# excalidraw vs Mastodon

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

| | excalidraw | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 91/100 ✓ | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 9 in Whiteboarding | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 134 753 ✓ | 50 457 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 920 ✓ | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 38 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.18.1 · 21 Apr 2026 | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

excalidraw scores 91/100 against 82/100 for Mastodon, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for excalidraw.

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

excalidraw is growing faster right now (+1 920 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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