Custom Mastodon Character Limits

On a standard Mastodon setup with FediHost the character limit is 500 characters.

That's Annoying! Why?

For a number of reasons, we use vanilla Mastodon which hardcodes its character limit to 500. There isn't a simple toggle or slider in your admin dashboard to make it higher.

Fundamentally it does make sense that a microblogging service like Mastodon has a character limit. The character limit is the micro in microblog and it makes sense that allowing the Mastodon ecosystem to transform into something different isn't a choice to take lightly.

To change it, you actually have to edit the underlying code. The problem? Every time Mastodon releases an update, those manual changes get wiped out so a change to this means the burden of maintaining and testing a custom fork.

We prioritize stability. We want your instance to update smoothly and securely as soon as a new version drops. That means we stick to the default, unmodified software on our standard plans.

The Alternative: GoToSocial

If you really need longer posts, we have a great solution: GoToSocial.

The default character limit on GoToSocial is 5,000 characters. If long-form posts are your main priority, this is the easiest and cheapest route. However, you should be aware that while you gain some features, you lose others.

What If You Need Mastodon?

Some communities absolutely want the classic Mastodon web interface, but they still need a higher character limit.

To do this, you have to use a "fork". A fork is a modified version of the original Mastodon software. Glitch-soc is a popular fork that supports much higher character limits.

We can host forks for you, but there is a catch.

Because forks use modified code, they fall outside our automated, streamlined update process. They are essentially custom enterprise setups.

If you want to go this route, you need to read our article on Hosting Forks and Custom Code on FediHost.

It explains why custom code requires a different type of agreement. It costs more. It takes manual configuration, deployments, and testing. It runs on isolated infrastructure.

Long Term

For several reasons FediHost is likely to support a custom fork of Mastodon in future. This is because customers sometimes want to have custom footer content, theming or change the language preferences for their instance.

It's likely that in time FediHost will start maintaining a custom fork when there is enough demand to keep it maintained. One of the features of the fork will likely be changes to the character limit.