Creating vs Joining An Instance

If you would like to host your own instance for a group of friends or yourself, managed hosting providers are a good choice. If you have server admin experience you could even set up your own Mastodon server.

You should know: Running an instance isn't for everyone. It gives you greater control over your experience and what kinds of content you see. The downside is you have to do a lot of the legwork finding content yourself or between you and your friends. That said, FediHost will handle the technical aspects so you don't need to worry about things like uptime, server administration, or security, and can focus on running your instance. If you want even more technical control over your instance (and are reasonably comfortable with Linux server administration or willing to learn), you can also host your own instance.