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16 self-hosted Mastodon alternatives

Mastodon is the open federation protocol's flagship server software powering mastodon.social and thousands of public instances. These open-source apps let you replace Mastodon with software you host and control yourself.

Best self-hosted Mastodon alternatives

Phanpy

Social Networks

Minimalistic opinionated Fediverse ⁂ web client

Replaces Bluesky, Mastodon

★ 1.5k Easy setup MIT

Firefish

Social Networks

Customizable fediverse microblogging platform

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 1.3k Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Takahe

Social Networks

Multi-domain ActivityPub server

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 1.2k Medium setup BSD-3-Clause

snac

Social Networks

Minimalist ActivityPub server in C

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 900 Medium setup MIT

Hometown

Social Networks

Mastodon fork with local-only posting

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 819 Hard setup AGPL-3.0

Glitch-soc

Social Networks

Community-maintained Mastodon fork with extra features

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 801 Hard setup AGPL-3.0

Sharkey

Social Networks

Feature-rich Misskey fork for the fediverse

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 600 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Hollo

Social Networks

Single-user federated microblogging server

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 480 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Ktistec

Social Networks

Single-user ActivityPub server in Crystal

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 435 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Honk

Social Networks

Opinionated single-user ActivityPub server

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 400 Medium setup ISC

Epicyon

Social Networks

Minimalist ActivityPub server for the fediverse

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 300 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Iceshrimp

Social Networks

Lightweight Misskey-derived fediverse server

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 300 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Shuttlecraft

Blogging Platforms

Single-user IndieWeb blog with ActivityPub support

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 271 Medium setup MIT

Mitra

Social Networks

Federated microblogging server with crypto integration

Replaces Twitter, Mastodon

★ 200 Medium setup AGPL-3.0

Streams

Social Networks

Decentralized social server with nomadic identity

Replaces Facebook, Mastodon

★ 100 Hard setup MIT

Khatru Pyramid

Social Networks

Nostr invite relay

Replaces Mastodon, Twitter

★ 33 Medium setup Unlicense

Switching from Mastodon

Moving off Mastodon means trading a managed subscription for a service you run yourself. The payoff is ownership: no per-seat pricing, no vendor lock-in, and full control of your data. Start with the option above that matches your setup-difficulty comfort level — every app links to a detailed specs page and head-to-head comparisons.