Mastodonvssimon
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Mastodon | simon | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #74 of 104 in Monitoring & observability |
| GitHub stars | 50 457 | 161 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 38 | 9 |
| Latest release | v4.4.26 · 1 Oct 2026 | 0.3.7 · 18 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Rust |
Which one should you pick?
Mastodon scores 82/100 against 46/100 for simon, so it is the safer default.
Mastodon ships more often: 38 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for simon.
If you want the quickest setup, simon is easier to run; Mastodon needs more configuration.
Mastodon is growing faster right now (+137 stars in 30 days).
Mastodon details →simon details →