{"slug": "ente-auth", "name": "Ente Auth", "category": "security", "category_name": "Security and passwords", "description": "Open-source, end-to-end encrypted two-factor authentication (TOTP) app from Ente.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.755, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-03-25", "latest": "2026-09-18", "why": "HN commenters recommend Ente Auth for TOTP codes, often after leaving Authy or Aegis, citing peace of mind if a phone breaks and apps on Android, iOS and Linux desktop.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 0, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Cross-platform", "Authy/Aegis alternative"], "caveat": "Confusing branding", "short_quote": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend.", "icon": true, "domain": "ente.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://ente.com/auth/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Ente Auth", "ente auth"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters recommend Ente Auth for TOTP codes, often after leaving Authy or Aegis,", "cites": [{"id": 777450048, "item_id": 48590628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590628", "by": "mcfly_c-137", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend.", "excerpt": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend. i also force most apps on iOS to ask for face id (long press on app icon to set this). [0] https://ente.com/auth/", "context": "iOS user", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware"}, {"id": 796045936, "item_id": 49752871, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752871", "by": "croon", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "excerpt": "I stopped using Authy when they were bought by Twilio and stopped supporting their desktop client (thus eliminating my alternate device backups). I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA authenticator", "switched_from": "Authy", "story": "Ask HN: How to recover Google auth after phone stolen?"}, {"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}]}, {"text": " citing peace of mind if a phone breaks and apps on Android, iOS and Linux desktop.", "cites": [{"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}, {"id": 760273536, "item_id": 47517096, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47517096", "by": "moqster", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it.", "excerpt": "Heard the first time about them (ente) yesterday in a discussion about \"which 2FA are u using?\". Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it. Going to give this a try...", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}, {"id": 777450048, "item_id": 48590628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590628", "by": "mcfly_c-137", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend.", "excerpt": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend. i also force most apps on iOS to ask for face id (long press on app icon to set this). [0] https://ente.com/auth/", "context": "iOS user", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware"}]}, {"text": " Caveats include confusing Ente website branding that steers users to Ente Photos", "cites": [{"id": 760294208, "item_id": 47518388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518388", "by": "jasongill", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Ente Auth", "excerpt": "I love Ente Auth, but Ente (as a company/organization) does a somewhat poor job of calling out their non-photos apps in their branding and on their website. If you go to the \"Download\" button at the top of the page on this page about their LLM chat app, it downloads... their photo sharing application. If you click Sign Up, it takes you to a signup page with the browser title \"Ente Photos\" but the page text says \"Priv", "context": "", "use_case": "authenticator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}]}, {"text": ", and one commenter sees it as a limited subset of tools like 1Password.", "cites": [{"id": 780310273, "item_id": 48769392, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48769392", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "excerpt": "I use and like Ente Photos a lot but I\u2019ve never understood the appeal of their other products. Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Immich v3.0.0 Released"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Cross-platform", "summary": "Commenters use it on Android, iOS and Linux desktop.", "quotes": [{"id": 760273536, "item_id": 47517096, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47517096", "by": "moqster", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it.", "excerpt": "Heard the first time about them (ente) yesterday in a discussion about \"which 2FA are u using?\". Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it. Going to give this a try...", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}, {"id": 777450048, "item_id": 48590628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590628", "by": "mcfly_c-137", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend.", "excerpt": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend. i also force most apps on iOS to ask for face id (long press on app icon to set this). [0] https://ente.com/auth/", "context": "iOS user", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware"}]}, {"label": "Authy/Aegis alternative", "summary": "Commenters switched to it from Authy and Aegis and recommend it.", "quotes": [{"id": 796045936, "item_id": 49752871, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752871", "by": "croon", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "excerpt": "I stopped using Authy when they were bought by Twilio and stopped supporting their desktop client (thus eliminating my alternate device backups). I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA authenticator", "switched_from": "Authy", "story": "Ask HN: How to recover Google auth after phone stolen?"}, {"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}]}, {"label": "Backup peace of mind", "summary": "Chosen for peace of mind in case a phone breaks, which matters to users who lost device backups elsewhere.", "quotes": [{"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}, {"id": 796045936, "item_id": 49752871, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752871", "by": "croon", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "excerpt": "I stopped using Authy when they were bought by Twilio and stopped supporting their desktop client (thus eliminating my alternate device backups). I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA authenticator", "switched_from": "Authy", "story": "Ask HN: How to recover Google auth after phone stolen?"}]}, {"label": "Privacy Guides listed", "summary": "One commenter notes it appears on the Privacy Guides recommendations list.", "quotes": [{"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Confusing branding", "summary": "Ente's website mixes up its apps, with downloads and signups pointing to Ente Photos.", "quotes": [{"id": 760294208, "item_id": 47518388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518388", "by": "jasongill", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Ente Auth", "excerpt": "I love Ente Auth, but Ente (as a company/organization) does a somewhat poor job of calling out their non-photos apps in their branding and on their website. If you go to the \"Download\" button at the top of the page on this page about their LLM chat app, it downloads... their photo sharing application. If you click Sign Up, it takes you to a signup page with the browser title \"Ente Photos\" but the page text says \"Priv", "context": "", "use_case": "authenticator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}]}, {"label": "Limited features", "summary": "One commenter sees it as a limited feature subset of tools like 1Password.", "quotes": [{"id": 780310273, "item_id": 48769392, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48769392", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "excerpt": "I use and like Ente Photos a lot but I\u2019ve never understood the appeal of their other products. Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Immich v3.0.0 Released"}]}, {"label": "Security tradeoff", "summary": "One user says Aegis might technically be a bit more secure.", "quotes": [{"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}]}], "who": [{"by": "mcfly_c-137", "context": "iOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590628", "date": "2026-06-18"}], "tags": ["for Authy switchers", "for Linux users", "for Android users", "for iOS users", "privacy-focused"], "use_cases": ["totp codes", "2fa authenticator", "authenticator", "2fa"], "compared": [{"slug": "authy", "name": "Authy", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "aegis", "name": "Aegis", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47516650", "title": "Local LLM by Ente", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49742976", "title": "Ask HN: How to recover Google auth after phone stolen?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49007374", "title": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48761944", "title": "Immich v3.0.0 Released", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48583928", "title": "I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 796045936, "item_id": 49752871, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752871", "by": "croon", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "excerpt": "I stopped using Authy when they were bought by Twilio and stopped supporting their desktop client (thus eliminating my alternate device backups). I can highly recommend Ente Auth though.", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA authenticator", "switched_from": "Authy", "story": "Ask HN: How to recover Google auth after phone stolen?"}, {"id": 784293504, "item_id": 49018344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018344", "by": "FireInsight", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden", "excerpt": "Ente Auth. Obviously not Bitwarden, I don't even know why that's an option. Having your 1st and 2nd factors in the same place seems foolish. I used to use Aegis, which might technically be a bit more secure, but Ente is also on the PrivacyGuides recommendations list (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/multi-factor-authentication/#ente-auth), so I opted to use it for more peace of mind in case my phone breaks.", "context": "", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "Aegis", "story": "Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain"}, {"id": 780310273, "item_id": 48769392, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48769392", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "excerpt": "I use and like Ente Photos a lot but I\u2019ve never understood the appeal of their other products. Ente Auth and Locker both seem like limited feature subsets of solutions like 1Password.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Immich v3.0.0 Released"}, {"id": 777450048, "item_id": 48590628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590628", "by": "mcfly_c-137", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend.", "excerpt": "For TOTP i use ente auth[0], which i can higly recommend. i also force most apps on iOS to ask for face id (long press on app icon to set this). [0] https://ente.com/auth/", "context": "iOS user", "use_case": "TOTP codes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware"}, {"id": 760294208, "item_id": 47518388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47518388", "by": "jasongill", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Ente Auth", "excerpt": "I love Ente Auth, but Ente (as a company/organization) does a somewhat poor job of calling out their non-photos apps in their branding and on their website. If you go to the \"Download\" button at the top of the page on this page about their LLM chat app, it downloads... their photo sharing application. If you click Sign Up, it takes you to a signup page with the browser title \"Ente Photos\" but the page text says \"Priv", "context": "", "use_case": "authenticator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}, {"id": 760273536, "item_id": 47517096, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47517096", "by": "moqster", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it.", "excerpt": "Heard the first time about them (ente) yesterday in a discussion about \"which 2FA are u using?\". Directly switched to https://ente.com/auth/ on Android and Linux Desktop and very happy with it. Going to give this a try...", "context": "", "use_case": "2FA", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local LLM by Ente"}]}