Libreddit
An alternative private front-end to Reddit
10 second pitch: Libreddit is a portmanteau of "libre" (meaning freedom) and "Reddit". It is a private front-end like Invidious but for Reddit. Browse the coldest takes of r/unpopularopinion without being tracked.
- 🚀 Fast: written in Rust for blazing fast speeds and memory safety
- ☁️ Light: no JavaScript, no ads, no tracking, no bloat
- 🕵 Private: all requests are proxied through the server, including media
- 🔒 Secure: strong Content Security Policy prevents browser requests to Reddit
BTC: bc1qwyxjnafpu3gypcpgs025cw9wa7ryudtecmwa6y
XMR: 45FJrEuFPtG2o7QZz2Nps77TbHD4sPqxViwbdyV9A6ktfHiWs47UngG5zXPcLoDXAc8taeuBgeNjfeprwgeXYXhN3C9tVSR
Instances
Feel free to open an issue to have your selfhosted instance listed here!
A checkmark in the "Cloudflare" category here refers to the use of the reverse proxy, Cloudflare. The checkmark will not be listed for a site which uses Cloudflare DNS but rather the proxying service which grants Cloudflare the ability to monitor traffic to the website.
About
Find Libreddit on 💬 Matrix, 🐋 Docker, 
GitHub, and 🦊 GitLab.
Built with
- Rust - Programming language
- Hyper - HTTP server and client
- Askama - Templating engine
- Rustls - TLS library
Info
Libreddit hopes to provide an easier way to browse Reddit, without the ads, trackers, and bloat. Libreddit was inspired by other alternative front-ends to popular services such as Invidious for YouTube, Nitter for Twitter, and Bibliogram for Instagram.
Libreddit currently implements most of Reddit's (signed-out) functionalities but still lacks a few features.
How does it compare to Teddit?
Teddit is another awesome open source project designed to provide an alternative frontend to Reddit. There is no connection between the two and you're welcome to use whichever one you favor. Competition fosters innovation and Teddit's release has motivated me to build Libreddit into an even more polished product.
If you are looking to compare, the biggest differences I have noticed are:
- Libreddit is themed around Reddit's redesign whereas Teddit appears to stick much closer to Reddit's old design. This may suit some users better as design is always subjective.
- Libreddit is written in Rust for speed and memory safety. It uses Hyper, a speedy and lightweight HTTP server/client implementation.
Comparison
This section outlines how Libreddit compares to Reddit.
Speed
Lasted tested Jan 17, 2021.
Results from Google Lighthouse (Libreddit Report, Reddit Report).
| Libreddit | ||
|---|---|---|
| Requests | 20 | 70 |
| Resource Size (card ui) | 1,224 KiB | 1,690 KiB |
| Time to Interactive | 1.5 s | 11.2 s |
Privacy
Logging: According to Reddit's privacy policy, they "may [automatically] log information" including:
- IP address
- User-agent string
- Browser type
- Operating system
- Referral URLs
- Device information (e.g., device IDs)
- Device settings
- Pages visited
- Links clicked
- The requested URL
- Search terms
Location: The same privacy policy goes on to describe location data may be collected through the use of:
- GPS (consensual)
- Bluetooth (consensual)
- Content associated with a location (consensual)
- Your IP Address
Cookies: Reddit's cookie notice documents the array of cookies used by Reddit including/regarding:
- Authentication
- Functionality
- Analytics and Performance
- Advertising
- Third-Party Cookies
- Third-Party Site
Libreddit
For transparency, I hope to describe all the ways Libreddit handles user privacy.
Logging: In production (when running the binary, hosting with docker, or using the official instances), Libreddit logs when Reddit is ratelimiting Libreddit and when Reddit's JSON responses can't be parsed. When debugging (running from source without --release), Libreddit logs post IDs and URL paths fetched to aid with troubleshooting.
DNS: Both official domains (libredd.it and libreddit.spike.codes) use Cloudflare as the DNS resolver. Though, the sites are not proxied through Cloudflare meaning Cloudflare doesn't have access to user traffic.
Cookies: Libreddit uses optional cookies to store any configured settings in the settings menu. This is not a cross-site cookie and the cookie holds no personal data, only a value of the possible layout.
Hosting: The official instances are hosted on Replit which monitors usage to prevent abuse. I can understand if this invalidates certain users' threat models and therefore, selfhosting and browsing through Tor are welcomed.
Installation
1) Cargo
Make sure Rust stable is installed along with cargo, Rust's package manager.
cargo install libreddit
2) Docker
Deploy the Docker image of Libreddit:
docker pull spikecodes/libreddit
docker run -d --name libreddit -p 8080:8080 spikecodes/libreddit
Deploy using a different port (in this case, port 80):
docker pull spikecodes/libreddit
docker run -d --name libreddit -p 80:8080 spikecodes/libreddit
To deploy on arm64 platforms, simply replace spikecodes/libreddit in the commands above with spikecodes/libreddit:arm.
To deploy on armv7 platforms, simply replace spikecodes/libreddit in the commands above with spikecodes/libreddit:armv7.
3) AUR
For ArchLinux users, Libreddit is available from the AUR as libreddit-git.
yay -S libreddit-git
4) GitHub Releases
If you're on Linux and none of these methods work for you, you can grab a Linux binary from the newest release.
5) Replit
Note: Replit is a free option but they are not private and will monitor server usage to prevent abuse. If you need a free and easy setup, this method may work best for you.
- Create a Replit account (see note above)
- Visit the official Repl and fork it
- Hit the run button to download the latest Libreddit version and start it
In the web preview (defaults to top right), you should see your instance hosted where you can assign a custom domain.
6) Heroku
Deployment
Once installed, deploy Libreddit to 0.0.0.0:8080 by running:
libreddit
Change Default Settings
Assign a default value for each setting by passing environment variables to Libreddit in the format LIBREDDIT_DEFAULT_{X}. Replace {X} with the setting name (see list below) in capital letters.
| Name | Possible values | Default value |
|---|---|---|
THEME |
["system", "light", "dark", "black", "dracula", "nord", "laserwave", "violet", "gold"] |
system |
FRONT_PAGE |
["default", "popular", "all"] |
default |
LAYOUT |
["card", "clean", "compact"] |
card |
WIDE |
["on", "off"] |
off |
COMMENT_SORT |
["hot", "new", "top", "rising", "controversial"] |
hot |
POST_SORT |
["confidence", "top", "new", "controversial", "old"] |
confidence |
SHOW_NSFW |
["on", "off"] |
off |
USE_HLS |
["on", "off"] |
off |
HIDE_HLS_NOTIFICATION |
["on", "off"] |
off |
Examples
LIBREDDIT_DEFAULT_SHOW_NSFW=on libredditLIBREDDIT_DEFAULT_WIDE=on LIBREDDIT_DEFAULT_THEME=dark libreddit -rProxying using NGINX
NOTE If you're proxying Libreddit through a NGINX Reverse Proxy, add
proxy_http_version 1.1;to your NGINX configuration file above your proxy_pass line.
systemd
You can use the systemd service available in contrib/libreddit.service
(install it on /etc/systemd/system/libreddit.service).
That service can be optionally configured in terms of environment variables by
creating a file in /etc/libreddit.conf. Use the contrib/libreddit.conf as a
template. You can also add the LIBREDDIT_DEFAULT__{X} settings explained
above.
When "Proxying using NGINX" where the proxy is on the same machine, you should
guarantee nginx waits for this service to start. Edit
/etc/systemd/system/libreddit.service.d/reverse-proxy.conf:
[Unit]
Before=nginx.service
Building
git clone https://github.com/spikecodes/libreddit
cd libreddit
cargo run