Firefish vs Mastodon
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Mastodon
Decentralized open-source microblogging server
| Feature | Firefish | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,300 | ★ 50,319 |
| First released | 2022 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, X |
What are Firefish and Mastodon?
Firefish
Firefish is an open-source, decentralized social media platform built on ActivityPub with extensive interface customization. It includes a built-in post translator, reactions, and a flexible timeline.
- Highly customizable UI
- Post reactions
- Built-in translation
- Federated timelines
Mastodon
Mastodon is a free, open-source decentralized social network and microblogging server. It is part of the fediverse, federating with other ActivityPub servers so users can follow accounts across instances.
- ActivityPub federation
- Chronological timelines
- Content warnings and moderation tools
- Rich third-party app ecosystem
Firefish vs Mastodon: key differences
Firefish is written in TypeScript, while Mastodon is built with Ruby. Mastodon is the more established project (first released 2016), while Firefish arrived in 2022. Mastodon has the considerably larger community, at 50,319 GitHub stars versus 1,300.
Why pick each one
Choose Firefish if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Mastodon if…
- Large fediverse network
- Strong moderation features
Watch out for
- Resource-heavy to host
- Operationally complex
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefish or Mastodon better?
Neither is universally better. Mastodon has the larger community, while Firefish is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Firefish and Mastodon free and open-source?
Yes. Firefish is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mastodon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefish and Mastodon with Docker?
Firefish: yes. Mastodon: yes.