# Mastodon vs OpenWA

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

| | Mastodon | OpenWA |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 50 456 ✓ | 16 333 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 | +327 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 38 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.

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

OpenWA is growing faster right now (+327 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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