European Alternatives to Facebook
Looking for a European alternative to Facebook? Meta's Facebook is the world's largest social network, but it's known for extensive data collection, targeted advertising, and privacy concerns. For individuals who value privacy and data sovereignty, European and decentralized alternatives offer compelling options.
We've curated the best privacy-focused social networking platforms from Europe. These alternatives provide meaningful social connections while respecting your privacy and keeping your data under your control.
Why Choose a European Alternative to Facebook?
No Tracking
No surveillance capitalism or behavioral tracking for advertising.
Decentralized
No single corporation controls your data or social graph.
No Ads
Clean experience without manipulative targeted advertising.
Open Source
Transparent code you can inspect, audit, and self-host.
Best European Alternatives to Facebook
We've curated the best privacy-focused social networks from European developers. Each alternative has been evaluated for privacy, features, and community health.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mastodon is considered the leading European alternative to Facebook. Created by German developer Eugen Rochko, Mastodon is a decentralized social network that gives users control over their data and doesn't track users for advertising purposes. With over 10 million users, it has a thriving community.
The Fediverse is a network of interconnected social media servers that can communicate with each other. Platforms like Mastodon, Pixelfed, and Friendica are all part of the Fediverse. This means you can follow someone on Pixelfed from your Mastodon account, creating a truly open social web.
Most decentralized platforms don't have direct Facebook import tools due to Facebook's closed nature. However, you can download your Facebook data and manually share important content. The real value is in rebuilding connections with privacy in mind. Many people maintain both accounts during transition.
While no alternative matches Facebook's 3 billion users, Mastodon has over 10 million users and growing. The experience is different but often more meaningful - conversations tend to be more genuine without algorithms pushing engagement. Many users find the smaller, more focused communities more satisfying.
Yes! All the platforms listed here are open source and can be self-hosted. You can run your own Mastodon, Diaspora, Friendica, or Pixelfed server on European cloud providers like Hetzner or OVHcloud. This gives you complete control over your data and community.
Meta announced Threads would support ActivityPub (the Fediverse protocol), likely to comply with EU regulations. However, many Fediverse communities are cautious about federating with Meta due to privacy concerns. The benefit of decentralized networks is you can choose whether to interact with Threads or not.
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