Mastodon Instance Directory Scraper - Fediverse Server Data

Scrape the official Mastodon instance directory from joinmastodon.org. The directory lists approximately 312 active, curated Mastodon instances as of 2026 — each with domain, software version, total users, weekly active users, registration state, region, language, and category. Data comes from the api.joinmastodon.org/servers endpoint, which is public, CDN-cached, and requires no authentication.

What does the Mastodon directory scraper do?

It fetches the official joinmastodon.org server API in a single call, applies your filters (language, category, region, registration state), and returns matching instances as structured records. A full unfiltered run returns all ~312 curated entries. Because the API is a single pageless endpoint, runs complete quickly at 256 MB memory.

Note: this directory covers Mastodon instances only. Pleroma, Misskey, and GoToSocial instances are not included — joinmastodon.org curates only Mastodon-compatible servers.

What data does it extract?

Each record represents one Mastodon instance:

Field	Description
instance_domain	Instance domain (e.g. mastodon.social)
source_directory	Always joinmastodon.org
software	Always mastodon
software_version	Mastodon version string (e.g. 4.5.9)
users_total	Total registered users
active_users_week	Active users in the past week
open_registrations	true if the instance accepts signups without approval
region	Geographic region (e.g. europe, north_america, asia-pacific)
language	Primary language code (e.g. en, ja, de)
languages	All supported language codes (comma-separated)
category	Primary category (e.g. general, tech, art, music)
categories	All categories (comma-separated)
description	Instance description text
thumbnail_url	Instance thumbnail image URL
source_url	https://joinmastodon.org/servers

Sample output record

{
  "instance_domain": "mastodon.social",
  "source_directory": "joinmastodon.org",
  "software": "mastodon",
  "software_version": "4.5.9",
  "users_total": 1200000,
  "active_users_week": 82000,
  "open_registrations": false,
  "region": "europe",
  "language": "en",
  "languages": "en",
  "category": "general",
  "categories": "general",
  "description": "The original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit.",
  "thumbnail_url": "https://files.mastodon.social/site_uploads/files/thumbnail.png",
  "source_url": "https://joinmastodon.org/servers"
}

How to use it

Field	Default	Description
language	(empty)	Filter by language code (en, ja, de, fr, ...)
category	(empty)	Filter by category (general, tech, art, music, ...)
region	(empty)	Filter by region (europe, north_america, asia-pacific, ...)
openRegistrationsOnly	false	Return only instances open for immediate signup
maxItems	0	Maximum records to return. 0 = all instances

Use cases

• Fediverse research — map the Mastodon ecosystem by region, language, and category to understand the distribution and scale of decentralized social infrastructure
• Identifying target-language communities — filter by language code to find all active instances serving a specific linguistic market (e.g. Japanese-language ja instances with open registrations)
• Content moderation tooling — enumerate active, curated instances to build blocklist tools or safety policy frameworks
• Academic social-network studies — a dataset of decentralized social platforms with user count and activity metrics, updated from the canonical source
• Venture and market research — identify large instances (high users_total or active_users_week) in specific language markets or categories for partnership or acquisition analysis

FAQ

Is this data public? Yes. The api.joinmastodon.org/servers endpoint is publicly accessible and maintained by the Mastodon project.

How often is the directory updated? The API is CDN-cached with a 5-minute TTL. Instance membership in the directory changes when operators apply or are removed by the Mastodon project. Re-run the actor periodically to capture additions and removals.

Can I get data for non-Mastodon Fediverse servers? No. This actor covers only joinmastodon.org, which curates Mastodon instances. Use instances.social for broader Fediverse coverage including Pleroma, Misskey, and GoToSocial.

Output is available in JSON, CSV, and Excel via the Apify dataset export panel.