# Mastodon vs Pelican Panel

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

| | Mastodon | Pelican Panel |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 64/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #13 of 62 in Game Servers |
| GitHub stars | 50 456 ✓ | 2 413 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 ✓ | +83 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 38 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 64/100 for Pelican Panel, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Pelican Panel.

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

## Details

- [Mastodon](https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon.md)
- [Pelican Panel](https://selfhost.directory/project/pelican-panel) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pelican-panel.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mastodon-vs-pelican-panel