Self-host Mastodon

updated Sep 2026prices checked · Jul 2026

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A decentralized microblogging server built on ActivityPub. Each server runs its own community and federates with other Mastodon and Fediverse servers.

Key facts

CategorySocial network (Fediverse)

LicenseAGPL-3.0

StackRuby, Rails, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Redis

Min RAM2048 MB

Official imageyes

Difficulty

Sourcegithub.com/mastodon/mastodon

Websitejoinmastodon.org

What you need

Any VPS with at least 2048 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
About an afternoon — budget time for troubleshooting

Where to host itaffiliate disclosure

Hetzner Cloudrun it on

From $23.59/mo · 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB · EU + US

Get Hetzner Cloud

Kamaterafree trial

From $4/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 20 GB · US + EU + Asia

Start free on Kamatera →

DigitalOceanalso works on

From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + Asia

Deploy on DigitalOcean →

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Install

Run these commands on your server:

# Mastodon — the repo's docker-compose.yml (web + streaming + sidekiq + PostgreSQL + Redis), pinned to the release
mkdir mastodon && cd mastodon
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mastodon/mastodon/v4.7.2/docker-compose.yml
mkdir -p public/system && sudo chown -R 991:991 public/system
# LOCAL_DOMAIN is permanent: it is the domain in every handle (@you@social.example.com)
cat > .env.production << EOF
LOCAL_DOMAIN=social.example.com
REDIS_HOST=redis
DB_HOST=db
DB_USER=postgres
DB_NAME=mastodon_production
SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -hex 64)
ACTIVE_RECORD_ENCRYPTION_DETERMINISTIC_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
ACTIVE_RECORD_ENCRYPTION_KEY_DERIVATION_SALT=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
ACTIVE_RECORD_ENCRYPTION_PRIMARY_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
EOF
docker compose run --rm web bundle exec rails mastodon:webpush:generate_vapid_key >> .env.production
docker compose up -d db redis && sleep 15
docker compose run --rm web bundle exec rails db:setup
docker compose up -d
# web listens on 127.0.0.1:3000 and forces HTTPS: put nginx/Caddy with a TLS cert for LOCAL_DOMAIN in front