# Venmo 13 Hacker News commenters recommended Venmo and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for convenient, familiar money transfers among friends in the US, though critics cite sudden account bans, identity checks and public transactions by default. ## Why people recommend it - Widely known and widely adopted (4 comments): "I'm familiar with Venmo and Paypal, so I'd pick either of those just because they're known to me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46557370)) "The UK is missing something like Venmo with wide adoption." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48208043)) "Venmo, which appears to be crushing Cash App" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141963)) - Convenient for paying people (3 comments): "Makes it way easier than going around to everybody in the locker room trying to round up cash." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47318149)) "It's super convenient to be able to use Venmo in that situation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48763184)) "Zelle or Venmo for dollar P2P transfers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46557691)) - Easy group collection and donations (2 comments): "Pushing Venmo and Square for donations increased donations by like 30% and reduced shrink at fundraisers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47239122)) "Makes it way easier than going around to everybody in the locker room trying to round up cash." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47318149)) ## What people warn about - Account bans and identity checks (4 comments): "Venmo requires a verified account tied to your real identity, phone number, and bank account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49542016)) "Venmo did the same thing to me: They didn't tell me I was banned until they had my ID." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47777462)) "Venmo banned me for life because I and a friend both signed up a new account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47091809)) - Transactions public by default (4 comments): "People don't seem to know or understand their transactions are public by default." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034352)) "Apps like Venmo by default will share basically who you are spending time with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48152072)) "Venmo, a Paypal company, publishes transaction data publicly by default" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442759)) - Unpredictable fraud flags and holds (3 comments): "platforms deciding you're buying drugs because you purchase and transfer out (thanks Venmo)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297357)) "Paypal/Venmo/CashApp, Schrödinger's fraud trigger you never know it's gonna work or not." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48645649)) "Paypal and Venmo might give you the run around when it comes to your money" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46356775)) - Ads and broken login page (2 comments): "The Venmo app (which Paypal owns) is jammed with crappy ads and an often-broken UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925391)) "If Venmo didn't care about making their login page work well with Firefox" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49465004)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Wero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wero.md): 84 recommend - [Apple Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-pay.md): 73 recommend - [Google Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-pay.md): 26 recommend - [Google Wallet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-wallet.md): 22 recommend - [Curve Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/curve.md): 22 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://venmo.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Venmo", https://hackerapproved.com/p/venmo/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).