Dat
Ranked 3 of 3 file sharing protocols by recommenders
People recommend Dat for peer-to-peer data sync because of its strong NAT traversal, which removes the need for relays, and its track record in apps. Critics say the ecosystem has slowed since Paul Frazee left.
People recommend Dat for peer-to-peer data sync because of its strong NAT traversal, which removes the need for relays, and its track record in apps. Critics say the ecosystem has slowed since Paul Frazee left.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong NAT traversal, no relays needed
“dat or the hyper stack is industry leading in terms of nat traversal - nothing comes close”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Dat-ecosystem: high level applications built on top of P2P protocols” “you dont need relays if you use dat”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Dat-ecosystem: high level applications built on top of P2P protocols” Battle-tested with many real apps
“battle tested because it has plenty of apps with lots of users”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Dat-ecosystem: high level applications built on top of P2P protocols” “its a mature battle tested ecosystem”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Dat-ecosystem: high level applications built on top of P2P protocols” Go-to choice for P2P apps
“Use something like Pears / Holepunch / Hypercore / Dat”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: A WordPress plugin that rewrites image URLs for near-zero-cost delivery” “But DAT is where its at if you want that.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ecosystem activity stalled after Paul Frazee left
“a lot of the most exciting stuff in the dat ecosystem stopped when Paul Frazee left”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Dat-ecosystem: high level applications built on top of P2P protocols”
Other file sharing protocols people recommend
The two most recommended other file sharing protocols, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BitTorrent | 50 | 11 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Gnutella | 9 | 7 | 56% | 2 | — | — |
| DatThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it is really reliable, feel free to try”
“you dont need relays if you use dat”
“dat or the hyper stack is industry leading in terms of nat traversal - nothing comes close”
“a lot of the most exciting stuff in the dat ecosystem stopped when Paul Frazee left”
“battle tested because it has plenty of apps with lots of users”
“its a mature battle tested ecosystem”
“I think DAT is mostly dead”
“it was a total, abject failure”
“But DAT is where its at if you want that.”
“Use something like Pears / Holepunch / Hypercore / Dat”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.