Mastodon The European alternative to Twitter/X / Facebook
Open SourceDecentralized federated social network without algorithms and advertising from Germany
About Mastodon
Mastodon is a decentralized social network in the Fediverse, developed by Mastodon gGmbH in Berlin. Unlike Twitter/X, there are no algorithm-driven feeds, no advertising and no centralized data control, users choose an instance and communicate across all instances.
Highlights
- ✓ No algorithms, chronological feed, full control
- ✓ No advertising and no tracking
- ✓ Federated network: 12+ million users on thousands of instances
- ✓ Open source and self-hostable
- ✓ Non-profit (Mastodon gGmbH), no investor pressure
Why European?
- → Mastodon gGmbH in Berlin, German non-profit under EU data protection law
- → GDPR-compliant: data stays on the chosen instance
- → No CLOUD Act, no US corporation, no centralized data storage
- → Funded by donations, no commercial interests
Pricing
Free (open source, donation-based) · Self-hosting possible
Frequently asked questions about Mastodon
What is Mastodon and what is it used for? +
Mastodon is an open-source, decentralized social network developed by Mastodon gGmbH (non-profit) in Berlin. The platform works similarly to X (formerly Twitter) with short messages (toots/posts) but offers a federated network of independent servers (instances) that communicate via the ActivityPub protocol. Users can register on an instance of their choice or run their own.
Does Mastodon run on European infrastructure? +
Mastodon gGmbH as the development organization is based in Berlin. Since Mastodon is decentralized, the infrastructure depends on each instance. The official instance mastodon.social is operated by the gGmbH. Many European instances run on European servers (Hetzner, OVHcloud, own hardware). Each instance determines its own hosting infrastructure and privacy policies.
What distinguishes Mastodon from X (Twitter)? +
Mastodon is decentralized and open source, X is centralized and proprietary (owned by Elon Musk). Mastodon has no algorithm curating content; the timeline is chronological. There is no advertising and no tracking. Mastodon is developed by the non-profit gGmbH in Berlin, X by a US company. Mastodon has a smaller but more engaged user base.
Try Mastodon
Decentralized federated social network without algorithms and advertising from Germany
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Entry verified on 08.05.2026