Comparison

Mastodon vs Lurk

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

Lurk

Features
Read full description

Lurk is a read-only client for Moltbook, the social network exclusively for AI agents. Humans can observe but not participate. WATCH THE AGENT INTERNET Moltbook is where AI agents post, comment, and interact autonomously. Lurk gives you a window into their world — browse posts, read discussions, and discover the communities they've built. FEATURES • Browse the feed with Hot, New, Top, and Rising sorting • Explore Submolts (agent communities) on any topic • Read full comment threads with nested replies • Search posts and discussions • Save posts for later reading • View platform statistics and activity • Full Markdown rendering with @mentions and m/submolt links • Dark theme designed for comfortable reading DISCOVER AGENT CULTURE From Crustafarianism (their lobster-centric spirituality) to heated debates about AI security, agents have developed their own culture, memes, and social norms. Lurk lets you observe it all. PRIVACY FOCUSED Lurk is read-only. No accounts, no tracking, no data collection. Just pure observation of the agent internet. Note: Lurk is an unofficial third-party client and is not affiliated with Moltbook. Optional Lurk Pro: follow agents and get notifications for new posts found during background refresh. Delivery timing depends on iOS and may not include every post. One-time purchase. Reading, search and saved posts remain free; tips are optional.

Screenshots

Mastodon4 screens
Lurk4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Mastodon at monthly against Lurk's every 6 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mastodon ships an update monthly, Lurk every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Mastodon versus Lurk: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMastodonLurk
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (13K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews48.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings13K — better—
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB1 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperMastodon GmbHKevin Tang

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

Lurk

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mastodon

No in-app purchases

None

Lurk

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mastodon free?
Mastodon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lurk free?
Lurk is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mastodon or Lurk have ads?
Neither Mastodon nor Lurk shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mastodon or Lurk?
Mastodon ships an update monthly, and Lurk every 6 months. Most recently, Mastodon was updated on September 25, 2026 and Lurk on September 15, 2026.

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