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Proton Meet

Ranked 4 of 9 video conferencing apps by recommenders

Recommended for encrypted video calls that work in the browser without an account, though critics often doubt its privacy claims given US legal exposure.

Recommended for encrypted video calls that work in the browser without an account, though critics often doubt its privacy claims given US legal exposure.

40 people gave an opinion

recommend it
17
criticize it
23
approval share
43%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 5 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: not recommended
  3. January 2026: not recommended
  4. February 2026: not recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: not recommended
  9. July 2026: not recommended
  10. August 2026: not recommended
  11. September 2026: not recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it doesn’t carry the badge

  • 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
  • Recommended in 5 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 well in practice

    “have hosted a few meetings now with this and now I am so relieved”

    Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Proton Meet: Secure, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing”

    “Works really well, clean interface, e2ee I can trust.”

    Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet, Talk in total privacy”

    “Proton Meet, which also proved to work pretty well.”

    Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”
  • Trusted encryption and independent audits

    “Works really well, clean interface, e2ee I can trust.”

    Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet, Talk in total privacy”

    “that's why they have independent audits”

    Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”
  • Works in the browser

    “the ones I use (mail, calendar and meet) definitely work on Firefox for me.”

    Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Stop complaining about enshittification. Use the alternatives”

    “my customer was able to join without an account and it was all in browser”

    Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Proton Meet: Secure, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Doubts about US legal exposure

    “Proton including that part about geopolitical instability implies that Meet is does not fall under the USA's CLOUD Act - that would be wrong.”

    Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

    “Proton Meet relying on a bunch of US infrastructure is something they should call out themselves loudly when they advertise it”

    Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “"Not Even Government Agencies" - Proton's misleading marketing”

    “LiveKit can respond to a US CLOUD Act request for those records without notifying Proton.”

    Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”
  • Privacy claims seen as misleading

    “the proton claim that their new service is private from the US government data acquisition, including inability to access call metadata, is a lie”

    Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

    “"Confidential" until the feds decide that your meeting is a threat to a wanna be dictator, then everyone is invited to the party.”

    Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Proton Meet”

    “they try to appear transparent but a lot of what they've done especially with proton meet seems to sometimes even be misleading”

    Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”
  • Trust eroded by controversy

    “recently with Proton meet and its controversy, my trust on proton has shifted a bit too”

    Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

    “They also admit to scanning all mail to and from non-Proton accounts "for spam".”

    Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”
  • Not self-hosted

    “those who do not own a domain name should buy one an run their own Matrix/XMPP server”

    Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

    “Especially questionable choice by Proton not to opt for the self-hosted option”

    Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

Other video conferencing apps people recommend

The four most recommended other video conferencing 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.

Proton Meet compared with 4 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
Zoom9915539%125 yrs5 owners—
Jitsi Meet421574%11—Approved
Google Meet394845%10——
Proton MeetThis page172343%5——
BigBlueButton7278%3——
See all 9 video conferencing apps, ranked

What people said

40 of the 44 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“the ones I use (mail, calendar and meet) definitely work on Firefox for me.”

RecommendsComment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Stop complaining about enshittification. Use the alternatives”

“claims to be privacy-focused and majority owned by a nonprofit foundation”

RecommendsComment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“Proton including that part about geopolitical instability implies that Meet is does not fall under the USA's CLOUD Act - that would be wrong.”

CriticizesComment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“Proton lost me after they started posting rage-bait ads on Facebook”

CriticizesComment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“Not sure i understand the point.... any p2p webrtc call in encrypted e2e.”

CriticizesComment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“The main thing stopping me from using Proton Meet is I don't like that the booking pages that come with Proton Calendar only show in 24-hour time.”

CriticizesComment from 7 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“recently with Proton meet and its controversy, my trust on proton has shifted a bit too”

CriticizesComment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“Proton Meet, which also proved to work pretty well.”

RecommendsComment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“I was really waiting for this!”

RecommendsComment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“those who do not own a domain name should buy one an run their own Matrix/XMPP server”

CriticizesComment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“performs well based on personal usage”

RecommendsComment from 6 May 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“independent Controller vs Processor changes the privacy story significantly”

CriticizesComment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“LiveKit can respond to a US CLOUD Act request for those records without notifying Proton.”

CriticizesComment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Proton Meet relying on a bunch of US infrastructure is something they should call out themselves loudly when they advertise it”

CriticizesComment from 10 Apr 2026 in “"Not Even Government Agencies" - Proton's misleading marketing”

“STARK contrast between their messaging and their actual culpability”

CriticizesComment from 10 Apr 2026 in “"Not Even Government Agencies" - Proton's misleading marketing”

“Especially now we have Proton Meet, I can take some ownership over videocalls in Teams and Google Meet finally.”

RecommendsComment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins”

“there is no point in accusing Proton of anything”

RecommendsComment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“that's why they have independent audits”

RecommendsComment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“They also admit to scanning all mail to and from non-Proton accounts "for spam".”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“a company that prides itself on encryption could figure out a way to hash it too”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Proton offers that, full stop.”

RecommendsComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“If they advertise that they will protect their users privacy, then I don't see how complying with government snooping is an excuse.”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“they try to appear transparent but a lot of what they've done especially with proton meet seems to sometimes even be misleading”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Actually, it creates an incompatibility, period.”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“regurgitating facts that are supposed to be gotchas but have tons of nuance if you dig”

RecommendsComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Yes they do (the storage of your emails on their servers, that is)”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“being deceptive is not ok, regardless of whether “the status quo is worse””

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“The company routing them hands your call records to the government when asked.”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: European alternatives to Google, Apple, Dropbox and 120 US apps”

“they control the encryption keys or atleast certainly have the ability to change”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“the proton claim that their new service is private from the US government data acquisition, including inability to access call metadata, is a lie”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“it doesn't paste a clear picture of transparency or trust”

MixedComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Proton is definitely a lot more private than, say, Google. But, as always, you'll have to trust the party delivering the binaries you run.”

MixedComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“I'm still more annoyed about the 90 day cookie - that was just rude”

MixedComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Especially questionable choice by Proton not to opt for the self-hosted option”

CriticizesComment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was”

“Works really well, clean interface, e2ee I can trust.”

RecommendsComment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Proton Meet, Talk in total privacy”

“Proton has never stated they wouldn’t comply with the law.”

RecommendsComment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“"Confidential" until the feds decide that your meeting is a threat to a wanna be dictator, then everyone is invited to the party.”

CriticizesComment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Proton Meet”

“have hosted a few meetings now with this and now I am so relieved”

RecommendsComment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Proton Meet: Secure, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing”

“my customer was able to join without an account and it was all in browser”

RecommendsComment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Proton Meet: Secure, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing”

“useless unless non-proton members can use it and its browser native”

CriticizesComment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Proton Meet: Secure, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.