Mastodon vs Pleroma

Struggling to choose between Mastodon and Pleroma? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Mastodon is a Social & Communications solution with tags like opensource, decentralized, social-media, twitter-alternative.

It boasts features such as Decentralized social network - no single company/server owns the network, Open source codebase allows anyone to run a server, Federated timeline shows posts from all servers you follow, Granular privacy controls for posts - public, followers-only, etc, Media attachments like images and videos, Short post limit compared to other platforms, Chronological timeline with no algorithmic sorting and pros including Avoids censorship and data mining risks of centralized platforms, User-run servers can have customized rules and moderation, Not dependent on decisions or business model of a single company, Can follow users on different servers within the network.

On the other hand, Pleroma is a Social & Communications product tagged with fediverse, activitypub, social-network, open-source.

Its standout features include ActivityPub federation, Real-time chat, Media attachments, Hashtags, Follow/unfollow, Replies and mentions, Custom emojis, User profiles, Content warnings, and it shines with pros like Open source and self-hostable, Lightweight and fast, Decentralized, Customizable, No ads or algorithmic feeds.

Feature	Mastodon	Pleroma
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Social & Communications	Social & Communications

Product Overview

Mastodon

Description: Mastodon is an open-source, decentralized social media platform similar to Twitter. It allows users to post 'toots' of up to 500 characters to followers within a federated network of independently operated servers.

Pleroma

Description: Pleroma is an open-source social networking platform built on the ActivityPub protocol. It is designed to be lightweight, fast, and easy to self-host as an alternative to corporate social media platforms.

Key Features Comparison

Mastodon Features

• Decentralized social network - no single company/server owns the network
• Open source codebase allows anyone to run a server
• Federated timeline shows posts from all servers you follow
• Granular privacy controls for posts - public, followers-only, etc
• Media attachments like images and videos
• Short post limit compared to other platforms
• Chronological timeline with no algorithmic sorting

Pleroma Features

• ActivityPub federation
• Real-time chat
• Media attachments
• Hashtags
• Follow/unfollow
• Replies and mentions
• Custom emojis
• User profiles
• Content warnings

Pros & Cons Analysis

Mastodon

Pros

• Avoids censorship and data mining risks of centralized platforms
• User-run servers can have customized rules and moderation
• Not dependent on decisions or business model of a single company
• Can follow users on different servers within the network

Cons

• Smaller user base than mainstream platforms
• Fewer features and less polish than commercial products
• Reliant on volunteer-run servers which can go down
• Abusive/toxic content may be present on some servers

Pleroma

Pros

• Open source and self-hostable
• Lightweight and fast
• Decentralized
• Customizable
• No ads or algorithmic feeds

Cons

• Smaller user base than mainstream platforms
• Requires technical expertise to self-host
• Less features than larger platforms initially
• Can be resource intensive to host

Pricing Comparison

Mastodon

• Open Source

Pleroma

• Open Source