For families, churches, clubs & homeschoolers

The best social network for close communities.

Knitly is an invite-only, self-hosted social network for families, church groups, clubs, homeschoolers, and local communities.

A self-hosted, invite-only space for the people who matter most. No algorithm. No noise. Just real life, shared chronologically.

120 members max
Moments
S
Sarah Chen @sarah
3h

The kids built a blanket fort in the living room and declared independence. They've written a constitution. Article 1: No bedtimes. @Marcus they want you as Secretary of Snacks.

A shared moment
M
Marcus @marcus
5h

Who's in for the Saturday hike? Thinking Table Rock again. @Sarah @Dave @Rachel

R
Rachel @rachel
1d

Movie night poll: Kids' pick or adults' pick this Friday...

The Concept

Not a platform.
A living room.

Knitly is invite-only, capped at 120 members — Dunbar's number, the cognitive limit of meaningful relationships. No hashtags, no trending, no followers count. Every face is familiar. Every name is known.

Admin-controlled membership means you decide who's in the room. It's your community, run your way.

120 Max Members
0 Algorithms
100% Yours
The Lobby
Chat with your people
M
Marcus @marcus

Anyone up for dinner at the park tonight? Weather looks amazing

2m ago
R
Rachel @rachel

Yes! We'll bring the kids. Should I grab watermelon?

1m ago
Y
You @you

Perfect! I'll bring the grill. See everyone at 6?

just now
S
Sarah @sarah

We're in! The kids are already putting shoes on

just now
Type a message...
New Moment
All Church Friends Family Add
What's happening?

Add to your moment

Circles

Share with everyone. Or just your family.

Circles let you share Moments with specific groups — Family, Church, Close Friends, or everyone at once. Color-coded dots make it clear at a glance. Your circles, your rules.

All Family Church Close Friends
Families

Invite-only social network for families

Direct answer page for family-specific privacy and invite flow questions.

 Homeschool

Homeschool community social app

How homeschool groups use invite-based circles for coordination.

 Church

Church groups social networking platform

Private church workflows for small groups, planning, and circles.

 Communities

Private social network for communities

Answer-first guidance for small community and group social setup.
Features

Intentionally simple.

01

Moments

A chronological feed of life. Photos, thoughts, updates -- shown in the order they happened. No algorithm decides what you see.

02

Lobby

Real-time group chat for the whole community. Quick plans, casual banter, the digital equivalent of shouting across the room.

03

Circles

Color-coded audience groups. Share with everyone, just family, or your closest friends. One tap to choose who sees what.

04

Reactions

Heart, comment, share. Simple interactions that feel human. No engagement metrics, no vanity counts visible to others.

05

Polls

Community decisions made simple. Movie night picks, dinner votes, trip planning. Democracy at the scale it was meant for.

06

Mentions

Tag your people with @name. Rendered in coral, impossible to miss. Every mention is a gentle tap on the shoulder.

Answer Bank

Need a direct answer before you click?

These are the top questions prospects search before they browse the product page.

Is Knitly a self-hosted social network for families?

Yes. Knitly is designed for intimate groups where you control hosting and membership.

Is Knitly an invite-only social app for families and communities?

Yes. Membership is controlled by admins and invite tokens, with a 120-person ceiling to keep participation personal.

Is Knitly a private alternative for communities?

Yes. No public algorithm feeds. No open growth funnel. Access is invitation-only and data stays on your own infrastructure.

Can church groups use this?

Yes. Churches can run invite-only circles for families, ministries, and events without depending on public network algorithms.

Can a homeschool community social app work for your group?

Yes. Groups can coordinate meal plans, events, photos, and chat in one space with clear membership boundaries.

Sources

Claims on this page are based on product documentation and established social grouping research.

Self-Hosted

You own it.
Every bit.

Every moment, every message, every member -- on your server. No third-party data harvesting. No platform risk. No terms of service that change overnight. Your community data stays exactly where you put it.

Plus, a built-in addon system lets you extend Knitly with custom tools -- AI chat, image generation, homelab dashboards, whatever your community needs. Drop in a route and a component; it wires itself up.

Your server Your data Your rules Your addons
Admin Dashboard
9 Total Users
25 Total Posts
3 Active Invites
Invite Tokens
KNT-7X2M-9P4R
Active
KNT-3B8K-1W5T
Active
KNT-5F1N-8Q3L
Used

Start something
small.

A place where everyone knows your name, and nobody's selling your data.

View on GitHub

Open source. Self-hosted. Free forever.