Pixelfed — Federated Photo Sharing Platform

Introduction

Pixelfed is a self-hosted, federated photo sharing platform built on ActivityPub. It provides a familiar image-focused social experience — photo feeds, stories, collections, and direct messages — while giving users and administrators full control over their data. Because it speaks ActivityPub, Pixelfed instances can interact with Mastodon, Pleroma, and other Fediverse platforms.

What Pixelfed Does

• Hosts photo and video posts with captions, alt text, filters, and collections
• Federates with the Fediverse so users on different instances and platforms can follow each other
• Provides stories, direct messaging, and discover features for community engagement
• Supports multiple image formats and automatic thumbnail generation
• Offers moderation tools including reports, content warnings, and domain blocking

Architecture Overview

Pixelfed is a Laravel (PHP) application backed by MySQL or PostgreSQL and Redis for caching and queues. Media files are stored locally or on S3-compatible object storage. The ActivityPub implementation handles federation — when a user on another instance follows a Pixelfed account, the two servers exchange signed HTTP messages to sync posts, likes, and comments. A Laravel Horizon queue worker processes background jobs like federation delivery, thumbnail generation, and email notifications.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with Docker Compose or install on a PHP 8.1+ server with Composer
• Configure database, Redis, mail, and storage driver in the .env file
• Set your instance domain and enable federation with ACTIVITY_PUB=true
• Use S3-compatible storage (MinIO, Wasabi, AWS S3) for scalable media hosting
• Run the scheduler (php artisan schedule:run) and queue worker for background processing

Key Features

• ActivityPub federation connects your instance to the broader Fediverse
• Photo filters, alt text, and content warnings promote accessible and considerate sharing
• Collections let users curate themed photo galleries
• Import tool supports migrating posts from other platforms
• Admin dashboard provides instance statistics, moderation queue, and configuration

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Mastodon — microblogging focused on text posts, Pixelfed is purpose-built for photo sharing
• PeerTube — federated video platform, complements Pixelfed for different media types
• Immich — private photo management and backup, not a social sharing platform
• Lychee — self-hosted photo gallery without federation or social features

FAQ

Q: Can Mastodon users follow Pixelfed accounts? A: Yes. Any ActivityPub-compatible platform can follow Pixelfed accounts and see their posts in the federated timeline.

Q: What are the server requirements? A: A server with 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and sufficient storage for media. Redis and a database (MySQL or PostgreSQL) are required.

Q: Does Pixelfed support video? A: Yes. Short video uploads are supported with configurable size and duration limits.

Q: Can I import my photos from Instagram? A: Pixelfed has an import feature that accepts data export archives, though format compatibility may vary depending on the export source.

Sources

• https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed
• https://docs.pixelfed.org/