Matrix
Open, federated protocol and network for decentralized real-time chat, used through clients like Element.
Valued as an open-source, federated chat system123 that is simple to self-host for teams and communities, up to hundreds of users.456 The most common complaint is a rough, confusing user experience that is hard to explain to non-technical friends789, with others reporting slow, buggy clients.101112
Why people recommend it
Easy self-hosting · 3
Admins say running their own server is simple and low-maintenance, from small groups to 500+ users.
“Long live to Matrix/Element!”
“Been using matrix for years now. Even operating a server for a small community.”
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“we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element”
Open and federated · 3
Commenters value that it is open source, federated and gives them control over their data.
“But it's good enough, open source, and federated.”
“We now spend more than we did with Discord but the data sovereignty is worth it.”
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“I think it's a great system, it's perfect for government systems too.”
Community use · 3
Groups report it working well for community spaces, including video calls with many participants.
“I love Martix/Element”
“Been using matrix for years now. Even operating a server for a small community.”
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“This is my documentation for setting up a Matrix server for private group-chat use”
Client choice · 2
Users are not stuck with Element and can pick from many clients, including Cinny and TUI options.
“I recommend people to check out the matrix ecosystem of clients to see what they like”
“Take one of the Matrix clients and swap out the backend?”
No phone required · 1
One user preferred it to Signal because it does not require a phone or phone number.
“It seems much better in this regard - it's not mobile first and it doesn't require ongoing access to a phone number.”
Caveats and dissent
Rough UX · 3
Many find the UI/UX poor and too complicated for typical users.
“Matrix is awful. I used it on and off, and self-hosted it too. It's slow, bloated”
“I really really hope people would stop recommending it.”
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“I love the idea of Matrix but the complexity of key management and federation for the average person is far too high.”
Slow and buggy · 3
Some report slow, bloated software, crashes on mobile and things breaking over time.
“Matrix is awful. I used it on and off, and self-hosted it too. It's slow, bloated”
“last time I used it everything was a slow, buggy mess.”
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“I've had very mixed experiences with Element + Matrix”
Encryption friction · 3
Key management and verification are confusing, and some cite unresolved cryptography issues.
“Matrix is well known for having lingering issues in its cryptography implementations”
“I love the idea of Matrix but the complexity of key management and federation for the average person is far too high.”
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“notifications were beyond broken and we moved to Zulip, verification and authentication were also very funky”
Bot integration · 2
Strict end-to-end encryption and edit limits make running bots awkward.
“It's nice but a bit too strict on end to end encryption which gets in the way if you actually want to share information with bots.”
Resource costs · 2
Self-hosting can be costly in compute, storage or money compared with alternatives.
“The computational/storage costs for Matrix really were way too burdensome though.”
“We now spend more than we did with Discord but the data sovereignty is worth it.”
Spam exposure · 1
One user deleted their account after receiving nasty spam via public room member lists.
“I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam”
Often compared with
2 moved from Discord to Matrix
1 moved from Signal to Matrix
1 moved from Matrix to Signal
2 moved from Slack to MatrixZulip5 comments mention both
2 moved from Matrix to Zulip
1 moved from Rocket.Chat to Matrix
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Verifying your Matrix devices is becoming mandatory 5 mentions
- Discord Alternatives, Ranked 3 mentions
- IRCv3 2 mentions
- A Week in Matrix 2 mentions
- Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month 2 mentions
- Matrix messaging gaining ground in government IT 2 mentions
Data: matrix.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 39
“Other than email, Matrix, and online forums like this one”
“synced end-to-end encrypted between your devices via Matrix”
“it does seem like Matrix gets unfairly ragged on a bit”
“But it's good enough, open source, and federated.”
“do everything and we cater for every possible scenario but be great at nothing like matrix”
“Been using matrix for years now. Even operating a server for a small community.”
“It was a tremendous shame that Matrix didn't improve upon XMPP and instead did their own thing.”
“though I use Matrix and only have two agents”
“Long live to Matrix/Element!”
“in the end it rendered itself unusable to me before I had decided to abandon it of my own volition.”
“It's nice but a bit too strict on end to end encryption which gets in the way if you actually want to share information with bots.”
“Matrix is awful. I used it on and off, and self-hosted it too. It's slow, bloated”
“running it with bots is a bit convoluted”
“That's why we ditched Slack for Matrix. Slack is hopelessly locked down and tedious to deal with. Matrix is super easy for this.”
“Matrix is well known for having lingering issues in its cryptography implementations”
“This is my documentation for setting up a Matrix server for private group-chat use”
“we moved from slack to self-hosted matrix + element”
“I do not use any of them, I use Matrix.”
“We now spend more than we did with Discord but the data sovereignty is worth it.”
“Matrix has been frustrating, that I can say.”
“I recommend people to check out the matrix ecosystem of clients to see what they like”
“I really really hope people would stop recommending it.”
“I haven't had much luck moving friends off of the platform and on to things like Matrix, or Signal yet... but I'm trying all the time.”
“I think it's a great system, it's perfect for government systems too.”
“I've had very mixed experiences with Element + Matrix”
“I deleted my matrix account after I receive some very nasty spam”
“IRC and Matrix servers for digital archiving ops”
“If I go with Zulip, mattermost, rocket.chat, matrix, etc I introduce maintenance overhead”
“The computational/storage costs for Matrix really were way too burdensome though.”
“I love the idea of Matrix but the complexity of key management and federation for the average person is far too high.”
“It seems much better in this regard - it's not mobile first and it doesn't require ongoing access to a phone number.”
“Take one of the Matrix clients and swap out the backend?”
“I loved Matrix but I'm starting to hate the way they force these things through.”
“I really want to love matrix but it always turned bad/broken at some point.”
“notifications were beyond broken and we moved to Zulip, verification and authentication were also very funky”
“I love Martix/Element”
“last time I used it everything was a slow, buggy mess.”
“I bridge signal to matrix on my homeserver”
“adopting it (even partially) was/is a big mess”