# Mastodon vs Sngine

The clearest difference is update cadence: Mastodon at monthly against Sngine's every 11 months. Sngine's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

Mastodon ships an update monthly, Sngine every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and May 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mastodon | Sngine |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (13K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **13K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 48.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 11 months |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 110 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **16.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Mastodon GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1571998976) | [Yehia Abed](https://appshunter.io/developer/1722931199) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### Sngine

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sngine/id6596779025)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mastodon free?

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

### Is Sngine free?

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

### Do Mastodon or Sngine have ads?

Neither Mastodon nor Sngine shows ads.

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

Mastodon ships an update monthly, and Sngine every 11 months. Most recently, Mastodon was updated on September 27, 2026 and Sngine on May 31, 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.*