Element
Shares rank 7 of 48 messaging apps by recommenders
Free encrypted Matrix chat app that works across platforms and video calls well; critics say it is slow and buggy.
Free encrypted Matrix chat app that works across platforms and video calls well; critics say it is slow and buggy.
127 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 50
- criticize it
- 77
- approval share
- 39%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 5 years
Median of the 5 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 50 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Works across all platforms
“Element seems to have worked well and was consistent and reliable on all platforms.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Self-hosting a Matrix server for 5 years” “Element has web embeddings for links now, it has all the platforms supported”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Discord Alternatives” Reliable reference Matrix client
“the main, reference client https://element.io/ or https://fluffy.chat would work great for you”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month” “Element seems to be a genuine attempt to fully assemble Matrix as one full project.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT” “a single reference client (Element) that actually worked”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Running My Own XMPP Server” Video calls with many participants
“it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” “One can create a standing call room that people can join or leave as they see fit”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Welcoming Discord users amidst the challenge of Age Verification” “Element Call for proper encrypted group VoIP/Video these days rather than Jitsi”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams” Well funded and actively developed
“all of Element is laser-focused on making the Element apps & servers as good as we possibly can”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams” “Element has put tens of millions of dollars into Matrix over the years”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Buggy and flaky features
“element otherwise does exactly what we want but it makes me nervous it's so badly supported and buggy”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” “This general flakiness of features just sometimes not working as they should is probably the main reason I haven't tried to recommend friends to switch to element”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” “Scale matters. Once you achieve over a hundred of users, you got all the random bugs, and glitches appearing”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” Slow and laggy performance
“Element is cripplingly slow and has an entire drama with a decade-long issue where they continually refuse working commits because they didn't come from in-house.”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT” “Element in particular is embarrassingly bad. (Consistently, for the past 5 years, through the present)”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “How much of HN is AI?” “which hasn't been touched for 3 years now, and definitely did feel like a laggy MSN by comparison”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT” Recovery key and verification problems
“I last tried Element about six months ago, but for years using the recovery key was either impossible or close to it”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” “Riot.im/Element.io changes to the homeserver over these many years have made it so none of our accounts properly verify”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory” Missing features and clumsy navigation
“the continuing lack of long-form composition or history navigation appears to be a liability with some contacts”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT” “Every, single, time I have to go "Home" -> "Expand" -> "Favorites" to do what used to take one click”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike wants to do for AI what he did for messaging”
Other messaging apps people recommend
The four most recommended other messaging apps, 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.
See all 48 messaging apps, rankedWhat people said
40 of the 159 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If the European Commission actually thought Element was absolute shit, I don't think their management would have come along”
“Main messaging app can be Telegram, Whatsapp, or (in my case) Element.”
“take a look at e.g. Cheogram, Conversations, and Element and consider ways to enhance integration”
“Element in particular is embarrassingly bad. (Consistently, for the past 5 years, through the present)”
“My daily driver for family, friends, and coworkers is Element/Matrix.”
“Highlights on my smartphone are Fennec (Firefox), Termux, Cromite, Element”
“the main concern I have is the same with Element vs Element X vs Fluffy”
“ive been using a pixel watch and element messenger for exactly this for a few months. works great.”
“a single reference client (Element) that actually worked”
“One can create a standing call room that people can join or leave as they see fit”
“Element has web embeddings for links now, it has all the platforms supported”
“Element is cripplingly slow and has an entire drama with a decade-long issue where they continually refuse working commits because they didn't come from in-house.”
“matrix / element are already working and very usable BUT what is needed is that big push to add the polish”
“the main, reference client https://element.io/ or https://fluffy.chat would work great for you”
“the continuing lack of long-form composition or history navigation appears to be a liability with some contacts”
“but only on Element Desktop (which uses tantivy to do clientside search)”
“which hasn't been touched for 3 years now, and definitely did feel like a laggy MSN by comparison”
“Element seems to be a genuine attempt to fully assemble Matrix as one full project.”
“Element Desktop handles syncing on first launch much more gracefully than Signal Desktop.”
“Element has put tens of millions of dollars into Matrix over the years”
“use a VST host like Kushview's Element and load up on all the free VST instruments”
“Element Call for proper encrypted group VoIP/Video these days rather than Jitsi”
“all of Element is laser-focused on making the Element apps & servers as good as we possibly can”
“DINUM stopped funding upstream development at Element in 2022/2023 when their post-COVID funding evaporated”
“The UI of Element (the most popular Matrix client) is more or less in line with any other chat app”
“Every, single, time I have to go "Home" -> "Expand" -> "Favorites" to do what used to take one click”
“although this whole identity reset thing is a known bug on Element Web/Desktop”
“In theory https://element.io/en/download should provide an equivalent experience.”
“Element seems to have worked well and was consistent and reliable on all platforms.”
“They've been on their game with this product, which hadn't been on my radar until Aaron's response above.”
“it has a nice desktop client, so she can more easily type and see pictures than on her phone screen”
“Riot.im/Element.io changes to the homeserver over these many years have made it so none of our accounts properly verify”
“Scale matters. Once you achieve over a hundred of users, you got all the random bugs, and glitches appearing”
“This general flakiness of features just sometimes not working as they should is probably the main reason I haven't tried to recommend friends to switch to element”
“element otherwise does exactly what we want but it makes me nervous it's so badly supported and buggy”
“it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants”
“I last tried Element about six months ago, but for years using the recovery key was either impossible or close to it”
“I found it the easiest verification mechanism of all the encrypted messengers I've tried”
“I love element, but this can’t be done without prior work to address.”
“thing of the past, currently there are two choices, in the future there will be only one”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.