head to head · open source
Mastodon vs uni-apks
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars, 7,498 forks, 4,525 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uni-apks has 665 stars, 23 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Mastodon leads on adoption by 7,464% (50,299 vs 665 stars). Mastodon is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; uni-apks is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Mastodon has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, uni-apks 3%. 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 | uni-apks | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 665 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.5K | ⑂ 23 |
| 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 uni-apks if
- You want the uni-apks feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and uni-apks 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 uni-apks
uni apks is a curated repository of pre built Android APKs — patched, ad blocked builds of YouTube, YouTube Music, Reddit, X/Twitter and Instagram — published for Android users who sideload apps and want them kept current outside the Play Store.
read the full uni-apks overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mastodon or uni-apks more popular?
Mastodon has 50,299 GitHub stars and uni-apks has 665. Mastodon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mastodon and uni-apks free?
Both are open source. Mastodon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and uni-apks under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mastodon and uni-apks?
Mastodon is written in Ruby and uni-apks in Python. 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 uni-apks?
Choose Mastodon if you want the larger community (50,299 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose uni-apks if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.