# Freenet (Locutus)

Peer-to-peer platform for decentralized applications, communication, collaboration, and commerce. Apps run in the browser and look like normal websites, but they're served from a global mesh of peers rather than from cloud servers. Developers write apps in Rust or TypeScript, deploy them to the network, and inherit the takedown-resistance and lack-of-cloud-bills properties for free.

The architecture: peers form a **small-world network organized by location on a ring**. Messages reach their destination in a few hops, scaling to millions of peers — no servers. The user runs a local Freenet node; apps reach the network through it. Live network dashboard: http://nova.locut.us:3133/.

## What you're actually looking at

This is **not** the original Freenet (the 2000-era anonymous filestore, Java-based, slow, focused on censorship-resistant publishing). That project was renamed **Hyphanet** in 2023 and continues separately. The current freenet.org and the `freenet/freenet-core` repo are a **from-scratch Rust rewrite** that was developed under the codename "Locutus" before reclaiming the Freenet name. The two projects share lineage and a founder (Ian Clarke) but very little code or focus.

The new Freenet's pitch is decentralized *applications*, not anonymous *files*. The closest contemporary peer is something like Holochain — generic dApp substrate — not Tor or I2P.

## How it differs from adjacent systems

| | Freenet (Locutus) | Yggdrasil | Tor | IPFS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layer | Application | IP overlay | Transport (anonymity) | Storage |
| Routing | Small-world ring | Tree-with-shortcuts | Onion circuits | DHT |
| Programming model | Rust/TS apps in browser | Standard sockets | n/a | Content addressing |
| Primary goal | Unstoppable apps | Mesh IP | Anonymity | Persistent files |

Compare to [[yggdrasil-network]] for the IP-overlay take on similar p2p concerns. The Freenet small-world ring is closer in spirit to a DHT plus an application runtime than to either Yggdrasil's tree or Tor's onion routing.

## Status and watchlist

The project has shipped a working network and a developer manual; the "Freenet Lives! Real-Time Decentralized Apps at Scale" 30-minute FUTO talk is the recent public milestone. Production adoption outside the developer demos is what would push it off the [[toolbox/watchlist]] — either an actual dApp with users, or stable funding past the current "small team funded through grants and donations" footing. Re-check 2026-08-22.

## Repo

[github.com/freenet/freenet-core](https://github.com/freenet/freenet-core). Project page: https://freenet.org. Matrix: `#freenet-locutus:matrix.org`.