Mu
Shares rank 15 of 31 social networks by recommenders
An ad-free, tracker-free app platform and social network with a flat fee, hosted by a European foundation; critics say the website explains little.
An ad-free, tracker-free app platform and social network with a flat fee, hosted by a European foundation; critics say the website explains little.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 64%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
No ads, algorithms or tracking
“provides services without ads, algorithms, or tracking”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Can I get feedback on this product” “an app platform without ads, algorithms or tracking”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “A simple web we own” “a personal app platform without ads”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (January 2026)” Used daily by its users
“I use this everyday as an alternative to other forms of media consumption”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Mu – The Micro Network” “we use Eurosky/Mu.social daily for our social accounts”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps” “Something I use everyday for myself.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What are tools you have made for yourself since the advent of AI” Open, European-hosted alternative network
“it's essentially the same thing, just built in the open by the Eurosky stack”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Has W Social switched to closed source?” “Just switch to Bsky.app or mu.social (european version, same global network)”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Nitter and XCancel receive cease and desist notices” “hosted by an european open foundation”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Neural networks are clean”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Website doesn't explain what it is
“The website has no information at all and it's not possible to work out what the project is from it.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Mu – The Micro Network” “It's missing a "What is mu.social?" link or something.”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Nitter and XCancel receive cease and desist notices” “It's an interesting project and I would hate for it to not be as successful as it could be just because of the website and other minor things that can be easily fixed”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Mu – The Micro Network”
Other social networks people recommend
The four most recommended other social networks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky | 317 | 401 | 44% | 12 | 1 yr5 owners | — |
| 289 | 1,338 | 18% | 13 | 14 yrs42 owners | — | |
| Mastodon | 273 | 220 | 55% | 12 | 3 yrs12 owners | — |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 264 | 984 | 21% | 13 | 13 yrs13 owners | — |
| MuThis page | 14 | 8 | 64% | 10 | — | — |
What people said
26 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“hosted by an european open foundation”
“which in my opinion worked equally well and requires no teaching”
“wraps emulation, tracing, and time-travel debugging around a subset of x86 assembly language”
“It's missing a "What is mu.social?" link or something.”
“Just switch to Bsky.app or mu.social (european version, same global network)”
“this works quite well and we don't need more news than we have”
“you almost never want these tools in any given session”
“we use Eurosky/Mu.social daily for our social accounts”
“You can switch to the AppView from https://mu.social/ and you'll get editing working.”
“it's essentially the same thing, just built in the open by the Eurosky stack”
“I really like the design, its so clean”
“Something I use everyday for myself.”
“reading through Mu has given me a lot to think about”
“an app platform without ads, algorithms or tracking”
“a personal app platform without ads”
“Solving a personal problem with ads, algorithms, tracking.”
“provides services without ads, algorithms, or tracking”
“mu complains about not knowing about the first.last account”
“Both isync and mu4e needed a bit of configuration”
“It's an interesting project and I would hate for it to not be as successful as it could be just because of the website and other minor things that can be easily fixed”
“The website has no information at all and it's not possible to work out what the project is from it.”
“Mu is £11 a month and you cannot see any screenshot of what you are getting”
“I use this everyday as an alternative to other forms of media consumption”
“I found several uses of hash maps just from a quick glance through the source.”
“I like the idea of a flat-fee structure without subscriptions”
“unable to test any of it's features without being prompted to install a Chromium 'app'”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.