# What is Bonfire?

Bonfire is a modular, federated social platform for building digital communities. Unlike traditional social networks, Bonfire is:

- **Decentralized:** Anyone can host their own Bonfire instance, with full control over data, policies, and features.
- **Federated:** Bonfire uses the ActivityPub protocol to connect with other Bonfire instances and the wider fediverse (including Mastodon, PeerTube, and more).
- **Modular:** Bonfire is built to be extensible. Features such as boundaries, circles, groups, and moderation tools can be enabled, disabled, or customized per instance.
- **Community-first:** Bonfire puts communities in control, allowing for unique governance, moderation, and privacy models.

Bonfire is not just a microblogging platform. It can be adapted for many use cases, from classic social networking to forums, organizing projects, and more, thanks to its extension system.

**Key differences from other fediverse platforms:**
- Fine-grained sharing with circles and boundaries (beyond just "followers" or "public").
- Designed for extensibility and experimentation.
- Focus on local-first, community-driven governance.

Learn more at [bonfirenetworks.org](https://bonfirenetworks.org/).