X (formerly known as Twitter) is no stranger to bad press, be it mass layoffs or verification mishaps or questionable methods for downloading your data, the social platform’s reputation isn’t exactly squeaky clean. In response to the Twitter app’s controversial rebranding as “X,” the social networking site has received its fair share of criticisms from its users. This is unlikely to completely ruin a social platform as established and beloved as Twitter (X), but this fallout has allowed lesser-known, more experimental alternatives to get some traffic.

These X alternatives display a wonderful open source community aspect, with user-built apps showing off how to innovate upon what X provides on the best budget Android phones. This article highlights our favorites in this roundup of promising X alternatives, available on the Play Store or by download link. Let’s dive in!

1 Counter.social

Counter.social is a social platform created by famous hacktivist “The Jester,” a service with the intent of liberation from manipulative media practices and misinformation peddlers. The app houses all the features you’d expect from an X alternative, such as posting, liking, commenting, sharing images, and emojis. Counter.social doesn’t track your location or mine your data. The only personal information the app stores is your email address.

The app also allows users to customize the layout of their app interface, which is unique among social media platforms. Counter.social has been around for a couple of years, so it’s received a fair bit of polish, running smoothly with a great community.

2 Bluesky

Bluesky is a social app from the same mold as Twitter, designed as a side project by Twitter’s original CEO, Jack Dorsey. The interface resembles early Twitter, allowing users to compose posts of a limited number of characters, like and forward posts, and respond to comments on posts. But unlike X, Bluesky takes a decentralized, open source approach to development, letting all users know when and how the platform will change. An interesting aspect of Bluesky is its user requirements. Prospective users must join a waiting list or receive an invitation from a friend who’s on the platform before they can use it. However, there’s no telling if this feature will stick around forever.

While the lack of instant access might turn some people off, the service is worth it and will likely see a great deal of traffic from its reservedness.

3 Mastodon

Mastodon is a platform designed for micro-blogging, hosting an impressive number of servers dedicated to specific interests. This app is part of the fediverse, a network of services that allows newcomers to join instances and different servers related to specific interests that can interact with each other, even across platforms. All the main features users enjoy on X can be used here, including creating posts that can be liked, shared, and commented on. The app provides a nifty hashtag listing, so you can stay in the loop. It also has a homepage that houses your posts, replies, photos, and videos.

The app is efficient with a limited color pallet of darker grays. For a service that’s been around since 2016, Mastodon has received a lot of love from its various communities and is one of the more popular X alternatives around.

4 Pixelfed

Another member of the fediverse, Pixelfed is a social platform designed for sharing images. It’s an Instagram-inspired app with special care given to data protection and user privacy. While not an explicit X alternative, Pixelfed allows those disillusioned with centralized social media a decent open source Instagram replacement.

Pixelfed’s interface and feature list emulate Instagram’s base workings, complete with a timeline, discovery tab, notification page, and central image editing interface. However, the story and reels features are not present in the current build. Released at the end of 2018, Pixelfed looks and works as a serviceable alternative to Instagram, with the additional benefits of decentralized moderation.

Download here

5 PixelDroid (via F-Droid)

PixelDroid is a Pixelfed client platform designed to redesign the Pixelfed interface for Android devices. While this app acts similarly to Pixelfed, its interface design and feature list reflect a real effort to get Pixelfed onto your Android phone. Download PixelDroid F-droid, an open source app that operates like the Google Play Store but is made for sharing open source software. Users must install F-droid and then download PixelDroid from within its free store.

The PixelDroid app can connect to your Pixelfed instance and import your account information, regardless of whether you use the PC version of the mobile port listed above. This might sound like needless trouble if the Pixelfed app can be downloaded directly. Still, PixelDroid is worth the trip if you want something that feels like an Instagram alternative specifically designed for a mobile touch interface, not just ported to one.

Download F-Droid here

6 Connect for Lemmy

Connect for Lemmy is a mobile app that allows its users to access Lemmy, a social link aggregation and discussion forum platform in the same model as Reddit. The app lets its users join different servers to post their thoughts and images, exchange external links, and discuss matters of their particular interest. The app’s upvote and downvote system is similar to Reddit’s, allowing users to decide which post appears first in searches by liking or disliking it. Lemmy is a federated service, meaning big companies aren’t mining your data and there’s a complete absence of ads. Being another member of the fediverse, Lemmy instances can connect and interact with each other, in addition to apps like Mastodon.

It’s true that Reddit is also decentralized and has that same open source spirit, but Lemmy’s connection to the fediverse gives its users more scope for interaction and discussion. It’s a great app for those who want an interconnected open source Reddit alternative.

7 Fedilab

Fedilab is a client application designed as a hub for various fediverse wanderings, focusing on microblogging and file sharing on multiple open source social platforms like Mastodon and Pixelfed. Like X, Fedilab allows users to post their thoughts and media onto a personal feed and interact with other posts via likes and reposts. The app allows multiple accounts from different fediverse services to be accessed from a single place. This is a great convenience for the savvy open source app user.

Fedilab allows users to send and schedule messages between instances, enact inputs across various fediverse accounts at once, and receive notifications to confirm that these cross-account actions were successful. Fedilab’s adaptability makes it a decent bet, especially if you’re looking for a way to keep all your accounts in check.

8 Desofy

Considered the most widely used open source social media app, Desofy is a platform that prides itself on its lack of corporate data mining and user privacy violation. In terms of looks, Desofy’s interface could be mistaken for X’s if you’re unfamiliar with the platform, as it looks and functions almost the same, with a few features moved around for better utility. While the app used to be able to connect with Twitter, this feature no longer works. Users can follow other users, like and comment on their conversations and interactions, or make their posts with options to include images, GIF files, and polls.

One huge selling point for Destofy is monetization freedom, giving you the power to earn in-app currency from your popularity without eligibility checks or barriers to entry. Desofy is polished and fit for purpose post-Twitter, so if you want a stable and highly engrossing alternative, we recommend this.

Popular communication apps change from time to time but usually remain largely the same. While X isn’t going anywhere, its abrupt change with barely any fanfare makes one feel powerless on the platform. Given X’s severing of companion API support, it’s no wonder open source alternatives are rising in popularity. Many of these great alternatives offer more user-centric formats and values, and we are eager to see what can be done when we have more control over our social media. Check out a couple on your favorite Samsung phone!