What is Bluesky used for?

Bluesky is the open-source Bluesky Social app, a React Native client for web, iOS and Android built on the AT Protocol. It is a good fit for studying a decentralized social client and contributing to the Bluesky app.

Is Bluesky open source?

Yes. Bluesky is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at bluesky-social/social-app and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Bluesky is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Bluesky?

Yes. Bluesky can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Bluesky an alternative to?

Bluesky is an open-source alternative to X (Twitter), Threads, Weibo and Truth Social. Other open-source alternatives to X (Twitter) include Misskey, Mastodon and Elk.

Is Bluesky actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Bluesky was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.133.0, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 18k stars on GitHub.

Bluesky: open-source alternative to X (Twitter), Threads

About Bluesky

The Bluesky Social app is the official client for the Bluesky network on the web, iOS and Android. This repository holds its codebase, which is a React Native application written in TypeScript. It builds on the open-source atproto TypeScript packages, which live in a separate repository.

Bluesky is built on the Authenticated Transfer Protocol, known as AT Protocol or atproto, a decentralized social media protocol. The application includes a set of schemas and APIs in the app.bsky namespace. A small amount of Go code in the bskyweb directory implements a web service that serves the React Native Web version of the app.

The code is released under the MIT license. The maintainers accept contributions but prioritize high-quality issues and pull requests, say they may not respond to every issue, and do not provide support for build problems. Build instructions are in the repository, and the apps themselves are available from bsky.app and the mobile app stores.

Key features

React Native client for web, iOS and Android
Built on the AT Protocol
TypeScript codebase using atproto packages
Go web service for the web build
MIT-licensed source with build instructions

Good fit for

→Studying a decentralized social client
→Contributing to the Bluesky app

Built with: TypeScript
Tags: bluesky; social-network; atproto; react-native; typescript; decentralized; mobile-app; social-media

Bluesky: questions and answers

What is Bluesky used for?: Bluesky is the open-source Bluesky Social app, a React Native client for web, iOS and Android built on the AT Protocol. It is a good fit for studying a decentralized social client and contributing to the Bluesky app.
Is Bluesky open source?: Yes. Bluesky is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at bluesky-social/social-app and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Bluesky free?: Yes. Bluesky is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Bluesky?: Yes. Bluesky can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Bluesky an alternative to?: Bluesky is an open-source alternative to X (Twitter), Threads, Weibo and Truth Social. Other open-source alternatives to X (Twitter) include Misskey, Mastodon and Elk.
Is Bluesky actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Bluesky was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.133.0, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 18k stars on GitHub.