Element review

Element is the pick for communities that want encryption and independence from any single platform. It runs on Matrix, an open, decentralized network, so a community can use a public server, a trusted provider or its own homeserver, and still talk to people on other Matrix servers. The personal app is free forever and covers rooms, threads, voice and video calls, screen sharing, polls, voice messages and read receipts. Element rewrote its encryption in Rust for the newer Element X app and says it is much faster in large encrypted rooms. Groups that self-host can use the free Element Server Suite Community, which includes Element Call, under the AGPL license. The downsides are friction and scale: members need to understand accounts tied to a homeserver, and Element notes its community Synapse server is not meant for production, pointing larger deployments to the paid Pro edition priced through sales.

Who it is for

Privacy-minded communities and open source projects that want encrypted chat and the option to run their own server.

Price

Personal Element app free forever; Element Server Suite Community is free to self-host; Pro priced per seat by sales.

Private communication between family, friends, hobby groups, clubs, etc. Download Free forever
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Rooms and threads on the open Matrix network
• End-to-end encryption, rewritten in Rust for Element X
• Voice and video calls for 1:1s and groups, with screen sharing
• Polls, voice messages, file and location sharing
• Free self-hosted Element Server Suite Community, including Element Call

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: No single company controls the network; you can self-host or pick a provider
• Strength: Encrypted by default for private rooms and messages
• Strength: Free personal app and free open source server
• Weakness: Matrix concepts like homeservers add setup friction for casual members
• Weakness: Enterprise Pro pricing is only available from sales
• Weakness: Community edition backend is not meant for production according to Element

Key facts

• Personal app: Free forever
• Network: Matrix, decentralized
• Self-hosted: Element Server Suite Community, AGPL
• Paid plan: Pro, priced per seat per month
• Certification: ISO/IEC 27001:2022

Where it ranks

Element is No. 3 in our Best Discord Alternatives verdict and No. 10 in Best Voice Chat Apps for Gamers.