I2P
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 5 anonymity networks by recommenders
Recommended as a free anonymity network for private browsing, services and torrents, with an active community behind it. Critics most often say it is hard to set up and slow.
Recommended as a free anonymity network for private browsing, services and torrents, with an active community behind it. Critics most often say it is hard to set up and slow.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 81%
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: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, 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 fine and is usable
“the Invisible Internet Project exists and works fine”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “I think I hate the internet” “I2P already exists and is usable.”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?” “I upgraded my OBSD just fine over I2P”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “A Botnet Accidentally Destroyed I2P” Alternative to Tor
“This problem has already been solved with networks like Tor and I2P”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere” “Look into i2p or other protocol that’s really anonymous.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: A P2P messenger with dual network modes (Fast and Tor)” “Tor and I2P is a better fit.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Anna's Archive Loses .Org Domain After Surprise Suspension” - Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Self-Hosting on the Dark Web”
Stronger privacy and encryption
“that even comes with reinforced privacy”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Iroh 1.0” “the bonus encryption element”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Chat-tails: Throwback terminal chat, built on Tailscale” “encrypted accesses to Usenet and IRC via I2P and the like will boost the platforms more than ever”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “A closer look at a BGP anomaly in Venezuela” Anonymous torrents support
“anonymous torrents in I2P over non-anonymous standard implementation”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “PlayStation Is Deleting 551 Movies from Customers' Accounts” “Consider switching to and thus support torrents in I2P.”
Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard to set up
“It requires some technical expertise to set up (particularly I2P). Slow downloads.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn't Exist Anymore” “i2p requires some proxy config in your browser and you need to run a service in the background explicitly”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Anna's Archive Loses .Org Domain After Surprise Suspension” “i2p is harder to use than Tor”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Anna's Archive Loses .Org Domain After Surprise Suspension” Slow downloads and performance
“It requires some technical expertise to set up (particularly I2P). Slow downloads.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn't Exist Anymore” “the performance was just awful”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: A P2P messenger with dual network modes (Fast and Tor)”
Other anonymity networks people recommend
The four most recommended other anonymity networks, 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 5 anonymity networks, rankedWhat people said
30 of the 37 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I personally support initiatives like Reticulum/NomadNet, I2P, the Gemini protocol”
“I quite like how i2p does it.”
“Consider switching to and thus support torrents in I2P.”
“take additional steps to mitigate such kinds of Sybil attacks that people talk about against Tor”
“I recommend that people give I2P and Yggdrasil a try as well”
“my i2p and tor identities have actually been some of the longest lasting”
“the Invisible Internet Project exists and works fine”
“Too cumbersome nerdy tools to use for anything actually worthwhile.”
“the i2p network has a steady and active community”
“that seems to be a better option for a variety of different reasons”
“It requires some technical expertise to set up (particularly I2P). Slow downloads.”
“anonymous torrents in I2P over non-anonymous standard implementation”
“that even comes with reinforced privacy”
“I'm a huge fan of Yggdrasil and I2P.”
“I2P already exists and is usable.”
“You can use tor/i2p ... and cut most of the fingerprints, trackers and identification.”
“the performance was just awful”
“Look into i2p or other protocol that’s really anonymous.”
“without many of the disadvantages of those”
“I upgraded my OBSD just fine over I2P”
“the protocol should be resilient to such an event”
“This problem has already been solved with networks like Tor and I2P”
“encrypted accesses to Usenet and IRC via I2P and the like will boost the platforms more than ever”
“I don't understand why they don't provide a simple docker-compose at least for daemon deployment”
“i2p is harder to use than Tor”
“i2p requires some proxy config in your browser and you need to run a service in the background explicitly”
“Tor and I2P require you to have infrastructure online.”
“Tor and I2P is a better fit.”
“the bonus encryption element”
“Tor and i2P does nothing for (anti)fingerprinting”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.