Mastodon vs Mona Classic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mastodon
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.
- 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
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Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what’s happening. Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight. This is the official iOS app for Mastodon. In our app, you can: EXPLORE ■ Discover new writers, journalists, artists, photographers, scientists and more ■ See what’s happening in the world READ ■ Keep up with people you care about in a chronological feed with no interruptions ■ Follow hashtags to keep up with specific topics in real time CREATE ■ Post to your followers or the whole world, with polls, high quality images and videos ■ Participate in interesting conversations with other people CURATE ■ Create lists of people to never miss a post ■ Filter words or phrases to control what you do and don’t want to see AND MORE! ■ Login and switch between multiple accounts ■ No spoilers! You can put your posts behind content warnings A POWERFUL PUBLISHING PLATFORM You no longer have to try and appease an opaque algorithm that decides if your friends are going to see what you posted. If they follow you, they’ll see it. If you publish it to the open web, it’s accessible on the open web. You can safely share links to Mastodon in the knowledge that anyone will be able to read them without logging in. Between threads, polls, high quality images, videos, audio, and content warnings, Mastodon offers plenty of ways to express yourself in a way that suits you. A POWERFUL READING PLATFORM We don’t need to show you ads, so we don’t need to keep you in our app. Mastodon has the richest selection of 3rd party apps and integrations so you can choose the experience that fits you best. Thanks to the chronological home feed, it’s easy to tell when you’ve caught up on all updates and can move on to something else. No need to worry that a misclick will ruin your recommendations forever. We don’t guess what you want to see, we let you control it. PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS Mastodon is not like a traditional social media platform, but is built on a decentralized protocol. You can sign up on our official server, or choose a 3rd party to host your data and moderate your experience. Thanks to the common protocol, no matter what you choose, you can communicate seamlessly with people on other Mastodon servers. But there’s more: With just one account, you can communicate with people from other fediverse platforms. Not happy with your choice? You can always switch to a different Mastodon server while taking your followers with you. For advanced users, you can even host your data on your own infrastructure, since Mastodon is open-source. NON-PROFIT IN NATURE Mastodon is a registered non-profit in the US and Germany. We are not motivated by extracting monetary value from the platform, but by what’s best for the platform. AS FEATURED IN: TIME, Forbes, Wired, The Guardian, CNN, The Verge, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Gizmodo, PCMAG.com, and more.
Mona Classic
This app offers extensive customization for a popular social network, allowing users to reorder actions, set swipe gestures, and personalize notes for other users. It also features iCloud sync, game controller support, and privacy-focused design.
- Customizable post actions and swipe gestures
- iCloud sync for settings and data
- Private user notes and aliases
- Game controller support
- Full-screen and column view modes
- Customizable themes and accent colors
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Mona is a highly customizable Mastodon app with VoiceOver optimization and native design. Post Actions • Drag actions into the order you prefer • Configure actions as swipe options: swipe a post horizontally to perform an action • Optionally hide some or all action buttons from post cards, while keeping them accessible via context menu, swipe options, keyboard shortcuts, and VoiceOver rotor iCloud Sync • Sync your mute list, user notes, reading positions, drafts, search history, accent colors, and custom app themes across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, privately and securely • Optionally disable some features from automatic syncing User Notes • Privately set aliases, notes and username colors for other Mastodon users • User Notes list: browse, organize and edit all your notes in one place Game Controller (require iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 11 or a newer system) • Control the app and browse posts with a compatible game controller, such as a Playstation DualSense/DualShock, Nintendo Switch, Xbox or MFi controller • Customize button functions via in-app settings • Set extra functions for Adaptive Triggers on the Playstation DualSense controller Privacy • Mona does not collect any personal information • Your account tokens are protected by on-device Keychain • Your network connections to Mastodon servers are protected by HTTPS Other Mona features: • Full Screen mode on iPhone let your timeline content fill the entire screen once you start scrolling • Column View takes full advantage of the big screen on iPad and Mac, shows multiple views at once and allows you to navigate between views fluently and efficiently • Check recent posts on your home screen or notification center with widgets • Search posts on the Timeline • Adjustable text spacing • Adjustable and adaptive text sizes • Option to display post source on timeline (e.g. Mona for Mac) • Share a post as picture • Open multiple windows on iPad and Mac • Customizable text translation experience • Automatic video and GIF playback on timelines • Supports changing app icon on iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Turn on/off content scaling on Mac for extra screen estate or sharper text • Autocomplete for post composer • Push notifications • Lock the app with Face ID or Touch ID • Mona Pro and Mona Pro Max available as one-time in-app purchases, with 14-day free trial Tab Bar (Mona Pro feature) • Pin your frequently visit pages to the tab bar • Drag tabs into the order you prefer • Rename your tabs • Change your tab icons (more than a thousand of icons for you to choose) • Show/hide tab names and button shapes Accent Color (Mona Pro feature) • Configure different Accent Colors for Light and Dark mode • More than 10 built-in colors for you to choose • Design and set custom colors Theme Editor (Mona Pro feature) • Customize the app’s color scheme • Design and set custom themes • Advanced color settings allow you to fine-tune colors for different level of views • Export and share your custom themes • Import custom themes shared by other people Font Customization (Mona Pro feature) • Configure different fonts for body text and headings • Select from a variety of build-in fonts • Supports custom fonts installed by third-party apps Other Mona Pro features: • Full-featured post composer: write longer posts, attach pictures and videos, create polls, schedule post, and automatic thread conversion • More post actions: including favorite, repost, quote post, add bookmark, and translate • Add multiple accounts: you can also opt to favorite, repost, quote post, or follow using a non-current account • Filter and mute: filter timelines based on post category and content; hide posts with certain words; hide posts from certain people • Customize push notifications based on notification category • Export and import settings: easily transfer your custom settings between multiple devices Customer support: • Mastodon: @MonaApp@mastodon.social • Email: theSpringApp@gmail.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mastodon at none against Mona Classic's 9. Mastodon also leads on ratings volume (13K vs 166). Mona Classic's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 48%) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Mona Classic sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Mastodon asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Mastodon against 4.4 for Mona Classic. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mastodon has 13K ratings behind it against 166, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 48% of Mastodon's written reviews are positive against 71% of Mona Classic's.
Mastodon ships an update monthly, Mona Classic every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mastodon | Mona Classic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (13K ratings) — better | 4.4 (166 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 48.3% of reviews | 70.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 166 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 13.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 110 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Mastodon GmbH | Junyu Kuang |
Customer experience
Mastodon
Mona Classic
User reviews
Mastodon
From 13K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Friendly and welcoming community
- 🚀 Decentralized and free from corporate control
- 🔒 No data collection or ads
- 🤖 Good alternative to Twitter
- 💡 Ability to self-host servers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Confusing onboarding and server selection
- 📱 Limited functionality compared to web version
- 🔍 Difficulty finding and following people
- 🕰️ Slow or delayed notifications
Mona Classic
From 166 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Highly customizable
- 👍 Smooth and polished UI
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 💡 Excellent accessibility support
- 👍 Robust multi-device sync
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
- 🔒 Basic features locked behind paywall
- 🔒 Expensive for a Mastodon app
- 🐛 Sync issues between devices
- 🐛 Notification issues
Bugs and requests
Mastodon
Reported bugs
4 issues- Can't log in or create account
- Keyboard freezes during editing
- Inconsistent behavior when switching accounts
- Notifications not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- 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
Mona Classic
Reported bugs
3 issues- Locking up after viewing full-screen photos
- Replies not loading properly
- Inconsistent behavior with server-side features
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to mute individual posts
- Improved thread viewing experience
- More app icon options
- Custom notification sounds
In-app purchases
Mastodon
No in-app purchases
Mona Classic
- Mona Pro Max (14-day trial)Free
- Small Tip$2.99
- Generous Tip$6.99
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- Amazing Tip$9.99
- Upgrade to Mona Pro Max$9.99
- Mona Pro for Mac$11.99
- Mona Pro for iPad$11.99
- Mona Pro for iPhone$11.99
- Mona Pro Max$29.99
Questions
Is Mastodon free?
Is Mona Classic free?
Which has better reviews, Mastodon or Mona Classic?
Do Mastodon or Mona Classic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mastodon or Mona Classic?
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