# Mastodon vs SandBase Harness

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

| | Mastodon | SandBase Harness |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 39/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #169 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 50 460 ✓ | 637 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +140 ✓ | +1 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 42 ✓ | 9 |
| Latest release | v4.4.27 · 29 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.3.8 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 39/100 for SandBase Harness, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 42 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for SandBase Harness.

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

Mastodon is growing faster right now (+140 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Mastodon](https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mastodon.md)
- [SandBase Harness](https://selfhost.directory/project/sandbase-harness) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/sandbase-harness.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mastodon-vs-sandbase-harness