Mastodon is a non-profit, open-source social network run by one guy in Berlin and funded by Patreon donations. It got 2.5 million new sign-ups in a week when Elon Musk bought Twitter. Most of them left. Some stayed. The ones who stayed are extremely online and extremely principled about not wanting their social network to be owned by a billionaire.
Founded
2016
HQ
Berlin, Germany
Total Raised
Non-profit, minimal funding
Founder
Eugen Rochko
Status
Active — 10M+ registered accounts, ~1-2M monthly active users
Website
joinmastodon.orgTHE ORIGIN STORY
Eugen Rochko, a German programmer, was frustrated with Twitter in 2016 — specifically with how corporate decisions could unilaterally change the service millions depended on. He built Mastodon as an alternative: open source, federated (meaning many separate servers that can communicate with each other), and owned by nobody.
The concept — a "fediverse" of independent servers — came from the ActivityPub standard, an existing web protocol. Mastodon launched in 2016 to a small audience of privacy advocates and tech idealists.
It grew slowly until Elon Musk began acquiring Twitter in 2022. Then it grew fast.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Mastodon has no advertising, no algorithmic feed, and no central corporate ownership. It is free software that anyone can run on their own server.
Individual servers (called "instances") are run by volunteers, community organizations, and small organizations. Some instances have premium subscription tiers to help cover server costs.
There is no revenue to Mastodon's core organization — it runs on grants and Patreon donations.
THE PRODUCTS
Mastodon federated social platform, ActivityPub protocol implementation, open-source server software (Mastodon.social flagship instance)
HOW THEY GREW
Mastodon grew through every Twitter crisis. Each Musk decision — the layoffs, the Blue Check changes, the API pricing, the name change to X — sent another wave of users to Mastodon.
Rochko improved the onboarding experience, added the ability to sign up without choosing a server upfront, and the iOS app improved significantly. The fediverse also expanded: Threads (Meta) joined ActivityPub in 2024, meaning Threads posts could be seen from Mastodon and vice versa.
THE HARD PART
Mastodon's greatest strength — decentralization — is also its greatest usability weakness. New users have to choose a "home server" before they can sign up, which confuses people who just want to post.
Content discovery is harder without a central algorithm. Moderation is inconsistent across thousands of independently-run servers.
And while Mastodon exploded to 10 million registered users after the Musk-Twitter saga began, most new users never became regulars — the onboarding friction was too high.
WHO BACKED THEM
Patreon (crowdfunding), European Commission grants, NLnet Foundation
Related Profiles
Head-to-Head
Compare Mastodon vs another company.