After emerging as a proposed alternative to Twitter (now X), Mastodon's user base quickly and significantly slipped. Turns out, however, the decentralized social media app may have more users than it thought.

According to founder and CEO Eugen Rochko, Mastodon's user base between Oct 2 and 8 was underestimated thanks to a "network connectivity issue" with its statistics aggregator. The app actually has 407,814 more monthly active users than it previously reported. This brings Mastodon's overall monthly user base to 1.8 million.

There is also an additional 2.34 million registered users that were not counted previously, Rochko said.

In February 2023, Mastodon's users reportedly stood at 1.4 million, which was a stark drop from its 2.5 million monthly users in December 2022. The current numbers signal a good trajectory for Mastodon, as it continues to grow despite something of a rollercoaster in growth.

Much of this may have to do with the direction X has been taken in by owner and former CEO Elon Musk. But despite moves on Musk's part — including recent decisions to remove link headlines, roll out an ad format that can't be reported or blocked, and test three new paid tiers — the app still has 245 million active users. However, as confirmed by CEO Linda Yaccarino, X is losing daily active users.

X's alternatives, including Mastodon, might still hold a lesser user base, but it's not set in stone it seems.