# Harbor vs Mastodon

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

| | Harbor | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 12 in Container Registry | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 29 635 | 50 456 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +191 ✓ | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 10 | 38 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.14.6 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 80/100 for Harbor, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 10 for Harbor.

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

## Details

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

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