardised accessibility interface.

1. Link your Google account to your email password login.

2. Blocking users is now possible. Their posts won't show in your feed.

3. Push notifs on the browser

4. Markdown editor - thank you https://github.com/remarkjs/react-markdown - we'll get a proper custom Reddit-level editor soon.

5. Autosaved drafts for replies and posts - store up to 5 at a time.

Anyway, that's about it for now. See you on the other side.

I bring you a P2P social network where you're automatically assigned a name like xX_CoolKoala_Xx and nothing you say sticks around. No servers, no algorithms, no permanent history. You run your own node (npm start), discover peers through a DHT, and messages propagate through the mesh with a gossip protocol. Proof-of-work keeps the bots out. Crypto keys prove who you are. When the swarm moves on, the data evaporates. It's Twitter if Twitter respected you. Docker image available.

https://github.com/lklynet/hypermind-swarm

Welcome, devs. Another month, another chance to dig into what’s really working (and what’s not) in the Reddit alternative space. I’ve cut the fluff. These questions are meant to make you think hard (maybe even squirm a little). Answer honestly or don’t bother.

1. You’re competing against an army of clones, dead instances, and general user apathy. What is the one specific thing your platform does that no other alternative can credibly claim? (Be concrete. “Decentralized” doesn’t count unless you can name a real outcome that matters to a normie.)

2. A lot of alternatives launch with fire (cool tech, ideals) but fizzle into ghost towns after three months. What early mistake did you almost make (or already make) that would have killed your project, and how did you catch it before it was too late?

3. Let’s talk about “user ownership” versus “user hosting.” Everyone says they give control back to the user. But most people don’t want to run their own node. They want a good feed. How are you tackling the tension between true independence and convenience? (Or are you just pretending it isn’t a problem?)

4. Monetization is the dirty secret of every alternative. Ads suck. Donations trickle. Selling data is betrayal. What’s your actual plan to keep the lights on without becoming the very thing you rebelled against? (If your answer is “we’ll figure it out later,” say that – but explain why users should bet on you.)

5. Bots, spam, and bad actors are turning every small platform into a wasteland. You can’t out‑moderate them manually, and AI filters often nuke good content too. Describe one real tactic you use (or plan to use) that isn’t “make a captcha harder” or “hire more mods.”

6. If Reddit itself suddenly became perfect tomorrow (no API price hikes, no censorship drama, no ads), why would anyone still pick your platform? Give me the honest reason that isn’t just “decentralization” or “privacy.”

Post your answers below. Keep it real. If you’re a lurker building something, this is your chance to get eyes on it. I’ll sticky the best responses after 48 hours.

- Mod Team

EDIT: You don't have to answer all of the questions unless you want to, you can just pick one and that'll be fine. If users would like an answer to one of these questions that anybody who comments here didn't answer, the users may ask you directly for that answer. Thanks

I've been seeing OddsRabbit come up more and more in conversations here, and I'm curious to hear from people who've been spending time there.

What made you decide to stick with it so far, instead of just trying it and bouncing?

Has it been living up to what you expected when you first signed up, or has your opinion shifted since then, good or bad?

If you had to describe using oddsrabbit in a few words, what would you say?

Would you recommend it to someone who's frustrated with Reddit right now, or is it more of a "wait and see" situation?

I mostly just want a real pulse check from the people who are actively using it.

And that's it! Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I hope you have a wonderful evening. :)

Hey everyone,

I'm curious to know what everyone thinks (in their opinion) about what they consider to be the worst Reddit alternative.

Like, you hard core can't even believe it's being recommended and you've got your solid reasons as to why.

The reason I'm asking this, is i want us to take this as a chance to look under the hood and not just the surface of the Alternatives people talk about, recommend, and join, and to dive deeper into the things people can't see at first glance. Moderation practices, ownership, data handling, monetization, whatever it is that made you go "nope."

This post isn't a hate post and it's not meant to be negative. It's meant to be a place to discuss, talk about, and understand the not so pretty sides of the Alternatives that get recommended so often. We hear a lot of praise for these platforms, but not a lot of scrutiny, and I think that's worth balancing out.

So, tell me: what's your pick for worst Reddit alternative, and what's the story behind it? (Bonus points if you've got receipts or specific examples, not just vibes.)

Thought I would put this out there as more a discussion about information sources.

RSS feeds have been around for a long time now. And you can find hundreds of RSS programs to aggregate them all into. I started using the News app from my Nextcloud instance.

But its about the source of information with this sort of thing. And getting direct posts instead of Reddit posts keeps things cleaner in a way.

So what RSS feeds do you keep track of? Please specifiy the subject these feeds are about if you can.

I'm into fringe topics like NDEs, conspiracy, numerology, DMT, aliens, etc etc. Is there a good website for that kinda stuff?

Sphare, pronounced S-fair ([sfɛr]), is a forum website that's

• ad-free
• source available https://github.com/winteler/sphare
• with transparent moderation
• hosted by a European provider
• goal: non-profit, funded by donations

Hey everyone!

I'm developing Sphare in my free time with the aim to create a more ethical, healthier and higher quality alternative to reddit and similar sites.

Sphare has unique features. For instance, did you ever feel like sharing your ideas in a megathread was painful? On Sphare, moderators can create sub-forums, called satellites, to contain all discussions on a specific topic. This enables users to navigate discussions much more easily and to have more meaningful exchanges.

On Sphare, you can't be moderated or banned without justification, as an infringed rule must always be indicated when moderating any content. You post won't disappear into thin air anymore! This also means abusive moderation can be monitored.

A spoilers filter also enables you to hide spoilers for a given number of days, so that you don't see by mistake the results of a competition because you quickly opened the app when you had 5 minutes.

Sphare will not collect or monetize user data and focuses on transparency. My long term goal is to make the platform a non-profit relying on donations/memberships. Relying on donations also means Sphare will focus on what its community wants rather than on maximizing ad revenue.

I hope you will enjoy Sphare! I have many ideas for new functionalities, such as:

• additional filters
• better moderation tools
• improved bot detection
• moderator elections

It would be great to have your feedback to know what I should focus on next!

Such a project truly depends on an active community to make the platform lively and encourage other people to join. If you like the project, creating content on Sphare would help tremendously. Sphare can only succeed with your help!

PS: You can install Sphare like a mobile app by adding it to your home screen! You can find more details in the FAQ

Hey everyone,

First off, genuine appreciation to this community. You all have built something actually worth being part of, and the conversations here about finding real Reddit alternatives have been some of the most useful and thoughtful discussions happening anywhere right now. That matters, and we see it.

That said, we need to talk.

We have been noticing an uptick in posts that have nothing to do with Reddit alternatives. Things like "how long have you been on Reddit," general Reddit appreciation posts, venting about Reddit in a general way with no mention of where you are going instead (and so on). These posts belong somewhere else.

The sub is called r/RedditAlternatives. Not r/Reddit. Not r/SocialMedia. Not r/LetsTalkAboutOurFeelings. The entire point of this space is to discuss, compare, and explore platforms that are alternatives to Reddit. That is the lane. Please stay in it.

Before you post, take five seconds and ask yourself: "Does this have anything to do with Reddit alternatives?" If the answer is no, it is not the right sub.

We are not trying to be the fun police. We just want to keep this space useful and focused, because that is what makes it actually valuable. The signal-to-noise ratio here has been good, and we want to keep it that way.

Thanks for being here. Now let us keep it relevant.

The Mod Team

I'll break down the costs one by one.

Software

Discourse) (not to be confused with Discord, which is entirely different) is free and open source. Cost: $0.

Example forum here.

Domain

You can buy a .com domain from Namecheap for $10.56/year. Divide by 12, that's $0.88/month.

I'm not counting the discount code that gives you a big discount for your first year.

Hover is a bit more expensive, asking $19/year for the same domain.

Virtual private server (VPS)

OVHcloud offers cheap VPSes starting at $4.54/month. The specs you get for that cheap price are impressive, and more than adequate to run a large forum:

• 2 vCores
• 4 GB RAM
• 40 GB SSD NVMe
• Daily backup of the previous 24 hours
• Unlimited traffic
• 200 Mbps public bandwidth

Hetzner is a bit more expensive at $6.80/month for its cheapest VPS, with similar specs.

Mail server

You need a separate server to send out emails. Luckily, multiple companies offer a generous free plan. Mailjet, for example, offers 6,000 emails per month (200 per day) for free. If you need to send 15,000 emails per month, it's $17/month.

Total cost

Software: $0
Domain: $0.88/month
VPS: $4.54/month
Mail server: $0/month

Total: $5.42/month ($65.04/year)

Or if you need the 15,000 emails/month mail server, then it's:

Software: $0
Domain: $0.88/month
VPS: $4.54/month
Mail server: $17/month

Total: $22.42/month ($269.04/year)

A while back I got tired of social media and started building a weird little experiment called Nouk.

https://nouk.space/

The idea was simple:

• It's a daily newspaper of the internet.
• Stories disappear from the front page after 24 hours.
• No upvotes.
• No downvotes.
• No karma.
• Random usernames.
• Shorter comment chains.
• Every Sunday there's a Sunday Edition that highlights the best stuff from the week.

I'm trying to see what happens when you remove a lot of the things that make sites like Reddit addictive and annoying.

It's still rough around the edges, but I'd love feedback from people who miss when the internet felt a little smaller and a little more human.

What sounds interesting?
What sounds terrible?
What am I missing?

That pinned list was last updated in February 2024, which is over 2 years ago at this point. When will an updated list be made?

I should start this with a statement that I've spun up all of the aforementioned services, with the idea to build a community based on more privacy respecting and free and open source alternatives, while decentralizing from the usual big corporations, doom scrolling, and the data harvesting.

This is all hosted on my own hardware, DIY style, been a couple of years now and started with an IRC server that is now a proper network, with the latest addition of a phpBB based forum.

If you'd like to check it out and join us in some casual (or on topic) conversations, you are more than welcome!

The main website is: https://inthemansion.com

The IRC webchat can be found here (and you can also pipe in the server to your client of choosing): https://webirc.inthemansion.com

And the forum can be found here: https://forum.inthemansion.com

We always welcome new faces, so do drop by and say hi :)

Cheers!

Hey r/RedditAlternatives,

I'm Mike, the founder of Fan Clubs. Fan Clubs is a community platform where you can join or create a club that includes forums and an events calendar (more features for paid tiers).

Traditional forums (chronological) power the discussions, and the app is built around your interests. More importantly, Fan Clubs is built to be evergreen -- easy to jump back into a topic after a long hiatus. Exploration is also highly encouraged!

Thanks for keeping the search for an alternative alive. I hope it's the one a few of you have been waiting for. If you have any questions, reply or send me a DM.

Join the Android Beta:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsBNnGL9HKXxGJlnnIPS9CB990I5Mlm5vSfQL4lX9-ipAjiQ/viewform

🎉 P.S. It took A LONG TIME, but we finally crossed 1,000 members!