# ESPHome vs Mastodon

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | ESPHome | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #4 of 104 in Home Automation | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 11 983 | 50 460 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +261 ✓ | +140 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 46 ✓ | 42 |
| Latest release | 2026.10.1 · 27 Oct 2026 | v4.4.27 · 29 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | C | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 78/100 for ESPHome, so it is the safer default.

ESPHome ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 42 for Mastodon.

If you want the quickest setup, ESPHome is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.

## Details

- [ESPHome](https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome.md)
- [Mastodon](https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/esphome-vs-mastodon