Pleroma vs Mastodon

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

Pleroma is a Social & Communications solution with tags like fediverse, activitypub, social-network, open-source.

It boasts features such as ActivityPub federation, Real-time chat, Media attachments, Hashtags, Follow/unfollow, Replies and mentions, Custom emojis, User profiles, Content warnings and pros including Open source and self-hostable, Lightweight and fast, Decentralized, Customizable, No ads or algorithmic feeds.

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.

Pleroma

Pleroma

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.

Categories:
Social & Communications Microblogging & Social Networking
fediverse activitypub social-network open-source

Pleroma Features

  1. ActivityPub federation
  2. Real-time chat
  3. Media attachments
  4. Hashtags
  5. Follow/unfollow
  6. Replies and mentions
  7. Custom emojis
  8. User profiles
  9. Content warnings

Pricing

  • Open Source

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

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:
Social & Communications Microblogging
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