# Mastodon vs NGINX

> 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).

## Details

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

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