Most fediverse services have a website that provides a list of instances with statistics. The site is usually named "join" + the name of the service. For Pixelf

Most fediverse services have a website that provides a list of instances with statistics. The site is usually named "join" + the name of the service. For Pixelfed, the list of instances is at joinpixelfed.org and it's in beta: https://beta.joinpixelfed.org https://beta.joinpixelfed.org That list omits the largest instance (https://pixelfed.social https://pixelfed.social). There are also third-party websites that provide statistics on fediverse nodes. The-Federation.info has a list for Pixelfed: https://the-federation.info/pixelfed https://the-federation.info/pixelfed If you want to choose an instance that will last, one of the most popular instances is usually a safe bet. On the other hand, if you are mainly interested in certain topics or if you want to interact with users from a certain region, some smaller instances may have like-minded communities that would be more appealing to you.