head to head · open source
Mastodon vs databag
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars, 7,498 forks, 4,525 open issues and last shipped yesterday. databag has 1,489 stars, 95 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Mastodon leads on adoption by 3,278% (50,299 vs 1,489 stars). Mastodon is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; databag is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Mastodon has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, databag 6%. Mastodon was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Mastodon | databag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.5K | ⑂ 95 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mastodon if
- You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick databag if
- You want the databag feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and databag fits your workflow better
About Mastodon
Mastodon is a free, open source, self hosted social network server built on ActivityPub that lets anyone run a microblogging community which interoperates with the wider Fediverse, and it is aimed at individuals, communities, and organisations that want to own their social graph instead of renting it from a platform.
read the full Mastodon overview →
About databag
Databag is a fast and lightweight self hosted messenger written in TypeScript under the Apache 2.0 license. It belongs to the community and social networking ecosystem, with topics spanning decentralized web, federated chat, mobile messenger, and self hosted server projects. Clients are available through F Droid as well as the Google and Apple stores.
read the full databag overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mastodon or databag more popular?
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars and databag has 1,489. Mastodon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mastodon and databag free?
Both are open source. Mastodon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and databag under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mastodon and databag?
Mastodon is written in Ruby and databag in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mastodon or databag?
Choose Mastodon if you want the larger community (50,299 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose databag if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.