Comparison

Mastodon vs ~orange~

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

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
Read full description

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.

About

~orange~

A private photo-sharing app for friends and family, free from ads and algorithms. It focuses on deepening connections and fostering community without the pressure of social media trends. Share moments with loved ones in a simple, intentional space.

Highlights
  • Private photo sharing
  • Ad-free experience
  • Algorithm-free feed
  • Focus on connections
  • Simple interface
Read full description

Photo sharing for friends and family, without the noise of ads and algorithms. Simple, private, and designed to help you stay in touch with the people you love. By removing all the junk that makes algorithm-driven platforms exploitative and fomo-inducing, Orange imagines an online space meant to deepen and enhance your existing connections and communities.

Screenshots

Mastodon4 screens
~orange~4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ~orange~ at 100% against Mastodon's 48%. ~orange~ also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). Mastodon's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 14) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

~orange~ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mastodon has 13K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Mastodon's written reviews are positive against 100% of ~orange~'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mastodon ships an update monthly, ~orange~ every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Mastodon versus ~orange~: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMastodon~orange~
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (13K ratings)5.0 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13K — better14
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB42 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperMastodon GmbHPropagation Applications, LLC

Customer experience

Mastodon

All ratings13,481 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews889 reviews
Positive48.3%
Neutral18.8%
Negative33.0%

~orange~

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

~orange~

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mastodon

No in-app purchases

None

~orange~

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mastodon free?
Mastodon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ~orange~ free?
~orange~ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mastodon or ~orange~?
~orange~ is rated higher. Mastodon averages 4.5 out of 5 from 13K ratings, while ~orange~ averages 5.0 from 14 ratings.
Do Mastodon or ~orange~ have ads?
Neither Mastodon nor ~orange~ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mastodon or ~orange~?
Mastodon ships an update monthly, and ~orange~ every 6 months. Most recently, Mastodon was updated on October 16, 2026 and ~orange~ on October 9, 2026.

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