🧮 Decentralization Scoring System (v1.0)

This scoring system evaluates how decentralized and self-hostable a platform is, based on four core metrics.

📊 Scoring Metrics (Total: 100 Points)

Top Provider User Share (30 points): Measures how many users are on the largest instance. Full points if <10%; 0 if >80%.
Top Provider Content Share (30 points): Measures how much content is hosted by the largest instance. Full points if <10%; 0 if >80%.
Ease of Self-Hosting: Server (20 points): Technical ease of running your own backend. Full points for Docker/simple setup with good docs.
Ease of Self-Hosting: User Interface (20 points): Availability and usability of clients. Full points for accessible, FOSS, multi-platform clients.

📋 Example Breakdown (Estimates)

📧 Email (2025)

  • Top Provider User Share: Apple ≈ 53.67% → Score: 4.5/30
  • Top Provider Content Share: Apple likely handles >50% of mail → Score: 4.5/30
  • Self-Hosting: Server: Easy (Leverage email hosting services) → Score: 18/20
  • Self-Hosting: Client: Easy (Thunderbird, K-9, etc.) → Score: 18/20

Total: 45/100

🐹 Lemmy (2025)

  • Top Provider User Share: lemmy.world ≈ 37.17% → Score: 12/30
  • Top Provider Content Share: lemmy.world likely hosts ~37% content → Score: 12/30
  • Self-Hosting: Server: Easy (Docker, low resource) → Score: 18/20
  • Self-Hosting: Client: Good FOSS apps, web UI → Score: 18/20

Total: 60/100

🐘 Mastodon (2025)

  • Top Provider User Share: mastodon.social ≈ 42.7% → Score: 11/30
  • Top Provider Content Share: mastodon.social ≈ 45–50% content → Score: 10/30
  • Self-Hosting: Server: Docker setup, moderate difficulty → Score: 15/20
  • Self-Hosting: Client: Strong ecosystem (Tusky, web, etc.) → Score: 19/20

Total: 55/100

🔵 Bluesky (2025)

  • Top Provider User Share: bsky.social ≈ ~90%+ (very centralized) → Score: 0/30
  • Top Provider Content Share: Nearly all content on bsky.social → Score: 0/30
  • Self-Hosting: Server: PDS hosting possible but very niche → Score: 4/20
  • Self-Hosting: Client: Mostly official client; some 3rd party → Score: 10/20

Total: 14/100

🟥 Reddit (2025)

  • Top Provider User Share: Reddit ≈ 48.4% → Score: 0/30
  • Top Provider Content Share: Reddit hosts a significant portion of user-generated content → Score: 0/30
  • Self-Hosting: Server: Not self-hostable (proprietary platform) → Score: 0/20
  • Self-Hosting: Client: Some unofficial clients available → Score: 3/20

Total: 3/100

How Scores are Calculated

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 How User/Content Share Scores Work

This measures how many users are on the largest provider (or instance).

  • 100% (one provider): If one provider has all the users, it gets 0 points.
  • No provider > 10%: If no provider has more than 10%, it gets full 30 points.
  • Between 10% and 80%: Anything in between is scored on a linear scale.
  • > 80%: If a provider has more than 80%, it gets 0 points.

📊 Formula:

Score = 30 × (1 - (TopProviderShare - 10%) / 70%)
…but only if TopProviderShare is between 10% and 80%.
If below 10%, full 30. If above 80%, zero.

📌 Example:

If one provider has 40% of all users:
→ Score = 30 × (1 - (40 - 10) / 70) = 30 × (1 - 0.43) = 17.1 points

🖥️ How Ease of Self-Hosting Scores Work

These scores measure how easy it is for individuals or communities to run their own servers or use clients.

This looks at how technically easy it is to run your own backend (e.g., email server, Mastodon server) or User Interface (e.g., web-interface or mobile-app)

  • Very Easy: One-command Docker, low resources, great documentation → 18–20 points
  • Moderate: Docker or manual setup, some config, active community support → 13–17 points
  • Hard: Complex setup, needs regular updates or custom config (e.g. DNS, spam) → 6–12 points
  • Very Hard or Proprietary: Little to no self-hosting support, undocumented → 0–5 points

PS.

This is Version 1.0 so there are likely flaws and mistakes in it, feel free to help create the best version we can I’ve put it on https://github.com/NoBadDays/decentralization-score

  • sabreW4K3@lazysoci.alEnglish
    22·
    3 months ago

    📧 Email (2025)

    • Top Provider User Share: Apple ≈ 53.67% → Score: 4.5/30
    • Top Provider Content Share: Apple likely handles >50% of mail → Score: 4.5/30

    No way that’s true.

  • clabru@feddit.itEnglish
    15·
    3 months ago

    I agree with your message, but if you want credibility you need sources for this data.

  • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
    14·
    3 months ago

    What is the 48.4% for Reddit, since it isn’t decentralized at all?

    • Snoopy@piefed.socialEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      The main reason for me creating this is to shine light on services like Bluesky claiming to be Decentralised, but they are in fact not.

      Nice :D

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    One metric you might want to add is the network effect: how much of a difference does it make to the user experience to join a large instance (or the same instance most of your friends are on) compared to a small or self-hosted one? (Or in other words—does the nature of the platform software potentially incentivize consolidation?)

  • cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    4·
    3 months ago

    This is a very interesting approach. Putting this on a website with graphs, sources and additional information would elevate it to a fledgling standard.

  • OpenStars@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Isn’t ActivityPub extremely network intensive though? If all you wanted was a single user subscribing to a handful of communities then Lemmy would be inexpensive but to pull from a lot of communities I thought people have said that it can cost a bit of money, time, etc. Also defending against attacks such as CSAM.

    Maybe make a distinction then between running a “tiny personal instance with only a few niche community subscriptions” vs. a small instance, either with multiple users or even just one person subscribing to many communities, if that cost would start to become more prohibitive?

  • Snoopy@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Very interesting idea, thank you :)

    So for my feedback, i love your project and i can’t wait to see where you will go. Great job :3

    For me lemmy is still centered on lemmy.world and theqbiggest community (in any instance) doesn’t help users to move to another community as they will post where there are lot users to reach them.

    For myself, I would add two layers for decentralization scoring, maybe a separate scoring :

    Ability to migrate

    • account and its followers
    • community : miror content and move it to another instance with its followers
    • export a backup of a server in case of absent admins
    • change software. The problem is the golden cage, we thould be able to migrate between lemmy > iceshrimp, mastodon > piefed…mostly between social network. I think nomadic identity can offer us an interesting solution.

    Culture diversities

    For lemmy, i think content is still too western centric :

    • If you reduce lemmy instances by spoken language as french, we only have 1-3 servers, so we have a single point of faillure. On mastodon there are several french instance.
    • If i count english content versus indian, chinese, arab, spanish…we are pretty far from being decentralized. And yes, we also need to note their countries regulation as our to get a clear overview.
      • Snoopy@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        Yes culture and language should be another metric.

        But migrate option, i think they could be integrated because they are a key part of a decentralized system. I you can’t move easily from facebook, reddit, you will stay. And that’s why people stay, they shared life with people, they have build together a community…

        There is an article about nomadic identity that explain well those part. :)

              • Snoopy@piefed.socialEnglish
                1·
                3 months ago

                You can limit it to social network. I class peertube, pixelfed as a media plateform rather a social network one.

                For migration, can i migrate my account with :

                • My followers and giving them my new adress ? Do it update itself or do we have to do it ?
                • my contents : communities, bookmark, posts, comments…
                • can i delete my account ? Can i delete all my content ? and how easy it is ? There we will see Meta doing an amazing score.
                • bonus : can i export settings as colors scheme ? (Accessibility for visually impaired)
                • can i give community to new mod ? Can i fork it ?

                And let’s add accessibility. :)
                We don’t talk much about it and we are doing a very bad job. So the scoring system should also raise this issue : how accessible is the decentralized software.