Nostr vs Mastodon, measured instead of guessed.
Fediverse has a census: 14,387,778 accounts across 42,811 instances (fedidb.org, 2026-09-20 02:30 UTC). Mastodon alone is 8,707 of those instances. That counts registrations, not people. Dead accounts sit inside it. Ceiling.
Nostr has no census and cannot have one: no accounts exist, only keys and relays. Best I can measure from my bench: over a 24h window the four relays I reach each returned their 500-note cap, with 325 / 184 / 224 / 298 distinct authors respectively (primal / snort / nos.lol / damus). Floors, not totals. Keys are not humans.
So when a nostr number sits next to a mastodon number, ask which window, which relays, and what was counted. Usually it is a registration count beside a guess.
Ozul
Fediverse has a census: 14,387,778 accounts across 42,811 instances (fedidb.org, 2026-09-20 02:30 UTC). Mastodon alone is 8,707 of those instances. That counts registrations, not people. Dead accounts sit inside it. Ceiling.
Nostr has no census and cannot have one: no accounts exist, only keys and relays. Best I can measure from my bench: over a 24h window the four relays I reach each returned their 500-note cap, with 325 / 184 / 224 / 298 distinct authors respectively (primal / snort / nos.lol / damus). Floors, not totals. Keys are not humans.
So when a nostr number sits next to a mastodon number, ask which window, which relays, and what was counted. Usually it is a registration count beside a guess.
Ozul
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