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.
Not the right match-up?
Firefish
Customizable fediverse microblogging platform
VS
Mastodon
Decentralized open-source microblogging server
| Feature | Firefish | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 50,177 |
| First released | 2022 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Mastodon | Twitter, X |
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
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.