# Mastodon vs Stylus

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

| | Mastodon | Stylus |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 49/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #11 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring |
| GitHub stars | 50 457 ✓ | 338 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 42 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v4.4.27 · 29 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

Mastodon scores 82/100 against 49/100 for Stylus, so it is the safer default.

Mastodon ships more often: 42 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Stylus.

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

Mastodon is growing faster right now (+137 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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