You’re reading about a nonprofit organization that maintains software powering a decentralized alternative social networks setup. This group introduced a new plan that sells paid hosting, moderation, plus support services for organizations joining the open social web.
That fediverse connects servers via ActivityPub and links apps like Threads, Pixelfed, PeerTube, Misskey, and Lemmy. Plugins bring those protocols into WordPress, Ghost, Drupal, so your existing CMS can publish into the social web.
Many organizations prefer running own servers to control rules, data, and branding. Managed hosting reduces technical load while keeping policy control. Pricing is custom, tied to hosting support services and moderation choices, with early clients including the European Commission and several regional governments.
This revenue approach aims at diversification, not replacing donations grants or merchandise income. The original public instance remains available as an easy entry point for newcomers.
Key Takeaways
- You’ll learn how this nonprofit moved beyond relying entirely donations grants by offering managed hosting support services.
- The fediverse and ActivityPub let you link apps and CMS without locking content to one platform.
- Managed servers suit brands and institutions seeking policy control with less technical work.
- Costs are flexible; quotes depend on hosting, moderation, and contract scope.
- Public-sector examples show enterprise viability while the public entry point stays open.
What changed: Mastodon moves beyond donations with paid hosting, moderation, and support
You can now contract for fully managed servers, moderation help, and support contracts that let your team adopt the fediverse without building every piece in-house.
The nonprofit is shifting away from relying entirely on donations and grants by selling practical services. That shift funds reliability, security, and ongoing roadmap work while keeping donations, merch, and the public community instance available.
Engagement models run from turnkey managed instances to support contracts that augment your IT staff. Optional moderation reduces content risk and speeds launch timelines when you lack a policy team.
Pricing is custom and tied to scale, compliance needs, and moderation choices. This lets companies align spend with real requirements instead of a one-size setup.
Overall, the initiative mirrors common open-source sustainability patterns: commercial offerings fund development without closing code. Today you can move from pilot to production faster by leaning on managed hosting support.
How the new hosting support services work for the open social web
If you want federation without heavy ops, a managed offering provisions servers, applies updates, and monitors health for you.
Your team keeps editorial control while experts run the infrastructure. Managed hosting support handles backups, security patches, and uptime so you can build community and content strategies.
Optional moderation reduces exposure to harmful posts. The provider can enforce policies, streamline appeals, and help with incident response when needed.
ActivityPub lets your server interconnect with others so accounts follow, post, and engage across the federated network. Hosted instances usually represent brands or institutions with curated sign-ups and reputational focus.
Support contracts cover configuration, scaling, federation rules, integrations, and operational runbooks that help your IT staff. Billing is custom, reflecting the mix of hosting, support, and moderation you choose.
This model offers a practical way individuals and organizations join the social web without building a full ops team.
Who it’s for: Organizations that want to join the open social web without running a general-purpose server
If your institution needs a branded presence on decentralized social networks without running a public server, this path fits.
You’re the audience if your organization wants join with controlled onboarding, identity checks, and curated memberships. This model suits universities, city agencies, nonprofits, and companies that need policy control and audit trails.
Real-world traction matters. The European Commission, Schleswig-Holstein, the city of Blois, and AltStore already use hosted instances that operate accounts for brands and institutions rather than open registration.
You’ll get services organizations want: configuration, moderated workflows, and incident help so your communications team can publish quickly. Support services organizations find useful include setup, maintenance, and verified sign-up processes.
This approach reduces operational burden while letting you set rules and retain ownership. It complements existing channels and gives you an owned, portable presence on the federated social web.
Mastodon has a new plan to make money: Hosting and support services for the open
For teams needing governance and uptime guarantees, the nonprofit provides hosted instances, moderation-as-a-service, and tailored support.
The basic idea is simple: sell managed hosting and professional support so your organization keeps policy control while experts run infrastructure. Pricing is custom and quoted after you define scale and moderation needs.
Early adopters include the European Commission, Schleswig-Holstein, the city of Blois, and AltStore. Their examples show this plan fits public institutions and software companies alike.
Moderation-as-a-service reduces risk for teams without in-house trust and safety. It also cuts operational cost by removing the need to hire and train an internal moderation squad.
This plan diversifies revenue while keeping donations, grants, merch, and the public community instance active. Your policies remain yours even when the vendor handles uptime and incident response.
Next steps are practical: list goals, estimate user scale, identify moderation needs, and request a custom quote to match compliance and procurement timelines.
Context you should know: ActivityPub, the fediverse, and comparisons to hosted WordPress
The fediverse links many independent servers so you and your team can publish without one company owning the network. This ecosystem is also called fediverse and uses ActivityPub to move posts, follows, and reactions across platforms.
You’ll recognize networks like Threads and other social networks like Pixelfed, PeerTube, Misskey, and Lemmy in this mix. The software powering decentralized alternative sites interoperates with those apps and keeps followers portable.
Plugins let your CMS talk federation. WordPress, Ghost, and Drupal can send content into the social web so your site and federated timelines stay in sync. That offers way individuals organizations integrate existing workflows with federation.
Administrators set servers interconnect rules so servers interconnect others they trust. That balances reach and safety while governance stays with your team even when experts run operations.
Think of this hosted approach like WordPress.com: managed infrastructure, routine updates, and less ops work while you keep editorial control. For pilots and proofs-of-concept, the model speeds rollout and reduces configuration risks.
What this means for you in the United States: A practical path to join decentralized social networks today
Organizations in the United States now have a practical path to join open social networks with vendor-backed hosting and professional support.
You’ll choose between a managed instance or targeted contracts that bolster your in-house team. Customers keep policy control, define federation rules, and get custom billing based on scale and moderation needs.
Individuals organizations set governance early, connect CMS and identity systems, and size moderation before launch. That approach speeds procurement and reduces operational risk in enterprise settings.
Benchmark peers like the European Commission and AltStore when you present ROI. With open standards, your organization keeps ownership while experts run day-to-day operations.