Pixelfed vs Mastodon

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

Pixelfed is a Social & Communications solution with tags like photo-sharing, social-network, decentralized, federation, privacy.

It boasts features such as Photo sharing, Video sharing, Commenting, Liking/Favoriting, Hashtags, Discover page, Followers/Following, Stories, Direct/Private messaging, Media editing, Notifications, User profiles, User blocking, Report posts, Dark mode and pros including Open source, Decentralized, Enhanced privacy, No ads, Chronological feed, No algorithmic curation, No data mining, No facial recognition.

On the other hand, Mastodon is a Social & Communications product tagged with opensource, decentralized, social-media, twitter-alternative.

Its standout features include 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 it shines with pros like 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.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Pixelfed

Pixelfed

Pixelfed is an open-source, federated alternative to Instagram. It allows users to post photos, videos, and comments in a social media platform that is decentralized and gives users more control over their data and privacy.

Categories:
photo-sharing social-network decentralized federation privacy

Pixelfed Features

  1. Photo sharing
  2. Video sharing
  3. Commenting
  4. Liking/Favoriting
  5. Hashtags
  6. Discover page
  7. Followers/Following
  8. Stories
  9. Direct/Private messaging
  10. Media editing
  11. Notifications
  12. User profiles
  13. User blocking
  14. Report posts
  15. Dark mode

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source

Decentralized

Enhanced privacy

No ads

Chronological feed

No algorithmic curation

No data mining

No facial recognition

Cons

Smaller user base

Fewer features than Instagram

Slower development

Less content discovery


Mastodon

Mastodon

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.

Categories:
opensource decentralized social-media twitter-alternative

Mastodon Features

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

Pricing

  • Open Source

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