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We develop Mastodon

Free, open-source decentralized social media

Our story

Mastodon gGmbH is a non-profit from Germany that develops the Mastodon software. Mastodon started in 2016 as an open-source project by Eugen Rochko, who, as an avid user since 2008, was dissatisfied with the state and direction of Twitter.

Believing that instant global communications were too crucial for modern society to belong to a single commercial company, he sought to build a user-friendly microblogging product that would not belong to any central authority, but remain practical for everyday use.

The first public launch occurred in October 2016. The initial support the project received through Patreon ensured that Eugen could begin working on the project full-time post-graduation. In April 2017 it received its first big break and garnered world-wide attention and press coverage.

The project was officially incorporated as a gGmbH (a German form of non-profit LLC) in 2021.

Meet the team

Join the team

Eugen Rochko
Founder, CEO
Renaud Chaput
CTO
Felix Hlatky
CFO
Claire
Engineering
Nathan Mattes
Engineering
Marcus Kida
Engineering
Gregory Klyushnikov
Engineering
Timothy Campbell
DevOps
Andy Piper
DevRel
Amelia Rochko
Customer Service
Dopatwo
Illustrations

Our metrics

In the press

What others write about us.

Mastodon’s latest release makes the open source Twitter alternative easier to use
techcrunch.com
Thousands fled to Mastodon after Musk bought Twitter. Are they still ‘tooting’?
www.theguardian.com
What's Happening to Twitter Could Never Happen to Mastodon
www.pcmag.com
Elon Musk Drives Even Some Twitter Founders to Mastodon
www.bloomberg.com
Twitter rival Mastodon rejects funding to protect non-profit status
www.ft.com
Mastodon creator Eugen Rochko talks funding and how to build the anti-Twitter
techcrunch.com
Mastodon’s 29-year-old CEO wants his Twitter alternative to ‘replace’ its rival some day, but he’s taking an anti–Elon Musk approach to growing it
fortune.com
Thousands Have Joined Mastodon Since Twitter Changed Hands. Its Founder Has a Vision for Democratizing Social Media
time.com
With Twitter in chaos, Mastodon is on fire
edition.cnn.com
Mastodon gained 70,000 users after Musk’s Twitter takeover. I joined them
www.theguardian.com
Is it time to leave Twitter for Mastodon?
www.ft.com
Europe Starts Its Own Social Networks
www.gizmodo.com.au
30,000 New Users Signed Up for Mastodon After Elon Musk Bought Twitter
www.vice.com
After Musk Acquires Twitter, Mastodon Sees Flood of Traffic, Server Slowdown
www.pcmag.com
Twitter and Facebook Want to Shift Power to Users. Or Do They?
www.nytimes.com
The New Social Network Dodging Government Surveillance—and Nazis
slate.com
Tired of Nazis in Your Twitter Mentions? Try Mastodon.
www.esquire.com
Facebook Domination vs. Self-Determination
boingboing.net
Like Twitter But Hate the Trolls? Try Mastodon
www.wired.com
The coder who built Mastodon is 24, fiercely independent, and doesn’t care about money
mashable.com
Mastodon.social is an open-source Twitter competitor that’s growing like crazy
www.theverge.com

Contact us

Press inquiries:
press@joinmastodon.org
Legal inquiries:
legal@joinmastodon.org
Trademark inquiries:
trademark@joinmastodon.org
Security inquiries:
security@joinmastodon.org
Other inquiries:
hello@joinmastodon.org

Impressum

Firmenname:
Mastodon gGmbH
Anschrift:
Mühlenstraße 8a
14167 Berlin
Germany
Handelsregister:
HRB 230086 B (Amtsgericht Charlottenburg)
USt-ID:
DE344258260
Vertretungsberechtigt:
Eugen Rochko (Geschäftsführer)