Mastodonvsshai
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Mastodon | shai | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 44/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #71 of 120 in AI Assistant |
| GitHub stars | 50 457 | 628 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +138 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 38 | 6 |
| Latest release | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 | v0.2.2 · 9 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Rust |
Which one should you pick?
Mastodon scores 82/100 against 44/100 for shai, so it is the safer default.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for shai.
If you want the quickest setup, shai is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
Mastodon is growing faster right now (+138 stars in 30 days).
Mastodon details →shai details →