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Should I use Matrix.org?

Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communications - matrix.org

Depends. Buy only if you specifically need federated or self-hosted encrypted chat and can tolerate rough edges. Skip if you want polished team chat out of the box — Slack, Discord, or Signal fit better.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~30 public sources: Reddit, Hacker News, official blogs, and CVE databases.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo direct support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Free account

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
PremiumSee pricing page

Best for

  • Privacy-focused communities
  • Self-hosters wanting federation
  • Open-source projects needing bridges
  • Teams that must own their data

Not for

  • Teams that just need a group chat — Discord or Signal does it with less pain
  • Non-technical users; client choice and onboarding confusion is a known complaint
  • Anyone expecting uptime guarantees or vendor SLAs from the free server
  • Buyers who can't tolerate sync bugs or room-history loss

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

bridges nearly shut down in 2025 unless $100k was raised; funding stays fragile

high

Users report corrupt-room and sync bugs severe enough to make them quit the platform

medium

Premium accounts introduced June 2025 to fund the free homeserver; sustainability uncertain

medium

Long CVE history including E2EE key-sharing bugs; patch servers and clients promptly

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Open federated protocol — choose any server or client, no single vendor owns chats
  • Free accounts on the homeserver
  • Bridges connect Discord, Slack and other networks
  • End-to-end encryption with public vulnerability disclosures
  • Wide ecosystem of clients and servers

Cons

  • Reviewers call it 'a great idea with poor execution'
  • Prominent users publicly gave up on Element and in July 2025
  • Foundation funding fragile; bridges faced shutdown without $100k
  • 89 public CVEs across Matrix components
  • Repeated reliability and data-loss complaints from long-time users

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 14 sources - Active disclosure program, but heavy history: 89 tracked CVEs and a 2019 server breach. Patch fast.

official x4review x5security x4news x1
  • 2019 infrastructure breach, Attacker gained access to infrastructure; post-mortem and remediations published.
  • E2EE key-sharing vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-40823, CVE-2021-40824), Bugs in end-to-end encryption key sharing, disclosed September 2021.
  • matrix-js-sdk bug CVE-2022-39250, Vulnerability in the matrix-js-sdk tracked in the NVD.
  • Coordinated ecosystem fix, July 2025, Pre-disclosure of a coordinated security fix for all homeservers; security release followed in August 2025.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Free server and protocol; premium added to fund it
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Poor execution and onboarding confusion widely reported
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Federation, E2EE, bridges to Discord and Slack
  • Support quality. No direct support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture: 2/5. 89 CVEs, 2019 breach, though disclosure is active
  • 89 Public CVEs Tracked under the Matrix vendor
  • Yes Free tier Premium accounts added June 2025 to fund the server
  • 2014 Protocol launched Open standard, Apache-licensed spec
  • UK non-profit Operator Ran public funding appeal in Feb 2025

Pricing

Free account

Free

  • matrix.org homeserver account
  • Core federated chat features

Premium

See pricing page

  • Introduced June 2025
  • Funds matrix.org homeserver operations

Security

Active disclosure program, but heavy history: 89 tracked CVEs and a 2019 server breach.

  • 2019 infrastructure breachAttacker gained access to infrastructure; post-mortem and remediations published.10
  • E2EE key-sharing vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-40823, CVE-2021-40824)Bugs in end-to-end encryption key sharing, disclosed September 2021.11

Patch fast.

  • matrix-js-sdk bug CVE-2022-39250Vulnerability in the matrix-js-sdk tracked in the NVD.
  • Coordinated ecosystem fix, July 2025Pre-disclosure of a coordinated security fix for all homeservers; security release followed in August 2025.12

What users say

Users praise the federated vision but frequently report buggy clients, sync corruption, and publicly quit in 2025.

“Matrix is a great idea with poor execution”
Reddit, r/matrixdotorg
“I tried matrix.org and it wasn't great!”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
“Matrix is basically a case study in how not to design”
Hacker News

Alternatives

Compare Matrix.org with each alternative.

  • Signal

    Best private messaging without self-hosting hassle

  • Discord

    Polished free community chat, though centralized

  • Slack

    Standard team chat with reliable apps and support

    Matrix.org vs Slack
Full analysis

Based on ~30 public sources: Reddit, Hacker News, official blogs, and CVE databases.

Open federated chat: great idea, buggy execution. 89 CVEs, funding woes, users quitting. Worth it only for self-hosters.

Methodology

Based on ~30 public sources: Reddit, Hacker News, official blogs, and CVE databases.

Sources

  1. Matrix is a great idea with poor executionreddit.com
    review
  2. Giving Up on Element & Matrix.orgxn--gckvb8fzb.com
    review
  3. Giving Up on Element and Matrix.org (HN)news.ycombinator.com
    review
  4. How many of you gave up on Matrixreddit.com
    review
  5. Matrix.org bridges to shut down unless $100k raisedreddit.com
    news
  6. We're at a crossroads — funding appealmatrix.org
    official
  7. Introducing premium accountsmatrix.org
    official
  8. Matrix.org Homeserver Pricingmatrix.org
    official
  9. Matrix CVEs — OpenCVE (89 found)app.opencve.io
    security
  10. 2019 security breach postmatrix.org
    security
  11. E2EE key-sharing vulnerability disclosurematrix.org
    security
  12. July 2025 coordinated security fix pre-disclosurematrix.org
    security
  13. Matrix (protocol) — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    official
  14. Element (Matrix) reviewshortlisted.tools
    review

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