Soapbox

Soapbox started as an alternative Mastodon frontend. It then moved on to build the Mostr bridge, which connects the fediverse to nostr, and Ditto, which started as a nostr-native community server compatible with Mastodon apps. Since then it has grown into a full organization building open-source freedom tools across social media, AI-powered development, and activism, all on nostr.

Since then, Ditto has evolved from a community server into a full social platform where users can customize their profiles, publish any kind of content, and stay connected to followers on Bluesky and Mastodon through built-in bridges. Recently, Soapbox released Shakespeare, an open-source AI app builder that runs in the browser and works with any AI provider. It was used to build Ditto 2.0 itself and has shipped as a standalone product with its own Android app.

I'm vegan btw.

—Alex Gleason

Alex also maintains Nostrify, a nostr framework for Deno and the web, and MKStack, a full-stack toolkit for building nostr apps with AI.

Why fund it?

Bridging nostr and the fediverse expands the reach of both networks. The Mostr bridge alone exposes millions of fediverse users to nostr, and several have already moved over entirely. Ditto brings the unique experiences of multiple different Nostr apps all under one roof, including photos, videos, music, podcasts, and more. Shakespeare extends that further by letting anyone build new experiences on nostr and deploy them without touching a terminal.

OpenSats has been supporting Soapbox since the first wave of nostr grants in July 2023. Alex later received a long-term support grant in August 2024.

What's next?

Soapbox is pushing the boundaries of nostr to make it the best place for creators and communities to build and thrive. Future plans include strengthening the connection between Ditto and Shakespeare, enhancing the ability to create and share social experiences, and improving the bridges between nostr and other corners of the open web.

In 2026, Soapbox is teaming up with the World Liberty Congress to launch Agora, a bitcoin-based fundraising tool built with Shakespeare and tailored to activists' needs. The team also plans to tackle Bitcoin onboarding for general audiences, making exchanging sats on nostr easier than ever, even with no prior Bitcoin knowledge.