What is the closest thing to Facebook without ads?

For the friends-feed part of Facebook, an invite-only or private network is the closest match, because it keeps profiles, a timeline and photo history without an ad auction behind the ordering. For the public, follow-anyone part, Mastodon and Bluesky are the closest ad-free equivalents.

Is there a Facebook alternative that only shows my real friends?

Yes — that is what private and invite-only networks are for. The mechanism that matters is whether the network lets you set an audience per post and whether anything outside your circle can appear in your feed. If suggested posts from strangers can appear, the network is still optimising for time spent.

Are decentralised networks like Mastodon hard to use?

The only genuinely unfamiliar step is choosing a server when you sign up. After that it behaves like any other timeline. The real variable is moderation, which is set per server rather than centrally, so the server you pick matters more than the software does.

Do I have to delete Facebook to use an alternative?

No, and most people don't. The common pattern is to keep the old account for events, marketplace and reachability, and to move the day-to-day posting somewhere smaller. Deleting comes later, if at all, once the people you care about have moved.

How do ad-free social networks make money?

Usually one of three ways: an optional paid tier, donations, or investor funding while the product is young. Each has a different failure mode — paid tiers have to stay worth paying for, donations fluctuate, and investor-funded networks can be pushed toward advertising later. Knowing which one you're using tells you what pressure it is under.

All guides

The best Facebook alternatives in 2026, compared

There is no single replacement for Facebook, because Facebook is four products in one: a friends feed, a photo archive, a groups platform and an events board. The honest way to choose is to decide which of those you actually miss, then pick the tool built for that one thing. This page compares the realistic options by the three things that decide how a network feels: how it makes money, who is allowed in, and what decides the order of the feed.

Facebook alternatives at a glance

Grouped by what they're for. "Ordering" is what decides the order of what you see — the single biggest difference in how a feed feels.

Network	What it's for	How it's funded	Getting in	Ordering
Mastodon	Public microblogging, decentralised across independent servers	Donations and server funding, no advertising	Open — you pick a server	Chronological
Bluesky	Public microblogging on an open protocol	Venture-funded, no advertising to date	Open	Chronological by default, custom feeds optional
Discord	Chat-first communities and voice rooms	Paid subscriptions and cosmetics	Open, individual servers can be invite-only	Chronological, per channel
Signal	Encrypted one-to-one and group messaging	Non-profit, funded by donations	Open, needs a phone number	Chronological
WhatsApp	Encrypted messaging, groups and status posts	Meta-owned; business messaging	Open, needs a phone number	Chronological
Nextdoor	Neighbourhood news, local buying and selling	Advertising	Open, tied to your address	Ranked
Cara	Portfolio network for artists, anti-AI-scraping stance	Donations and funding, no advertising	Open	Chronological and curated feeds
Roots	Invite-only network for people you actually know	Optional paid tier, no advertising	Invite only	Chronological, and the timeline ends

Platforms change their funding and their feeds. Check anything here that would decide your choice before you commit to it.

First, work out which part of Facebook you're replacing

Most people who search for an alternative are not trying to rebuild their whole account. They want one specific thing back. Naming it narrows the list from twenty products to two.

Keeping up with friends you actually know → a private or invite-only network.
Following public voices and news → a microblogging platform.
Interest communities and hobbies → a forum or a chat-community platform.
Local buying, selling and neighbourhood news → a local-first app.
Talking to a handful of people privately → an encrypted messenger.

Why the business model predicts almost everything

A network that sells advertising has to rank posts, because ranked feeds hold attention longer than chronological ones, and attention is the inventory being sold. That single incentive produces most of the behaviour people dislike: the reordering, the suggested posts from strangers, the infinite scroll, the notifications engineered to pull you back.

Networks funded another way — subscriptions, donations, or nothing at all — have no reason to rank. It is not that their teams are more virtuous; it is that the pressure isn't there. So when you compare options, look at who pays before you look at the feature list.

The trade-off nobody puts in the marketing

Every alternative is smaller than Facebook, and smaller means quieter on day one. Decentralised networks add a second cost: you have to pick a server, and moderation quality varies between them. Invite-only networks trade reach for signal — fewer people will see what you post, and the ones who do will actually know you.

If your goal is audience size, none of these will satisfy you and you should stay where the audience is. If your goal is that posting stops feeling like performing, the smaller the network, the better it works.

Where Roots fits

Roots is the invite-only end of this list: no ads, no ranking, a timeline that ends, and an audience you choose per post — everyone you know, a smaller circle, or close friends only. Membership is by invite, which keeps it small on purpose, and the money comes from an optional paid tier rather than advertising.

It replaces the friends-feed and photo-archive parts of Facebook. It deliberately does not replace public broadcasting or Marketplace, and if that is what you're after, one of the platforms above will serve you better.

Common questions

What is the closest thing to Facebook without ads?: For the friends-feed part of Facebook, an invite-only or private network is the closest match, because it keeps profiles, a timeline and photo history without an ad auction behind the ordering. For the public, follow-anyone part, Mastodon and Bluesky are the closest ad-free equivalents.
Is there a Facebook alternative that only shows my real friends?: Yes — that is what private and invite-only networks are for. The mechanism that matters is whether the network lets you set an audience per post and whether anything outside your circle can appear in your feed. If suggested posts from strangers can appear, the network is still optimising for time spent.
Are decentralised networks like Mastodon hard to use?: The only genuinely unfamiliar step is choosing a server when you sign up. After that it behaves like any other timeline. The real variable is moderation, which is set per server rather than centrally, so the server you pick matters more than the software does.
Do I have to delete Facebook to use an alternative?: No, and most people don't. The common pattern is to keep the old account for events, marketplace and reachability, and to move the day-to-day posting somewhere smaller. Deleting comes later, if at all, once the people you care about have moved.
How do ad-free social networks make money?: Usually one of three ways: an optional paid tier, donations, or investor funding while the product is young. Each has a different failure mode — paid tiers have to stay worth paying for, donations fluctuate, and investor-funded networks can be pushed toward advertising later. Knowing which one you're using tells you what pressure it is under.

Roots is invite-only, ad-free and chronological — a timeline of people you actually know, with an end.

See how Roots works