# Mastodon vs NATS

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

| | Mastodon | NATS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 12 in Message Broker |
| GitHub stars | 50 457 ✓ | 20 957 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 | +192 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 42 ✓ | 18 |
| Latest release | v4.4.27 · 29 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

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

Mastodon ships more often: 42 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for NATS.

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

## Details

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

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