# Mastodon

The self-hosted, federated microblogging server behind the biggest corner of the fediverse.

https://topboilerplates.com/mastodon

Framework: Ruby on Rails | Pricing: Free | GitHub stars: 50200

## Verdict

Best for: Communities or brands who want a federated, algorithm-free social network they fully own, moderate, and can interoperate with the wider fediverse.

Skip if: You want one centralized platform under your control - federation means no single owner over discovery, moderation, or the network at large.

## Description

Mastodon is an open-source (AGPLv3) social networking server built on Rails and React, implementing the ActivityPub protocol so any self-hosted instance federates with the wider fediverse. Each instance sets its own moderation rules while users can follow and interact with accounts on any other Mastodon (or ActivityPub-compatible) server. It's free software sustained by a non-profit and donations, not a hosted SaaS product.

## Pros and cons

+ Interoperates with the entire ActivityPub fediverse instead of being an isolated island

+ Fully open source under AGPLv3, no vendor, funded as a non-profit rather than by ads or data sales

+ Mature per-instance moderation tooling and content policy controls

- AGPLv3 requires publishing source for any modified version you run as a network service

- Self-hosting means Rails + Postgres + Redis + Sidekiq ops plus federation-specific spam/abuse moderation

- No built-in monetization path - sustaining an instance is entirely on the operator

## Features

- auth-included
- rbac-roles
- realtime-subscriptions
- in-app-notifications
- background-jobs
- file-uploads
- i18n
- dark-mode
- open-source
- free-tier
- docker-compose-dev
- api-routes
- written-docs

## Stack

- Ruby
- Postgres
- Redis
- Docker
- Self-hosted

## Links

- Website: https://topboilerplates.com/go/mastodon
- GitHub: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon
- Demo: https://mastodon.social

## Alternatives

- [NodeBB](https://topboilerplates.com/nodebb)
- [Discourse](https://topboilerplates.com/discourse)