# Flotilla

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Flotilla and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free, optionally self-hosted Nostr chat app whose cryptographic identities prevent identity capture. Critics find it too corporate.

## Why people recommend it

- Open Nostr protocol, keypair identities (2 comments): "uses cryptographic identities to prevent identity capture" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997044)) "FOSS, optionally self-hosted alternative built on nostr" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46950142))

## What people warn about

- Feels too corporate in tone (1 comments): "it does look a little too corporate for me though with the 'book a demo' and the focus on my 'mission'" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997365))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Discord](https://hackerapproved.com/p/discord.md): 400 recommend
- [Telegram](https://hackerapproved.com/p/telegram.md): 229 recommend
- [WeChat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wechat.md): 14 recommend
- [Telegram Desktop](https://hackerapproved.com/p/telegram-desktop.md): 13 recommend
- [WhatsApp for Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/whatsapp-for-windows.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

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