Quick Answer
How many people use Mastodon in 2025?
Mastodon now has 2.5 million active users.
Elon Musk’s first month on Twitter turned out to be disastrous, with the search word “Twitter alternative” spiking on Google Trends lately.
Users who fought their way out found themselves a new home in Mastodon, an open-source microblogging platform that has taken the internet by storm.
How Many People Use Mastodon in 2025?
The platform’s founder announced that there are now 2.5 million active users making their way to the different servers in Mastodon.
It has seen a sudden spike in user count as many internet users sought a way out of Elon Musk’s “ controversial takeover of Twitter.
All About Mastodon
Mastodon is an open-source platform reminiscent of the microblogging site Twitter. It was launched in 2016 by founder Eugen Rochko.
Unlike Twitter, Mastodon is fully-decentralized, meaning no company or management is controlling the platform from the shadows.
It is made up of thousands of servers on different topics and fields of interest powered by millions of volunteer operators from all around the world.
Mastodon is the biggest recipient of the latest massive boycott on Twitter, with research showing that the latter let go of a million users at the time that Mastodon hit its first million in user count last month.
Just in case you missed it, Elon Musk announced plans to sell Twitter’s most sought-after blue-check badges for $8.
How to Use Mastodon?
Mastodon’s decentralization has its own quirk.
Having to central figure means users need to sign in and register to individual servers instead of accessing them all in one space.
Think of the process as similar to signing up for a Discord server.
There are thousands of Mastodon servers out there and no one has ever curated them all in a single list yet.
But joinmastodon.org’s site is the easiest way to get started on the site.
It houses more than a hundred of Mastodon’s most popular servers, including Fosstodon, with many of them opening the floodgates for newcomers after the sudden influx of new users in November.
Mastodon allows users to post in what it calls “toots” for a maximum of 5,000 characters.
Moreover, users can do an action similar to Twitter’s retweet called “boost” where you share another person’s post.
How to Download Mastodon’s App?
For those who came here to find out not only the answer to how many people use Mastodon but also if it has a dedicated app, the simple answer is yes!
And luckily, it can be downloaded on your mobile devices. Honestly, this is the easiest way to get around Mastodon.
Although the app does not house all of the live servers available today, you are still given some good options you can join with a click.
Downloading Mastodon App on Google Play Store
Step 1. For Android device users, the first step is to go to Google Play Store and type “Mastodon” on the search bar
Step 2. Click “install” and the download process will begin
Step 3. After the installation process, you should be seeing the Mastodon app on your homepage.
Navigate it to see if it is working without bugs. If your app lags, there is a high chance that it is not compatible with the version of your Android operating system
Step 4. Sign up to create your Mastodon account. You should see the list of available servers on the app’s homepage
Step 5. Select a server you are interested in. Noted that Mastodon is made up of thousands of interesting servers dedicated to different fields of interest.
It has been a tight-knit community free of “spammers” before the Twitter drama, so selecting only ones that genuinely interest you will help maintain its credibility
Step 6. Click on “next” after selecting servers. Agree on the app’s rules and complete your profile details such as profile ID, email, and password
Step 7. Mastodon will send a link to your provided email for account verification. Click on the link to confirm your account
Step 8. You are all set! You have just installed the Mastodon app and created a new account. Navigate around and join servers you are interested about
Downloading Mastodon App on App Store
Step 1. Mastodon is also available for iOS users. In fact, the app has a 4.4-star rating on App Store.
Type “Mastodon for iPhone and iPad” on the search bar to get started
Step 2. Click “Get,” double-tap on your side button, and the download process will automatically begin
Step 3. After installation, you will see the Mastodon app on your homepage. Navigate around to test whether it is working without bugs.
If your app lags, there is a high chance that it is not compatible with your current iOS version
Step 4. Sign up to create your Mastodon account. After this, you will see a list of available servers on the app’s homepage
Step 5. Select a server you are interested in. Noted that Mastodon is made up of thousands of interesting servers dedicated to different fields of interest.
Step 6. Click on “next” after selecting servers. Agree on the app’s rules and complete your profile details such as profile ID, email, and password
Step 7. Mastodon will send a link to your provided email for account verification. Click on the link to confirm your account
Step 8. You are all set! You have just installed the Mastodon app and created a new account. Navigate around and join servers that interest you
Conclusion
At this time when Twitter is on fire for mass layoffs and work-environment complaints, internet users are shuffling their options.
Many are leaning towards platforms promising greater freedom without removing ethics from the overall picture.
Thanks for reading our article on how many people use Mastodon in 2025!
Surely, this site is changing the dynamics of social media usage by introducing decentralized yet responsible dynamics.
