# hermesclaw vs Mastodon

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

| | hermesclaw | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 51/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #46 of 110 in Chat | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 754 | 50 457 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +138 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 | 38 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.4.0 · 15 Jun 2026 | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Python | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 51/100 for hermesclaw, so it is the safer default.

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

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

Mastodon is growing faster right now (+138 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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