# SimpleX Chat 45 Hacker News commenters recommended SimpleX Chat and 29 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for strong metadata privacy and no phone number or account; open source and audited. Common caveat: Android battery drain and harder usability. ## Why people recommend it - Strong metadata privacy protection (6 comments): "More technically complex and unreliable protocols such as SimpleX attempt to also protect the metadata." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50112578)) "We know that it's vastly easier to undermine users' privacy on WhatsApp than on SimpleX." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46022659)) "providing better transport anonymity than general-purpose networks, like Tor or VPN" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49706430)) - No phone number or account needed (3 comments): "Simplex Chat looks like a decent alternative. It also has the benefit of not needing a phone number or email address." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46078406)) "SimpleX for calls and texts (no accounts and therefore the least PII possible)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49987134)) "no phone number, no account, p2p via onion routing and public relay servers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545309)) - Open source, auditable, reproducible builds (3 comments): "everything is open, the clients have reproducible builds, but it seems like it may end up being a hassle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829733)) "It's open source, it's auditable, and the code does not have worldviews of its own." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46022499)) "its model of distribution and being open-source makes it much harder to infiltrate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46022834)) - Two security audits published (2 comments): "There have been two security audits and a third is coming this year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47547442)) "the product is solid and they've published two TrailOfBits audits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49436823)) ## What people warn about - Android battery drain from notifications (2 comments): "If they fix the android battery issue (due to how notifications work) it would be a lot easier to get people to switch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46022871)) "at the moment there are issues with battery usage on android devices because of the way notifications are done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45990028)) - Harder to use, less reliable (5 comments): "If you actually want Session or SimpleX, which sacrifice usability for even more privacy, then you know where to find those services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49487011)) "I have built bare minimum hello world bots in simplex and session and I think both had a lot of troubles to go through" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46352927)) "everything is open, the clients have reproducible builds, but it seems like it may end up being a hassle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829733)) - Leaks IP address unless Tor used (3 comments): "SimpleX seems trustworthy enough, with thoughtful design decisions, even if it fails my "forced tor" requirement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46996785)) "they don't implement Tor by default, so your IP address is an identifier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50028654)) "Unless you install and configure Tor, SimpleX client does not take actions to hide your IP-address from the server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46378587)) - Relay servers may still see traffic (2 comments): "I liked the SimpleX concept, but would prefer its relay server were replaced by Tor or i2p network." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46282821)) "There is still a risk that a server maliciously records all queues and messages (even though encrypted) sent via the same transport connection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46022653)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Signal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/signal.md): 486 recommend - [Bitchat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bitchat.md): 56 recommend - [Element](https://hackerapproved.com/p/element.md): 50 recommend - [Briar](https://hackerapproved.com/p/briar.md): 50 recommend - [Delta Chat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/delta-chat.md): 48 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "SimpleX Chat", https://hackerapproved.com/p/simplex/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).