# Lemmy / PieFed

A link aggregator you host. Lemmy is AGPL-3.0; PieFed is AGPL-3.0 — Reddit without the hosted community seat.

**Replaces:** Reddit

**Tier:** Medium

## Problem

Reddit is a hosted link aggregator and community OS. You wanted communities, posts, and votes on hardware you control. Lemmy is AGPL-3.0 (LemmyNet/lemmy; last push 23 Oct 2026). PieFed is AGPL-3.0 (Codeberg rimu/pyfedi — not a GitHub repo; last update 22 Oct 2026). Mbin is another AGPL threadiverse server if that PHP shape is the job. This is not Reddit's every award SKU, ads, or the old subreddit social graph. A forum stays on /replace/skool (Discourse). Chat stays on /replace/discord.

## Stack

- [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org) — AGPL-3.0 federated link aggregator — the published Reddit path
- [PieFed](https://join.piefed.social) — AGPL-3.0 Python threadiverse server (Codeberg rimu/pyfedi)

## Estimated SaaS cost saved

| You stop paying | Typical / year | Self-host instead |
|---|---:|---|
| Reddit / hosted community seats (small team) | $1,200 | Lemmy or PieFed + Postgres |

**About $1,200 / year** on a small team, before you count lock-in.

## Deploy on Railway

Placeholder: Lemmy (API plus lemmy-ui) or PieFed plus Postgres. Federation wants a public hostname. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. A classic forum stays on /stacks/discourse-community.

[Start on Railway](https://c17.io/go/railway/lemmy-reddit?from=%2Fstacks%2Flemmy-reddit.md)

[Discourse if this is a forum, not a link aggregator](https://c17.io/stacks/discourse-community)

## AGENT_PROMPT

```
Replace Reddit with Lemmy (preferred) or PieFed.

- Official docs. Persist Postgres. Create one community and one post. Do not claim Reddit awards or the old social graph.
- PieFed is on Codeberg (rimu/pyfedi), not GitHub. A forum stays on /stacks/discourse-community.
- Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.
```

## FAQ

### Lemmy or PieFed?

Lemmy if you want the common AGPL Reddit-shaped server (the published path). PieFed if you want that Python threadiverse — /compare/lemmy-vs-piefed.

### Is this Discourse?

No. Discourse is a forum — /replace/skool and /replace/facebook-groups. This page is a link aggregator.

### Are these free?

Lemmy and PieFed are AGPL-3.0. You pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.

Source: https://c17.io/stacks/lemmy-reddit