Campsite vs Mastodon

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCampsiteMastodon
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,828★ 50,177
First released20242016
ReplacesYammer, WorkplaceTwitter, X

Why pick each one

Choose Campsite if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (4.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in TypeScript
Campsite details

Choose Mastodon if…

  • Large fediverse network
  • Strong moderation features
Mastodon details

Frequently asked questions

Is Campsite or Mastodon better?

Neither is universally better. Mastodon has the larger community, while Campsite is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Campsite and Mastodon free and open-source?

Yes. Campsite is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mastodon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Campsite and Mastodon with Docker?

Campsite: yes. Mastodon: yes.

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