head to head · open source
Mastodon vs Loops
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars, 7,498 forks, 4,525 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Loops has 453 stars, 59 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mastodon leads on adoption by 11,004% (50,299 vs 453 stars). Mastodon is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; Loops is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Mastodon has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Loops 13%. Mastodon was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (activitypub, social-network), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Mastodon | Loops | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 453 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.5K | ⑂ 59 |
| 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 Loops if
- You want the Loops feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Loops 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 Loops
Loops is a federated, open source short video sharing platform, licensed under AGPL 3.0, that lets creators and communities run their own video server while connecting across the open social web via ActivityPub, and it is aimed at server operators, community moderators, and creators who want short form video without centralized platform control.
read the full Loops overview →
More in Community & Social
Related comparisons
More Social Networking projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Social Networking field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mastodon or Loops more popular?
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars and Loops has 453. Mastodon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mastodon and Loops free?
Both are open source. Mastodon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Loops under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mastodon and Loops?
Mastodon is written in Ruby and Loops in PHP. 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 Loops?
Choose Mastodon if you want the larger community (50,299 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Loops if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.