headscalevsMastodon
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | Mastodon | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 45 144 | 50 456 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 074 | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 38 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Ruby |
Which one should you pick?
headscale and Mastodon score the same (82/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 074 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →Mastodon details →