Mastodon / Fediverse Instance Directory Scraper
Pricing
Pay per event
Mastodon / Fediverse Instance Directory Scraper
Scrape Mastodon instance directories from joinmastodon.org. Returns domain, software version, user counts, monthly active users, registration state, region, language, and categories. Ideal for fediverse research, VC scouts, and content-moderation tooling.
Pricing
Pay per event
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Developer
BowTiedRaccoon
Maintained by CommunityActor stats
0
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2
Total users
1
Monthly active users
15 days ago
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Scrape Mastodon instance directories from joinmastodon.org. Returns instance domain, software version, user counts, monthly active users, registration state, region, language, and categories.
Source: api.joinmastodon.org/servers — the official Mastodon directory API. No authentication required. ~312 curated instances.
What you get
Each record contains:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
instance_domain | Instance domain (e.g. mastodon.social) |
source_directory | Always joinmastodon.org |
software | Always mastodon (joinmastodon.org curates Mastodon instances only) |
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) |
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 | Server description text |
thumbnail_url | Server thumbnail image URL |
source_url | https://joinmastodon.org/servers |
Input options
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
language | (empty) | Filter by language code (en, ja, de, ...) |
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 = no limit (returns all ~312) |
Use cases
- Fediverse research — Map the Mastodon ecosystem by region, language, and category
- VC / investor diligence — Identify large or fast-growing instances for investment analysis
- Content moderation tooling — Enumerate active instances for policy or safety research
- Academic social-network studies — Dataset of decentralised social platforms and their demographics
- Community building — Find instances open for registration in specific languages or topics
Notes
- Data source is the official
api.joinmastodon.org/serversendpoint — curated by the Mastodon project - Only Mastodon instances are included (not Pleroma, Misskey, or GoToSocial — use instances.social for those)
- The directory lists ~312 active, curated instances as of 2026
- API is open, CDN-cached (5-minute TTL), and requires no credentials
- One API call returns all data — no pagination, no proxy required
