Mastodon has a new plan to make money: Hosting and support services for the open social web

Mastodon, the non-profit organization that maintains the software powering the decentralized alternative to social networks like Threads and X, has a new plan to make money.

Instead of relying entirely on donations and grants as before, the company announced this morning it will now offer paid hosting, moderation, and support services for organizations that want to join the open social web.

That network, also called the fediverse, offers a way for individuals and organizations to set up their own servers that interconnect with others that run the same protocol, ActivityPub.

ActivityPub powers a number of different software applications, including Mastodon, Meta’s Threads, Pixelfed, PeerTube, Misskey, Lemmy, and others, and has been integrated into larger platforms like WordPress, Ghost, and Drupal through plugins.

While anyone can establish an account on a public Mastodon server, some organizations and entities would prefer to run their own so they can set their own rules and manage the service as they see fit. However, server setup and management require at least some technical knowledge. It’s comparable, perhaps, to deciding to run your own installation of WordPress versus opting for a hosted version of WordPress from a service like WordPress.com, Bluehost, DreamHost, or others.

To solve this problem and potentially generate revenue to maintain its operations, Mastodon will launch hosting services. Customers can choose to run their own servers through this model, where Mastodon’s team will manage the servers and optionally offer moderation services.

Another option will see Mastodon offering support contracts to aid with customers’ in-house tech teams focused on server management and maintenance. The latter would be an option for those companies and organizations that already have their own IT department, but are new to running Mastodon’s federated software.

Mastodon says the servers it’s offering often operate accounts for brands or institutions, and are not general-purpose servers with external, open sign-ups.

The company did not share its pricing, noting it offers a custom billing model that’s flexible, depending on the options they select, like hosting, support, and moderation.

Hosted customers will still be able to define their own rules and policies, however.

Mastodon has already been exploring this solution ahead of today’s launch by partnering with clients like the European Commission, the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the city of Blois in France, and AltStore, a software company making an alternative app store. Through these relationships, Mastodon has been able to establish a more predictable revenue stream, compared with its Patreon donations.

However, the company stresses that the goal is to diversify Mastodon’s revenue streams, not replace the current model of donations, grants, and sometimes, merch. The company will also continue to operate its own server, mastodon.social, as a well-established entry point for consumers interested in exploring the fediverse.

“We are excited to expand our services to organisations that share our vision of a free, open, and decentralised social web,” said Felix Hlatky, Mastodon’s chief financial officer, in a prepared statement.

“These offerings will provide financial stability for our team while ensuring the Fediverse remains a resilient, community-driven ecosystem.”