# gluetun vs Mastodon

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

| | gluetun | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #5 of 56 in VPN | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 15 912 | 50 457 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +314 ✓ | +138 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 | 38 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.41.3 · 30 Jul 2026 | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 75/100 for gluetun, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 8 for gluetun.

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

gluetun is growing faster right now (+314 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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