# Authy

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Authy and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free two-factor authenticator people say works across devices and survives phone upgrades, though critics say Twilio neglected it and dropped its desktop app.

## Why people recommend it

- Works after upgrading iPhone (1 comments): "the only app that would just work after upgrading my iphone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47538629))
- Runs on multiple devices (1 comments): "I use authy authenticator which I have on multiple devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49747761))
- Usable as backup on spare phone (1 comments): "Authy and a throwaway phone added in that sits in a safe place." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49746253))

## What people warn about

- Desktop client removed or broken (4 comments): "I recommend you get off Authy - they don't have a browser extension or a desktop client" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966616)) "stopped supporting their desktop client (thus eliminating my alternate device backups)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752871)) "they enshittified their app and bricked the desktop version" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49743421))
- Acquisition by Twilio seen as neglect (2 comments): "Authy is also EOL since it was acquired by twilio and tossed into the do not recycle bin it seems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48708992)) "Twilio screwed over everyone using that app" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47724439))
- Hard to leave, no exports (3 comments): "they don't allow exports to keep you stuck in their app" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49693685)) "I should figure out how to ditch Authy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48224216)) "I keep meaning to ditch Authy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48162630))
- Custom TOTP scheme raises security doubts (2 comments): "unlike say Authy where we had to inject Javascript to extract the TOTP seeds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48148396)) "they have their own weird TOTP scheme" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48708871))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Aegis Authenticator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aegis.md): 28 recommend
- [Ente Auth](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ente-auth.md): 22 recommend
- [Microsoft Authenticator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-authenticator.md): 13 recommend
- [Google Authenticator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-authenticator.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Authy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/authy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).