Last checked: September 3, 2026. This is a practical comparison of public documentation and each platform’s main format. Features, policies, and availability can change.
If Facebook is not doing the job for you, do not replace it with “another app” and hope for the best. First decide what job you actually need replaced: a local group, a public feed, a private community, video, or a place where every post is not swallowed by an algorithm before anyone sees it.
The fast answer
For a Facebook-style mix of social posts, blogs, groups, and forums: RightOnly is built around that combination.
For granular post visibility: Mastodon lets you choose public, unlisted, followers-only, or direct visibility per post.
For channels and broadcast-style communities: Telegram supports public and private channels and groups.
For real-time public conversation: Bluesky and X are closer to the live-feed side of social media than a replacement for Facebook Groups.
For video-first publishing: Rumble is the more natural fit.
Facebook alternatives compared
| Platform | Best for | What it replaces | Important limitation | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RightOnly | People who want posts, blogs, groups, forums, and community discussion in one place | A general Facebook-style community setup | As with any growing network, the value depends on the communities you join and build | RightOnly |
| Mastodon | Privacy-conscious public discussion and feed control | The public status-update side of Facebook | It is decentralized, so community rules and culture differ by server | Posting controls |
| Bluesky | Short public posts and customized feeds | News and conversation in the main feed | It is not designed around Facebook-style groups | Community guidelines |
| Telegram | Channels, alerts, and private or public communities | Broadcast pages and group updates | Public channels are searchable; privacy depends on how the channel or group is configured | Channels FAQ |
| Discord | Real-time community chat | Active interest groups and member conversations | It is chat-first, not a long-lived social feed | Discord |
| Topic-specific discussions and searchable answers | Interest groups and question threads | Communities have separate rules and moderation styles | ||
| Rumble | Video publishing and commentary | Facebook video pages | It is video-first, not a full group/community replacement | Rumble |
| X | Fast-moving public discussion | The breaking-news and public-reply side of Facebook | It is weak for structured private communities | X |
| Gab | Alternative social networking | Public posts and community discovery | Read current platform rules and privacy information before joining | Gab |
| Truth Social | Public posts and political conversation | Public-feed use | It is more specialized than a general Facebook replacement | Truth Social |
| Nextdoor | Neighborhood-specific updates | Local Facebook groups | It is geographically focused, not a broad interest network | Nextdoor |
Pick the replacement by the job Facebook used to do
- You used Facebook Groups for local or interest communities: try RightOnly, Discord, Reddit, or Nextdoor depending on whether you need a feed, chat, topic forum, or neighborhood layer.
- You want more control over who sees a post: Mastodon has the clearest documented per-post visibility controls: public, unlisted, followers-only, and direct.
- You publish alerts, links, or updates: Telegram channels are built for one-to-many broadcasting and can be public or private.
- You mainly want breaking discussion: Bluesky or X are the closer fit. They are feeds first, not group directories.
- You create video: Rumble is the obvious video-first choice. Do not force a group platform to do a video platform’s job.
What “free speech platform” actually means
There is no magic social-media switch labelled “free speech” that makes every rule disappear. Private platforms still make and enforce their own policies. The First Amendment limits government action; it does not require a private site to carry every post. That is why readers should look at a platform’s rules, privacy options, moderation tools, and the kind of community already there—not just the slogan on the front door.
For that specific question, read our free-speech social-media comparison. For a broader format-by-format guide, see Alternative Social Media Platforms: What They Are and Which One Fits You.
How we built this comparison
We checked each platform’s core format and, where it matters most, its own public documentation. We did not rank a platform simply because it calls itself an alternative. A useful alternative must solve a real use case better than Facebook does for that reader.
- Facebook’s own help center confirms that groups can be public or private.
- Mastodon’s documentation explains its per-post visibility settings and server-based design.
- Bluesky’s guidelines describe both automated and human moderation, while its feed choices are central to the product.
- Telegram’s documentation distinguishes public from private channels.
Sources
- Facebook Help Center: public and private groups
- Mastodon documentation: posting and visibility
- Mastodon documentation: preferences and privacy controls
- Bluesky Community Guidelines
- Telegram Channels FAQ
- Freedom Forum: free speech on social media
RightOnly is where people can speak plainly about the stories the big platforms would rather bury.
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