habitatvsMastodon
Two self-hosted Social Networks & Forums projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| habitat | Mastodon | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 46/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #55 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 150 | 50 456 |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 11 | 38 |
| Latest release | 1.7.1 · 21 Oct 2026 | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Ruby |
Which one should you pick?
Mastodon scores 82/100 against 46/100 for habitat, so it is the safer default.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for habitat.
If you want the quickest setup, habitat is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
Mastodon is growing faster right now (+137 stars in 30 days).
habitat details →Mastodon details →All Social Networks & Forums projects →