MastodonvsNGINX
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Mastodon | NGINX | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 12 in Web Servers |
| GitHub stars | 50 457 | 31 998 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +138 | +277 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 38 | 21 |
| Latest release | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Main language | Ruby | C |
Which one should you pick?
NGINX scores 84/100 against 82/100 for Mastodon, so it is the safer default.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 21 for NGINX.
If you want the quickest setup, NGINX is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
NGINX is growing faster right now (+277 stars in 30 days).
Mastodon details →NGINX details →