SHSelfHostIndex

Mastodon vs Mbin

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?
MA Mastodon Decentralized open-source microblogging server VS MB Mbin Community-driven fork of the kbin aggregator
FeatureMastodonMbin
CategorySocial NetworksSocial Networks
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageRubyPHP
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 50,177★ 426
First released20162023
ReplacesTwitter, XReddit

Why pick each one

Choose Mastodon if…

  • Large fediverse network
  • Strong moderation features
Mastodon details

Choose Mbin if…

  • Active community fork
  • Regular releases
Mbin details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mastodon or Mbin better?

Neither is universally better. Mastodon has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Mastodon and Mbin free and open-source?

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

Can I run Mastodon and Mbin with Docker?

Mastodon: yes. Mbin: yes.

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