# BuyNothing vs Mastodon

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mastodon at none against BuyNothing's 8. Mastodon also leads on review sentiment (48% vs 27%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). BuyNothing's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and chart position (#166 vs unranked). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. BuyNothing sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Mastodon asks for nothing beyond the download.

Mastodon holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mastodon has 13K ratings behind it against 2.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of BuyNothing's written reviews are positive against 48% of Mastodon's.

BuyNothing ships an update every 2 weeks, Mastodon monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | BuyNothing | Mastodon |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.3 (2.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buynothing/id1557679959/reviews) | **[4.5 (13K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K | **13K** |
| Positive reviews | 26.9% of reviews | **48.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#166** | — |
| Size | 76 MB | 110 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Buy Nothing Project, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1557679961) | [Mastodon GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1571998976) |

## What reviewers say

### BuyNothing

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buynothing/id1557679959)

**Currently charting:** #166 Top Free · Social Networking (US App Store)

Connect with your local community to give, receive, share, lend, and borrow items. This app fosters a gift economy, building connections through sharing, inspired by the BuyNothing® Project.

**Highlights:** Give and receive items locally, Lend and borrow goods, Hyper-local community sharing, Gift economy model, Build community connections, Express gratitude

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Buy Nothing Subscription | $3.99 | per month |
| Buy Nothing Pro | $3.99 | per month |
| Sustaining Member | $5.49 | per month |
| Sustaining Member | $6.99 | per month |
| Buy Nothing Pro | $38.49 | per year |
| Buy Nothing Subscription | $38.49 | per year |
| Sustaining Member | $54.99 | per year |
| Sustaining Member | $69.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🤝 Friendly community interactions
- ♻️ Promotes sustainability and reducing waste
- 🌍 Global reach beyond local groups
- 🏠 Hyper-local focus when set up properly
- 📦 Smooth gifting and receiving process

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app functionality
- 📍 Difficulty filtering for local posts
- 🔑 Login and account issues
- 💬 Inconsistent notifications and messaging
- 💰 Paywall for key features

**Reported bugs**

- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Login issues and inability to reset passwords
- Inconsistent location settings and radius
- Unreliable notifications and messaging
- Inability to edit or update posts

**Requested features**

- Search function to find specific posts
- Ability to edit and update posts
- Improved organization and sorting of posts
- Syncing across multiple devices
- More robust moderation and community tools


### Mastodon

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974)

Connect with others on a decentralized social network. Share posts, images, and videos in chronological order without algorithms or ads. Discover new content and participate in conversations across the fediverse.

**Highlights:** Chronological feed, No algorithms or ads, Discover new users and topics, Post with images, videos, and polls, Create custom lists, Filter content, Cross-platform communication

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Friendly and welcoming community
- 🚀 Decentralized and free from corporate control
- 🔒 No data collection or ads
- 🤖 Good alternative to Twitter
- 💡 Ability to self-host servers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Confusing onboarding and server selection
- 📱 Limited functionality compared to web version
- 🔍 Difficulty finding and following people
- 🕰️ Slow or delayed notifications

**Reported bugs**

- Can't log in or create account
- Keyboard freezes during editing
- Inconsistent behavior when switching accounts
- Notifications not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Add local and federated timelines
- Improve search and discovery features
- Implement edit and delete post functionality
- Add support for animated GIFs
- Provide better accessibility options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is BuyNothing free?

BuyNothing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Mastodon free?

Mastodon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, BuyNothing or Mastodon?

Mastodon is rated higher. BuyNothing averages 4.3 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings, while Mastodon averages 4.5 from 13K ratings.

### Do BuyNothing or Mastodon have ads?

Neither BuyNothing nor Mastodon shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, BuyNothing or Mastodon?

BuyNothing ships an update every 2 weeks, and Mastodon monthly. Most recently, BuyNothing was updated on October 30, 2026 and Mastodon on November 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*