{"slug": "element", "name": "Element", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "Open-source chat client for the Matrix protocol, with messaging, voice and video calls.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 14, "warners": 5, "score": 1.369, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2025-11-19", "latest": "2026-10-14", "why": "HN commenters like it as a self-hosted Matrix client that can replace Slack and that runs reliably for large groups, including multi-person video calls.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 5}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Reliable at scale", "Self-hosting"], "caveat": "Device verification", "short_quote": "we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://element.io", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Element"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like it as a self-hosted Matrix client that can replace Slack", "cites": [{"id": 761091297, "item_id": 47568206, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568206", "by": "Bockit", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element", "excerpt": "It\u2019s such a fun time to have 1+ decade(s) of experience in software. Knowing what simple and good are (for me), and being able to articulate it has let me create so much personal software for myself and my family. It has really felt like turning ideas into reality, about as fast as I can think of them or they can suggest them. And adding specific features, just for our needs. The latest one was a slack canvas replace", "context": "software developer with 10+ years experience, builds personal software for family", "use_case": "family chat client", "switched_from": "Slack", "story": "Coding Agents Could Make Free Software Matter Again"}, {"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}]}, {"text": " and that runs reliably for large groups, including multi-person video calls.", "cites": [{"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}, {"id": 735832720, "item_id": 45989545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989545", "by": "teekert", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Martix/Element", "excerpt": "I love Martix/Element, and about the only thing I don't like is that I need moar features! We have a space with several rooms for our FOSDEM devroom, it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants. Thanx Element team!!", "context": "organizes a FOSDEM devroom", "use_case": "FOSDEM devroom chat and video calls", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is device verification that fails between clients,", "cites": [{"id": 735825649, "item_id": 45989103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989103", "by": "pfych", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified.", "excerpt": "I use Thunderbird as my main Matrix client since it's already always open on my PC and is Lightweight. Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified. Clicking verify in any client does nothing. No popups in any other clients - doesn't ever seem to do anything. Sometimes Element will pop up a QR reader but there's no QR presented in the other clients. The", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735801504, "item_id": 45987594, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45987594", "by": "jerrythegerbil", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love element, but this can\u2019t be done without prior work to address.", "excerpt": "As someone whose devices randomly became unverified just a few months ago, signed out, and then tried to use my recovery keys: I was authenticated, but unverified. When attempting to verify iOS, Desktop linux didn\u2019t work. When attempting to verify Desktop Linux, Desktop Windows didn\u2019t work. When verifying Android, iOS didn\u2019t work. Every verified official client for every platform was verified, tried a different verif", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735890560, "item_id": 45993160, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45993160", "by": "superkuh", "date": "2025-11-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Riot.im/Element.io really knows how to shoot themselves in the foot.", "excerpt": "This basically means that Matrix will stop working for my parents and other family: the only people I use matrix for. We started during the pandemic for the video chat element. But Riot.im/Element.io changes to the homeserver over these many years have made it so none of our accounts properly verify. I can't even get my account to properly verify and I'm a huge nerd. We put up with it because of inertia and chat stil", "context": "uses Matrix with parents and family", "use_case": "family video chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}]}, {"text": " and others call the UI clunky and the mobile app crash-prone.", "cites": [{"id": 751171249, "item_id": 46948203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948203", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I didn't like the UI at all, it felt like Teams but more clunky?", "excerpt": "There is this phenomena where users of a product say they want something. But what they want is very different. People are not good at telling you what really matters to them. That's the main obstacle of Matrix's adaption I think. Matrix tries to copy-cat all these other products. But in the end it feels like something trying to be all sorts of things and not quite doing it as well as the originals in every way. Plus", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT"}, {"id": 801292065, "item_id": 50080754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080754", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the Element branding feels a bit too strong at times", "excerpt": "Some friends use it more reluctantly and only sign on occasionally when they need something. I remember one friend vaguely describing a \"malaise\" when using Element for the first time, like something about the UI/UX bugged him but he didn't really elaborate. I assume some of them are using other stuff like Discord on the side, but I'm not sure since I don't. I think there is also some minor friction with the whole El", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 751132657, "item_id": 46945791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945791", "by": "jszymborski", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho.", "excerpt": "So my friend group has been looking for alternatives for a while now that feel like discord, works on mobile and desktop, and has voice chat. I use Signal but the UI is very different from Discord. I've had very mixed experiences with Element + Matrix, Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho. I looked into hosting Rocket.chat, Zullip, and Mattermost but ", "context": "looking for Discord alternative for friend group", "use_case": "Discord alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Reliable at scale", "summary": "Commenters report it working smoothly for a 500+ user company instance and a FOSDEM devroom.", "quotes": [{"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}, {"id": 735832720, "item_id": 45989545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989545", "by": "teekert", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Martix/Element", "excerpt": "I love Martix/Element, and about the only thing I don't like is that I need moar features! We have a space with several rooms for our FOSDEM devroom, it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants. Thanx Element team!!", "context": "organizes a FOSDEM devroom", "use_case": "FOSDEM devroom chat and video calls", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}]}, {"label": "Self-hosting", "summary": "Used with self-hosted Matrix servers as a Slack or Rocket.Chat replacement, with an easy-to-maintain stack.", "quotes": [{"id": 761091297, "item_id": 47568206, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568206", "by": "Bockit", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element", "excerpt": "It\u2019s such a fun time to have 1+ decade(s) of experience in software. Knowing what simple and good are (for me), and being able to articulate it has let me create so much personal software for myself and my family. It has really felt like turning ideas into reality, about as fast as I can think of them or they can suggest them. And adding specific features, just for our needs. The latest one was a slack canvas replace", "context": "software developer with 10+ years experience, builds personal software for family", "use_case": "family chat client", "switched_from": "Slack", "story": "Coding Agents Could Make Free Software Matter Again"}, {"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}]}, {"label": "Open protocol", "summary": "As a Matrix client, it is suggested for open-protocol interoperability and works alongside other clients on any device.", "quotes": [{"id": 793602226, "item_id": 49600139, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49600139", "by": "NewJazz", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you should take a look at e.g. Cheogram, Conversations, and Element and consider ways to enhance integration", "excerpt": "Yes I understand your point re: interoperability, and I think you've made a convincing case for RCS. I think in the short term, you should take a look at e.g. Cheogram, Conversations, and Element and consider ways to enhance integration. Address book integration, automatically extending contact do not disturb exceptions, and maybe even dialer integration. In the long term, it would be best to try to guage antitrust r", "context": "", "use_case": "messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard"}, {"id": 796969218, "item_id": 49810576, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49810576", "by": "jeena", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "any device where I have a matrix client like Element set up", "excerpt": "One is pi.dev on the console, but because the KB is a git repository I have it on each computer. On top of that I also run Hermes Agent and have set up there one agent to be responsible for the KB stuff and that one I connected to a Matrix channel and can use it from the phone and any device where I have a matrix client like Element set up. With pi.dev I use it in a container https://git.jeena.net/jeena/agent-contain", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new CC, an AI agent built for families"}]}, {"label": "Video calls", "summary": "One organizer says group video calls with many participants worked flawlessly.", "quotes": [{"id": 735832720, "item_id": 45989545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989545", "by": "teekert", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Martix/Element", "excerpt": "I love Martix/Element, and about the only thing I don't like is that I need moar features! We have a space with several rooms for our FOSDEM devroom, it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants. Thanx Element team!!", "context": "organizes a FOSDEM devroom", "use_case": "FOSDEM devroom chat and video calls", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}]}, {"label": "Device authorization", "summary": "One admin likes its device authorization model.", "quotes": [{"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Device verification", "summary": "Several users say verifying devices across clients and platforms often fails, even for experienced users.", "quotes": [{"id": 735825649, "item_id": 45989103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989103", "by": "pfych", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified.", "excerpt": "I use Thunderbird as my main Matrix client since it's already always open on my PC and is Lightweight. Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified. Clicking verify in any client does nothing. No popups in any other clients - doesn't ever seem to do anything. Sometimes Element will pop up a QR reader but there's no QR presented in the other clients. The", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735801504, "item_id": 45987594, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45987594", "by": "jerrythegerbil", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love element, but this can\u2019t be done without prior work to address.", "excerpt": "As someone whose devices randomly became unverified just a few months ago, signed out, and then tried to use my recovery keys: I was authenticated, but unverified. When attempting to verify iOS, Desktop linux didn\u2019t work. When attempting to verify Desktop Linux, Desktop Windows didn\u2019t work. When verifying Android, iOS didn\u2019t work. Every verified official client for every platform was verified, tried a different verif", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735890560, "item_id": 45993160, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45993160", "by": "superkuh", "date": "2025-11-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Riot.im/Element.io really knows how to shoot themselves in the foot.", "excerpt": "This basically means that Matrix will stop working for my parents and other family: the only people I use matrix for. We started during the pandemic for the video chat element. But Riot.im/Element.io changes to the homeserver over these many years have made it so none of our accounts properly verify. I can't even get my account to properly verify and I'm a huge nerd. We put up with it because of inertia and chat stil", "context": "uses Matrix with parents and family", "use_case": "family video chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}]}, {"label": "Clunky UI", "summary": "Some find the interface clunky, compare it to Teams, or feel uneasy using it.", "quotes": [{"id": 751171249, "item_id": 46948203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948203", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I didn't like the UI at all, it felt like Teams but more clunky?", "excerpt": "There is this phenomena where users of a product say they want something. But what they want is very different. People are not good at telling you what really matters to them. That's the main obstacle of Matrix's adaption I think. Matrix tries to copy-cat all these other products. But in the end it feels like something trying to be all sorts of things and not quite doing it as well as the originals in every way. Plus", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT"}, {"id": 801292065, "item_id": 50080754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080754", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the Element branding feels a bit too strong at times", "excerpt": "Some friends use it more reluctantly and only sign on occasionally when they need something. I remember one friend vaguely describing a \"malaise\" when using Element for the first time, like something about the UI/UX bugged him but he didn't really elaborate. I assume some of them are using other stuff like Discord on the side, but I'm not sure since I don't. I think there is also some minor friction with the whole El", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}]}, {"label": "Mobile and voice", "summary": "One user reports the mobile app crashing and weak voice chat.", "quotes": [{"id": 751132657, "item_id": 46945791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945791", "by": "jszymborski", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho.", "excerpt": "So my friend group has been looking for alternatives for a while now that feel like discord, works on mobile and desktop, and has voice chat. I use Signal but the UI is very different from Discord. I've had very mixed experiences with Element + Matrix, Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho. I looked into hosting Rocket.chat, Zullip, and Mattermost but ", "context": "looking for Discord alternative for friend group", "use_case": "Discord alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month"}]}, {"label": "Spam exposure", "summary": "One user got abusive spam through Element Android notifications after joining public groups.", "quotes": [{"id": 751114272, "item_id": 46944642, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944642", "by": "Buxato", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam in form of Element Android notification.", "excerpt": "I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam in form of Element Android notification. I think it wasn't Matrix direct fault, but as I used some Matrix chat groups and the list of member was public .. But I got really alarmed and angry when I receive so disgusting spam.", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT"}]}, {"label": "Naming confusion", "summary": "The Element versus Matrix naming confuses some users, especially older family members.", "quotes": [{"id": 801292065, "item_id": 50080754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080754", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the Element branding feels a bit too strong at times", "excerpt": "Some friends use it more reluctantly and only sign on occasionally when they need something. I remember one friend vaguely describing a \"malaise\" when using Element for the first time, like something about the UI/UX bugged him but he didn't really elaborate. I assume some of them are using other stuff like Discord on the side, but I'm not sure since I don't. I think there is also some minor friction with the whole El", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}]}], "who": [{"by": "pelasaco", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "date": "2026-08-01"}, {"by": "Bockit", "context": "software developer with 10+ years experience, builds personal software for family", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568206", "date": "2026-03-29"}, {"by": "teekert", "context": "organizes a FOSDEM devroom", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989545", "date": "2025-11-19"}], "tags": ["self-hostable", "for teams", "for family chat", "for open-source communities"], "use_cases": ["matrix client", "main messaging", "messaging", "company chat client", "family chat client", "discord alternative"], "compared": [{"slug": "matrix", "name": "Matrix", "co": 8, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "slack", "name": "Slack", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "discord", "name": "Discord", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "telegram", "name": "Telegram", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "rocket-chat", "name": "Rocket.Chat", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "signal", "name": "Signal", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45987179", "title": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944245", "title": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50041540", "title": "IRCv3", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49920234", "title": "Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809806", "title": "The new CC, an AI agent built for families", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49590512", "title": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 2, "warn": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"warn": 3}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801292065, "item_id": 50080754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080754", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the Element branding feels a bit too strong at times", "excerpt": "Some friends use it more reluctantly and only sign on occasionally when they need something. I remember one friend vaguely describing a \"malaise\" when using Element for the first time, like something about the UI/UX bugged him but he didn't really elaborate. I assume some of them are using other stuff like Discord on the side, but I'm not sure since I don't. I think there is also some minor friction with the whole El", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 798776432, "item_id": 49923527, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49923527", "by": "xethos", "date": "2026-10-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Main messaging app can be Telegram, Whatsapp, or (in my case) Element.", "excerpt": "This is actually exactly why I avoid this advice: wiping your phone, and setting it back up later, is a pain in the ass. Especially when you're meant to be on vacation, or exhausted from returning from one. And if it's a pain in the ass, it likely won't get done. The below isn't perfect, but minimizing legal things that CBP can make a case of doesn't have to be all-or-nothing At this point recommending the minimum th", "context": "", "use_case": "main messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant"}, {"id": 796969218, "item_id": 49810576, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49810576", "by": "jeena", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "any device where I have a matrix client like Element set up", "excerpt": "One is pi.dev on the console, but because the KB is a git repository I have it on each computer. On top of that I also run Hermes Agent and have set up there one agent to be responsible for the KB stuff and that one I connected to a Matrix channel and can use it from the phone and any device where I have a matrix client like Element set up. With pi.dev I use it in a container https://git.jeena.net/jeena/agent-contain", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new CC, an AI agent built for families"}, {"id": 793602226, "item_id": 49600139, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49600139", "by": "NewJazz", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you should take a look at e.g. Cheogram, Conversations, and Element and consider ways to enhance integration", "excerpt": "Yes I understand your point re: interoperability, and I think you've made a convincing case for RCS. I think in the short term, you should take a look at e.g. Cheogram, Conversations, and Element and consider ways to enhance integration. Address book integration, automatically extending contact do not disturb exceptions, and maybe even dialer integration. In the long term, it would be best to try to guage antitrust r", "context": "", "use_case": "messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard"}, {"id": 786120849, "item_id": 49132553, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132553", "by": "pelasaco", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Long live to Matrix/Element!", "excerpt": "said that, i manage a matrix instance in my company for more than 500 users, and everything works just fine. I like their device authorization models, their stack is easy to maintain and update. Everything works flawless. I used to maintain rocket chat in the same order of magnitude and it was a mess. I deploy it in Kubernetes + Authentik and I am pretty happy with the results. Long live to Matrix/Element!", "context": "manages Matrix instance for 500+ users at company", "use_case": "company chat client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}, {"id": 761091297, "item_id": 47568206, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568206", "by": "Bockit", "date": "2026-03-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element", "excerpt": "It\u2019s such a fun time to have 1+ decade(s) of experience in software. Knowing what simple and good are (for me), and being able to articulate it has let me create so much personal software for myself and my family. It has really felt like turning ideas into reality, about as fast as I can think of them or they can suggest them. And adding specific features, just for our needs. The latest one was a slack canvas replace", "context": "software developer with 10+ years experience, builds personal software for family", "use_case": "family chat client", "switched_from": "Slack", "story": "Coding Agents Could Make Free Software Matter Again"}, {"id": 751171249, "item_id": 46948203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948203", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I didn't like the UI at all, it felt like Teams but more clunky?", "excerpt": "There is this phenomena where users of a product say they want something. But what they want is very different. People are not good at telling you what really matters to them. That's the main obstacle of Matrix's adaption I think. Matrix tries to copy-cat all these other products. But in the end it feels like something trying to be all sorts of things and not quite doing it as well as the originals in every way. Plus", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT"}, {"id": 751132657, "item_id": 46945791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945791", "by": "jszymborski", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho.", "excerpt": "So my friend group has been looking for alternatives for a while now that feel like discord, works on mobile and desktop, and has voice chat. I use Signal but the UI is very different from Discord. I've had very mixed experiences with Element + Matrix, Element keeps crashing on mobile, and while voice chat kinda exists in Element it's not been great imho. I looked into hosting Rocket.chat, Zullip, and Mattermost but ", "context": "looking for Discord alternative for friend group", "use_case": "Discord alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month"}, {"id": 751114272, "item_id": 46944642, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944642", "by": "Buxato", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam in form of Element Android notification.", "excerpt": "I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam in form of Element Android notification. I think it wasn't Matrix direct fault, but as I used some Matrix chat groups and the list of member was public .. But I got really alarmed and angry when I receive so disgusting spam.", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT"}, {"id": 735890560, "item_id": 45993160, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45993160", "by": "superkuh", "date": "2025-11-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Riot.im/Element.io really knows how to shoot themselves in the foot.", "excerpt": "This basically means that Matrix will stop working for my parents and other family: the only people I use matrix for. We started during the pandemic for the video chat element. But Riot.im/Element.io changes to the homeserver over these many years have made it so none of our accounts properly verify. I can't even get my account to properly verify and I'm a huge nerd. We put up with it because of inertia and chat stil", "context": "uses Matrix with parents and family", "use_case": "family video chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735832720, "item_id": 45989545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989545", "by": "teekert", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Martix/Element", "excerpt": "I love Martix/Element, and about the only thing I don't like is that I need moar features! We have a space with several rooms for our FOSDEM devroom, it's been working flawlessly, including for all our video calls with many participants. Thanx Element team!!", "context": "organizes a FOSDEM devroom", "use_case": "FOSDEM devroom chat and video calls", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735825649, "item_id": 45989103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989103", "by": "pfych", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified.", "excerpt": "I use Thunderbird as my main Matrix client since it's already always open on my PC and is Lightweight. Whenever I open Element or any other client (Nheko, etc.) they all complain about each-other being unverified. Clicking verify in any client does nothing. No popups in any other clients - doesn't ever seem to do anything. Sometimes Element will pop up a QR reader but there's no QR presented in the other clients. The", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735801504, "item_id": 45987594, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45987594", "by": "jerrythegerbil", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love element, but this can\u2019t be done without prior work to address.", "excerpt": "As someone whose devices randomly became unverified just a few months ago, signed out, and then tried to use my recovery keys: I was authenticated, but unverified. When attempting to verify iOS, Desktop linux didn\u2019t work. When attempting to verify Desktop Linux, Desktop Windows didn\u2019t work. When verifying Android, iOS didn\u2019t work. Every verified official client for every platform was verified, tried a different verif", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory"}, {"id": 735738980, "item_id": 45983686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45983686", "by": "joecool1029", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "with nheko or element via matrix", "excerpt": "> Telegram, for all its faults, has an excellent desktop app. Their developers are also very responsive to PR's, I have a couple GCC build fixes in it. I really soured on Signal early with when running BB10, they would not let us fork and use/distribute websocket builds to get around not having google play services on available on that platform: https://github.com/libresignal/libresignal/issues/37#issuecomment-217211", "context": "", "use_case": "Matrix desktop client", "switched_from": "", "story": "I just want working RCS messaging"}]}