{"slug": "wire", "name": "Wire", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 7, "warners": 2, "score": 1.42, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-11-29", "latest": "2026-07-31", "why": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "thewire.ink", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://thewire.ink", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Wire", "The Wire", "wire"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786106160, "item_id": 49131635, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49131635", "by": "joker99", "date": "2026-07-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You\u2018re describing Wire.", "excerpt": "You\u2018re describing Wire. One could quibble about the FOSS part but it is open source (gplv3 or agpl). It\u2019s used by a bunch of European governments and agencies, as well as American agencies, has regular security reviews and thanks to MLS, supports groups with more than 2k clients. Self hosting is a bit of a pain, but people are doing it. Give it a try", "context": "", "use_case": "E2EE group messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}, {"id": 750484768, "item_id": 46905298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905298", "by": "b-mmxx", "date": "2026-02-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There is Wire with HQ in Berlin, Germany.", "excerpt": "There is Wire with HQ in Berlin, Germany. https://wire.com/en/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams"}, {"id": 737381616, "item_id": 46086351, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46086351", "by": "homebrewer", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support", "excerpt": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support almost a decade ago, long before it became mainstream. Fully FOSS too, including the server. For some reason it never became popular. They don't have proper desktop clients (just the usual Electron mess), but then, which one of them does except for Telegram? https://github.com/wireapp/wire-server , etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Molly: An Improved Signal App"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 767131761, "item_id": 47945735, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945735", "by": "Arathorn", "date": "2026-04-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "being vendorlocked to Wire (open source but closed and locked to a German/Swiss for-profit)", "excerpt": "there is a definite irony in switching from being vendorlocked to Signal (open source but closed and locked to a US non-profit) to being vendorlocked to Wire (open source but closed and locked to a German/Swiss for-profit) - talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire :) Meanwhile the rest of Europe (and much of the rest of Germany) seems to have converged on Matrix as a genuine open standard with various di", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wire to Replace Signal as Standard in the Bundestag"}, {"id": 737388544, "item_id": 46086784, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46086784", "by": "almogo", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Pretty, but the actual user experience was awful.", "excerpt": "I moved all my friends to Wire about a decade ago. Pretty, but the actual user experience was awful. We moved to Telegram and since then to Signal. I didn't actually know Wire was FOSS.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Molly: An Improved Signal App"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["e2ee group messaging", "encrypted messaging"], "compared": [{"slug": "matrix", "name": "Matrix", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "signal", "name": "Signal", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 783010160, "item_id": 48938135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48938135", "by": "laul_pogan", "date": "2026-07-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I develop a similar tool open source tool called wire (wireup.net)", "excerpt": "I find that the real problem tends to be identity and trust across sessions- ideally there are ways to enable zero-knowledge trust between two agents in different environments. I develop a similar tool open source tool called wire (wireup.net) https://github.com/SlanchaAi/wire", "context": "", "use_case": "trust between coding agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Agent-talk: Enabling coding agents to work together"}, {"id": 766433728, "item_id": 47902108, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902108", "by": "nmilodev", "date": "2026-04-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Check it out", "excerpt": "Like many of us, I found it hard to keep up with all the news and developments from the AI world. Staying on top of this amazing but fast-moving tech felt more challenging and time-consuming than it should be. With new breakthroughs, models, tools, and discussions emerging every day, spread across research labs, communities, newsletters, and countless websites. Trying to keep track of it all quickly becomes overwhelm", "context": "", "use_case": "AI news aggregation", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI News Aggregator \u2013 The Wire"}, {"id": 752853440, "item_id": 47053340, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47053340", "by": "stcredzero", "date": "2026-02-17", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "My agents and I I have built a HN-like forum for both agents and humans", "excerpt": "My agents and I I have built a HN-like forum for both agents and humans, but with features, like specific Prompt Injection flagging. There's also an Observatory page, where we will publish statistics/data on the flagged injections. https://wire.botsters.dev/ The observatory is at: https://wire.botsters.dev/observatory (But nothing there yet.) I just had my agent, FootGun, build a Hacker News invite system. Let me kno", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "HackMyClaw"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46080916", "title": "Molly: An Improved Signal App", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49130295", "title": "A Week in Matrix", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48936534", "title": "Agent-talk: Enabling coding agents to work together", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168233", "title": "Secure Messaging Apps Have Solved Encryption. The Rest Is the Problem", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945192", "title": "Wire to Replace Signal as Standard in the Bundestag", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902107", "title": "AI News Aggregator \u2013 The Wire", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"warn": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 786106160, "item_id": 49131635, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49131635", "by": "joker99", "date": "2026-07-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You\u2018re describing Wire.", "excerpt": "You\u2018re describing Wire. One could quibble about the FOSS part but it is open source (gplv3 or agpl). It\u2019s used by a bunch of European governments and agencies, as well as American agencies, has regular security reviews and thanks to MLS, supports groups with more than 2k clients. Self hosting is a bit of a pain, but people are doing it. Give it a try", "context": "", "use_case": "E2EE group messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Week in Matrix"}, {"id": 770733216, "item_id": 48170826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48170826", "by": "Brandon-Coll", "date": "2026-05-17", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Wire deserves to be in there, you are right.", "excerpt": "Wire deserves to be in there, you are right. We actually have a dedicated xPal vs Wire breakdown here https://xpal.com/blogs/xpal-vs-wire-which-is-better-for-business-communication/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Secure Messaging Apps Have Solved Encryption. The Rest Is the Problem"}, {"id": 767131761, "item_id": 47945735, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945735", "by": "Arathorn", "date": "2026-04-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "being vendorlocked to Wire (open source but closed and locked to a German/Swiss for-profit)", "excerpt": "there is a definite irony in switching from being vendorlocked to Signal (open source but closed and locked to a US non-profit) to being vendorlocked to Wire (open source but closed and locked to a German/Swiss for-profit) - talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire :) Meanwhile the rest of Europe (and much of the rest of Germany) seems to have converged on Matrix as a genuine open standard with various di", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wire to Replace Signal as Standard in the Bundestag"}, {"id": 750484768, "item_id": 46905298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905298", "by": "b-mmxx", "date": "2026-02-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There is Wire with HQ in Berlin, Germany.", "excerpt": "There is Wire with HQ in Berlin, Germany. https://wire.com/en/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "European Commission Trials Matrix to Replace Teams"}, {"id": 748729859, "item_id": 46795616, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46795616", "by": "randomint64", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Matrix, Wire and many more are using a share, cross-platform Rust core", "excerpt": "That's right, Signal (https://kerkour.com/signal-app-rust), Proton (https://kerkour.com/proton-apps-rust), Matrix, Wire and many more are using a share, cross-platform Rust core and a platform-dependent UI layer. But it's not only the security-critical paths, but also most of the business logic (see the 2 posts above).", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rust at Scale: An Added Layer of Security for WhatsApp"}, {"id": 737388544, "item_id": 46086784, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46086784", "by": "almogo", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Pretty, but the actual user experience was awful.", "excerpt": "I moved all my friends to Wire about a decade ago. Pretty, but the actual user experience was awful. We moved to Telegram and since then to Signal. I didn't actually know Wire was FOSS.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Molly: An Improved Signal App"}, {"id": 737381616, "item_id": 46086351, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46086351", "by": "homebrewer", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support", "excerpt": "Wire was able to implement a fully E2E-encrypted messenger with proper multi-device support almost a decade ago, long before it became mainstream. Fully FOSS too, including the server. For some reason it never became popular. They don't have proper desktop clients (just the usual Electron mess), but then, which one of them does except for Telegram? https://github.com/wireapp/wire-server , etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted messaging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Molly: An Improved Signal App"}]}