GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 50,353
- Forks
- 7,503
- Open issues
- 4,373
- Commits, last 12 months
- 2,689
- Last commit
- Oct 6, 2026
- Latest release
- v4.7.3Oct 1, 2026
- Created
- Feb 22, 2016
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Mastodon
Federated microblogging server. Mastodon is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license and written mainly in Ruby, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 50,353 stars and 7,503 forks on GitHub, with 2,689 commits over the last year. It ships a Docker image, which makes it a good fit for a small VPS or a home server running Docker Compose.
Topics
- mastodon
- docker
- microblog
- activity-stream
- webfinger
- social-network
- activitypub
- fediverse
- social-web
Open-source alternative to
Mastodon can replace these commercial products. Compare every option on each page.
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What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Social & Forums category. Federated microblogging server. The source code lives at github.com/mastodon/mastodon, where it has 50,353 stars.
Is Mastodon free and open source?
Yes. Mastodon is open-source software released under the AGPL-3.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Mastodon with Docker?
Yes. Mastodon provides a Docker image, so you can run it on any Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose installed. The project README lists the image name and the environment variables to set.
What are the best alternatives to Mastodon?
Popular open-source alternatives to Mastodon include Discourse, Flarum and Answer. Mastodon itself is a self-hosted alternative to Twitter / X.
Is Mastodon actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Mastodon was on Oct 6, 2026 with 2,689 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is v4.7.3, published Oct 1, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.