Mastodon: Twitter Alternative
Official website joinmastodon.org
Our take
The most populated and polished entry point into the fediverse, and the realistic answer for anyone leaving Twitter who still wants people to talk to. The learning curve is real: choosing a server, understanding federation, and accepting that moderation and reach vary by instance all take adjustment. Pick Mastodon if you want a genuine microblogging community without an algorithm deciding your feed; skip it if you expect a drop-in clone that just works like the old app.
GitHub at a glance
mastodon/mastodon
Stars
50,044
+ 31 this week
Last commit
1d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
Latest release
v4.6.0
2d ago
Stars, last 10d
Listed in
Mastodon alternatives
Mastodon license, in plain English
AGPL-3.0 Strong copyleft · network
Free to use, even commercially. Changes must be published under the same license, and running a modified version as a network service counts as distributing it.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Network use is distribution
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: The network clause is the point. Anyone who runs a modified version as a hosted service has to publish those changes, so the code handling your data stays inspectable. This is why privacy-first projects reach for AGPL.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.