SHSelfHostIndex

Fedify 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?
FE Fedify ActivityPub server framework for TypeScript VS MA Mastodon Decentralized open-source microblogging server
FeatureFedifyMastodon
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM256 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentsourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 1,017★ 50,177
First released20242016
ReplacesTwitterTwitter, X

Why pick each one

Choose Fedify if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Active community (1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Fedify details

Choose Mastodon if…

  • Large fediverse network
  • Strong moderation features
Mastodon details

Frequently asked questions

Is Fedify or Mastodon better?

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

Are Fedify and Mastodon free and open-source?

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

Can I run Fedify and Mastodon with Docker?

Fedify: check the project docs for container support. Mastodon: yes.

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