hydrogen-webvsMastodon
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| hydrogen-web | Mastodon | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 48/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #56 of 110 in Chat | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 714 | 50 456 |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 38 |
| Latest release | — | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Ruby |
Which one should you pick?
Mastodon scores 82/100 against 48/100 for hydrogen-web, so it is the safer default.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for hydrogen-web.
If you want the quickest setup, hydrogen-web is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
Mastodon is growing faster right now (+137 stars in 30 days).
hydrogen-web details →Mastodon details →
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