@5tr34k_ @ilwoody @lubimaer @patrick Some people claim that #pleroma is lighter and easier to host, but it's written in Elixir and I have no idea what it's like to manage and upgrade in practice:
https://fediverse.party/en/pleroma
@5tr34k_ @ilwoody @lubimaer @patrick For fairness, #Mastodon also has detailed release notes with clear upgrade instructions:
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases
@5tr34k_ @ilwoody @lubimaer @patrick That said, I wouldn't recommend running an instance for a single user... unless the goal is learning, there's too much overhead.
If you have some money to spare, donate it to the admin of your instance. If you have spare time, contribute to the Fediverse by publishing good content, or perhaps by volunteering as moderator / admin of an existing instance.