Keybase
Shares rank 2 of 4 identity verification services by recommenders
Recommended for tying identities to cryptographic keys through social proofs and for making PGP easier to use; critics say it was left to rot after Zoom bought it.
Recommended for tying identities to cryptographic keys through social proofs and for making PGP easier to use; critics say it was left to rot after Zoom bought it.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Identity proofs tied to cryptographic keys
“Keybase was kind of unique in the way the facilitated social proof of identity tied to cryptographic keys.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Tailscale Traces Database Corruption to 16y/o SQLite WAL-Reset Bug” “It was such a simple web of trust that went viral enough that I still occasionally see it”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “AI Slop Is Killing Online Communities” Easy verification and PGP use
“Keybase did a lot, for me, to smooth out the pgp/gpg experience.”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “GPG and Me (2015)” “it was a great balance between verification and ease of use”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Linux explores new way of authenticating developers and their code”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Failed to gain adoption
“Keybase tried to do something about it and also failed.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “The PGP Problem (2019)” “Keybase had the right idea, but no one used it”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “.name Termination” “a trust network that was unceremoniously and unduly strangled”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “I'm Tired of Talking to AI” Neglected since Zoom acquisition
“Then Zoom bought it (for some reason) and left it to rot.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Tailscale Traces Database Corruption to 16y/o SQLite WAL-Reset Bug” “completely fossilized for six years now”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “The dead Internet is not a theory anymore” Broken proofs and implementation
“Twitter account proofs were broken by the API changes years ago and nobody is at the wheel to fix or even just deprecate them.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “The dead Internet is not a theory anymore” “Keybase just happened to have been a wildly broken implementation.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Switching from GPG to Age” Poor UX and rigid key pinning
“certificates pinned so hard that I almost couldn't sign my new device”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “OpenShell – A safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents” “the UX was so terrible that it was inevitable it won't stick”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Tailscale Traces Database Corruption to 16y/o SQLite WAL-Reset Bug”
Other identity verification services people recommend
The three most recommended other identity verification services, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persona identity verification | 27 | 143 | 16% | 7 | — | — |
| KeybaseThis page | 11 | 11 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| Didit | 11 | 2 | 85% | 1 | — | — |
| World ID | 8 | 30 | 21% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
22 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“certificates pinned so hard that I almost couldn't sign my new device”
“Keybase had the right idea, but no one used it”
“We used it for dozens of things back at my old job.”
“the UX was so terrible that it was inevitable it won't stick”
“Keybase was kind of unique in the way the facilitated social proof of identity tied to cryptographic keys.”
“Then Zoom bought it (for some reason) and left it to rot.”
“immense utility from a free-tier product for the general public, which leads to trust and a large enterprise market”
“a trust network that was unceremoniously and unduly strangled”
“It was such a simple web of trust that went viral enough that I still occasionally see it”
“look at Nest or Keybase for example off the top of my head”
“It's not really the right kind of authentication. A bot can use keybase too.”
“It’s too dependant on encryption.”
“Twitter account proofs were broken by the API changes years ago and nobody is at the wheel to fix or even just deprecate them.”
“completely fossilized for six years now”
“Still jaded that went nowhere...”
“it was a great balance between verification and ease of use”
“Keybase was doing great until it got acquired by Zoom”
“Keybase tried to do something about it and also failed.”
“Keybase wants to be that hub. Well, it can't be, sir.”
“Keybase did a lot, for me, to smooth out the pgp/gpg experience.”
“Keybase was a nifty chat.”
“Keybase just happened to have been a wildly broken implementation.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.