Mastodon Introduces Paid Hosting and Support Services to Sustain Open Social Web

Mastodon Launches Paid Hosting and Support Services to Fund the Open Social Web

Mastodon, the non-profit steward of the decentralized social networking software, has announced a new revenue model centered on paid hosting, moderation, and support services. This marks a strategic departure from its previous reliance solely on donations and grants.

The organization will offer managed server hosting and optional moderation services to entities seeking to join the federated social network ecosystem known as the fediverse. Powered by the ActivityPub protocol, the fediverse enables interconnected servers running various platforms, including Mastodon, Meta’s Threads, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and others.

While individuals can create accounts on public Mastodon servers, many organizations prefer to operate their own servers to enforce tailored rules and governance. However, setting up and managing these servers requires technical expertise, akin to choosing self-hosted WordPress over hosted solutions like WordPress.com.

To address this gap and generate sustainable income, Mastodon will provide hosting services where its team manages the infrastructure, allowing clients to focus on community management. Additionally, support contracts will be available to assist organizations with internal IT teams new to federated server administration.

Mastodon clarified that these hosted servers typically service brands or institutions and are not open to public sign-ups. Pricing will be customized based on selected services such as hosting, support, and moderation, with clients retaining control over their server’s rules and policies.

Prior to this formal launch, Mastodon has piloted this business model through partnerships with high-profile clients including the European Commission, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, the French city of Blois, and AltStore, a software company. These collaborations have helped establish a more predictable revenue stream compared to the organization’s prior dependence on Patreon donations.

Despite this shift, Mastodon emphasizes that donations, grants, and merchandise sales will continue to support its operations. Its flagship server, mastodon.social, will remain a primary access point for users exploring the fediverse.

Felix Hlatky, Mastodon’s chief financial officer, stated, “We are excited to expand our services to organisations that share our vision of a free, open, and decentralised social web. These offerings will provide financial stability for our team while ensuring the Fediverse remains a resilient, community-driven ecosystem.”