Relays
A relay is a piece of software that increases federation between instances that subscribe to that relay.
It is a great way for smaller instances to populate their federated timeline.
How to subscribe to a relay
Only instance admins can subscribe to a relay. In Mastodon you can do that by going to Settings > Administration > Relays. There you can enter the url of the relay - add "/inbox" at the end of it.
Then you just have to wait for your instance to be accepted by the relay owners.
List of ready to use Fediverse relays
- https://BigRelay.social
- https://relay.newsie.social
- https://en.relay.friendi.ca
- https://federation.stream
- https://mastodon-relay.moew.science
- https://mastodon-relay.thedoodleproject.net
- https://oceania.federate.cloud (limited to instances in Oceania; AU,NZ etc)
- https://relay.beckmeyer.us
- https://relay.chocoflan.net
- https://relay.fedi.agency
- https://relay.fedi.tools
- https://relay.fedibird.com
- https://relay.homunyan.com
- https://relay.gruenehoelle.nl
- https://relay.indieauthors.social (limited to indie creatives, writers, authors, self-publishers, and indie-reader focused instances)
- https://relay.intahnet.co.uk
- https://relay.k3tan.com
- https://relay.libranet.de
- https://relay.minecloud.ro
- https://relay.social.tigwali.fr
- https://relay.toot.yukimochi.jp
- https://relay.masto.social
- https://relay.dog
- https://relay.national-defence.network
- https://rel.re
- https://relay.gay (requires pre-approval)
- https://relay.wig.gl
- https://relay.sigmundvoid.net
- https://relay.activitypub.ca/ (Canadian instances only; requires pre-approval)
- https://relay.wuff.space
- https://relay.rollenspiel.monster/ (limited to instances with roleplay content)
- https://relay.fedimins.net/ (limited to instances that have come together under fedimins)
- https://relay.an.exchange
Comparison of Fediverse relay software
| relay name | source | works with | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| diaspora* | Mastodon | Misskey | Pleroma | ||
| Activity relay | https://github.com/yukimochi/Activity-Relay | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✖️ |
| ActivityRelay | https://git.pleroma.social/pleroma/relay | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Pub relay | https://source.joinmastodon.org/mastodon/pub-relay | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Seattle relay | https://gitlab.com/jankysolutions/social.seattle.wa.us/relay | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Social relay | https://github.com/jaywink/social-relay | ✔️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ |
| AodeRelay | https://git.asonix.dog/asonix/relay | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
You can find usage statistics of relay software from The Federation for activityrelay, activity-relay, aoderelay, pub-relay, selective-relay, unicarelay.
How to install your own Fediverse relay for beginners
To be written.