# N26

8 Hacker News commenters recommended N26 and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend N26 as a mobile-first German bank that works on rooted and custom Android setups, though critics cite past compliance problems, flaky logins and strict identity checks.

## Why people recommend it

- Works on rooted and custom Android (4 comments): "N26 also works fine on rooted devices. They don't randomly block devices like others" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50042455)) "Sandboxed Play Services handles most major apps fine, including N26 and Revolut" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47054254)) "I understand N26 does, but it may work with Graphene" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50220447))

## What people warn about

- Flaky logins and unreliable app (2 comments): "N26 is flaky (sometimes it just works for me, sometimes refuses to even log in; no idea what's wrong)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943573)) "they then told me I had to install their app to activate the account. Forget it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50043743))
- Strict identity verification for new accounts (2 comments): "won't let you create a new account on Graphene and will make you go through identity verification hell" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50221789)) "will reject people without a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis, Blue Card, etc)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49486132))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Mercury Bank](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mercury.md): 44 recommend
- [Revolut](https://hackerapproved.com/p/revolut.md): 43 recommend
- [Monzo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monzo.md): 19 recommend
- [Starling Bank](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starling-bank.md): 10 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://n26.com/en-eu)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "N26", https://hackerapproved.com/p/n26/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).