--- title: Element Reviews meta_title: 'Element Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 43 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Element works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.2 review_count: 43 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-17' parent_category: name: Internal Communications url: https://www.g2.com/categories/internal-communications --- # Element Reviews **Vendor:** Element **Category:** [Business Instant Messaging Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/business-instant-messaging) **Average Rating:** 4.2/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 43 ## About Element Element is a secure communications platform built on Matrix: a decentralised and end-to-end encrypted protocol. Bring your teams together, boost productivity and workplace satisfaction, while retaining complete ownership of your data. Element is a leader in the Forrester Wave: Secure Communications report. Easily collaborate with your partners, suppliers or clients with video calls and instant messaging: like email for the 21st century. You can even connect your Slack, MS Teams, WhatsApp accounts. On the other hand Element can be closed for high security environments using secure border and cross domain gateways, and even air-gapped deployments. Being built on Matrix, there is no single point of failure for the network thanks to the decentralised network architecture, making it perfect for mission-critical environments. Please contact us to explore how your business can benefit from Element. ## Element Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **strong security** of Element, feeling reassured by its end-to-end encryption and privacy features. (4 reviews) - Users appreciate the **ease of use** of Element, highlighting its straightforward setup and flexible collaboration features. (3 reviews) - Users value the **strong connectivity** of Element, making team collaboration efficient and secure across various projects. (2 reviews) - Users appreciate the **customization options** of Element, enhancing team communication while ensuring strong security and privacy. (2 reviews) - Users find Element **configurable and secure** , with effective file transfer and search capabilities enhancing their messaging experience. (2 reviews) - Users value the **media sharing capabilities** of Element, appreciating its support for file transfer and search functionalities. (2 reviews) - Peer Connection (2 reviews) - Collaboration (1 reviews) - Users value the **effective communication** features of Element, facilitating collaboration with ease and security. (1 reviews) - Convenience (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the interface **not intuitive** , requiring a learning curve to navigate features and functionalities effectively. (3 reviews) - Users find the **complexity overwhelming** for non-tech users, complicating the experience compared to streamlined alternatives. (2 reviews) - Users experience **notification delays** with Element, making it challenging to stay updated on messages and tasks. (2 reviews) - Users find the **learning difficulty** of Element challenging due to its complexity and less intuitive features compared to competitors. (2 reviews) - Users report significant **status issues** with delayed notifications and unresponsive tech support, leading to frustration. (2 reviews) - Users report **poor customer support** and unresponsive tech assistance, leading to unresolved issues and frustration. (1 reviews) - Difficult Navigation (1 reviews) - Users report significant **file sharing issues** and lack of customer support, leading to frustration and unresolved problems. (1 reviews) - Group Management (1 reviews) - Users report significant **integration issues** with Element, compounded by a lack of responsive customer support. (1 reviews) ## Element Reviews ### 1. Intuitive, Secure Communication at a Fair Price **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ariel B. | Interpreter, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 28, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** I really like the range of security features they’ve implemented for secure communication. I also find the app very intuitive and easy to use. On top of that, I think the pricing is very fair and accurate for the quality of the service. **What do you dislike about Element?** There isn’t anything I dislike yet. We implemented this software recently, so I haven’t had enough time to explore all of its features. That said, I do feel that during calls the performance on my laptop may be a little worse. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element helps solve one of the most important challenges in any company: clear communication between employees, across departments, and with new hires. ### 2. Decentralized, Encrypted Control with Flexible Self-Hosting **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Oil & Energy | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 08, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** Element's best aspect is that their platform has been built with a decentralised model, built on a matrix protocol, which gives us complete control over data and communication. They also have end-to-end encryption, the flexibility to self-host, and the capability to connect across different servers, which is unique among other tools. This platform is also giving more customisations and extensively integrated third-party apps. **What do you dislike about Element?** This platform's learning curve is a bit complex, specifically for non-technical users, they platform based concepts are a bit confusing at the initial stage. Their user interface should be polished more, and onboarding new users is also a bit complex. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element solves the need of having secure communication infrastructure. This is particularly very important for business which relys on Saas tools, because of the privacy and compliance concerns. This platform also gives us complete control over communication and other forms of data storage, which helps us by reducing the dependencies on the other third party platforms and apps. ### 3. Decentralized Security with a Learning Curve **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Akansha C. | Infra Managed Service Analyst, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 21, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** I use Element primarily because of its decentralized architecture and robust End-to-End Encryption, which is crucial for maintaining data sovereignty in my work with Azure and network security. I love that Element runs on the Matrix protocol, giving me the flexibility to self-host our communications and connect with other ecosystems through 'bridges.' It's great for consolidating fragmented communications into one encrypted interface, drastically reducing my 'context-switching' time while still maintaining a zero-trust security posture. I appreciate its modern UX that aligns with tools like Slack but offers the transparency and security that proprietary tools can't match. Element serves as an incredible centralized communication hub by allowing me to integrate my Slack and Discord channels, as well as connecting with our CI/CD pipelines through webhooks for real-time alerts, all within a securely encrypted 'command center.' **What do you dislike about Element?** While I value the security of Element, the user experience for non-technical stakeholders could be improved. The barrier to entry—specifically managing encryption keys and understanding decentralized homeservers—is high. I believe the platform would benefit from a more streamlined onboarding process and a more 'plug-and-play' approach to its bridging features, which would help drive wider adoption in less technical departments. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element ensures data sovereignty and security, allowing decentralized self-hosting to keep our communications secure. It consolidates communication channels, reducing context-switching and improving productivity with its encrypted 'command center.' ### 4. Flexible, Secure Team Communication Made Simple **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Phillip P. | Cyber Security Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** What I appreciate most about Element is its flexibility and strong security for team communication. The end-to-end encryption reassures me that our conversations remain private, and setting up and managing channels for various projects or groups is straightforward. Overall, it really streamlines collaboration and helps keep our team connected and organised. **What do you dislike about Element?** What I find most frustrating about Element is that it sometimes feels slow or a bit clunky, particularly when managing large groups or a high volume of messages. Additionally, some features are not as intuitive as those on other chat platforms, which means there is a slight learning curve. However, after becoming familiar with it, I find that it functions effectively. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element addresses the challenge of secure and organised team communication. Rather than depending on lengthy email threads or juggling several messaging platforms, it brings all conversations together in a single space with robust privacy controls. This leads to quicker collaboration, reduces the chances of miscommunication, and ensures that sensitive discussions remain protected, ultimately making the team both more efficient and secure. ### 5. Effortless and Effective with Minor Performance Tweaks **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Briana B. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 28, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** I like everything about Element. It allows us to maneuver around all the hard district issues we have, especially with computers and time management. It's also super easy to setup, which I appreciate. **What do you dislike about Element?** I feel like it runs really well just needs to run a little more faster but it is awesome. It can be internet issues but at time the software runs slow. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element helps organize everything and tackle district issues, especially with computers and time management. ### 6. A Secure & easy to use Messaging App for Modern Teams **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Amit K. | Software Engineer III, Computer Software, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 22, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** 1. It gives us consumer app ease but with enterprise-grade security and control - so both users and IT teams are somewhat happy. 2. Very strong privacy & data sovernity: we can self host the server, chosse hosting, avoid vendor-lock, and very easy to integrate. 3. Enables inter-org communication and "federations" which is useful if we work with contractors. 4. Customer support is quite great. **What do you dislike about Element?** 1. What I have heard is mainly the message or notifications delays 2. If we self host, there can be additional techincal overhead compared to pure consumer app. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** 1. Shadow IT & uncontrolled messaging apps. 2. Vendor lock-in & inflexibility of preprietary systems 3. Dependency on centralised infra (single point of failure) ### 7. Top-notch interface, secure audio/video exchanges at a lower cost **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Graphic Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 06, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** The possibility for small businesses to communicate in writing or via audio/video to discuss ongoing projects, securely and at a lower cost. The interface is also highly appreciated. **What do you dislike about Element?** The connection issues with audio/video discussions that sometimes lag. I also regret the difficulty in changing the microphone source to use. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Before, we used Slack. Element allowed us to continue our discussions in different rooms beyond the limits imposed on Slack. This migration is also beneficial from a security standpoint for our conversations. ### 8. Secure, Flexible Messaging with a Learning Curve **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dolores M. **Reviewed Date:** February 05, 2026 **What do you like best about Element?** I like Element's security, particularly its end-to-end encryption, as it is a big plus for privacy. The encryption and decentralization give me more control over data and security. I find the initial setup very easy when using Element's hosted option. **What do you dislike about Element?** Complexity can be overwhelming for non-tech users and it's not as smooth as the desktop version. Self-hosting or configuring bridges can be tech-heavy. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Element solves security issues by using end-to-end encryption, keeping chats secure. Its decentralization gives me more control over data and enhances security. ### 9. It works well enough to chat with my friends, but it feels a bit limited compared to other apps **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Writing and Editing | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 07, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** Honestly, the main reason I use Element is because that’s where my friends are — otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have picked it myself. It works fine for personal chats, and the interface is okay once you get used to it. It’s also nice that it's open-source and has no ads, which keeps it clean. Overall, it's fine if your community is already using it, but if you're starting from scratch, I'd probably recommend other apps first unless you really care about decentralization. **What do you dislike about Element?** That said, compared to something like Telegram, it definitely feels more limited. There are fewer built-in features, media handling isn't as smooth, and some things just feel a bit clunky. I know a lot of people care about privacy and self-hosting, but that’s not really a priority for me — I just want something simple and fast. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** While I personally don’t care much about privacy or self-hosting, it benefits me by giving me a space to chat with friends who do — and without ads or tracking. It’s also cross-platform and reliable enough, so I can stay connected without switching apps. ### 10. Very happy with it, though it's definitely for a technical crowd **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** Element is very configurable and secure, and allows file transfer and search. **What do you dislike about Element?** Sometimes it's not made obvious enough that someone messaged me or how to do something I don't routinely do. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** It solves the core issue of needing a communication channel that's faster than email but not quite worthy of a phone call. It keeps me connected to my team ### 11. Unique Experience **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mandla N. | IT manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 15, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** Elements is a bit different from the other messaging platforms. I find it very informative as I have entered rooms that discuss topics that I am interested in **What do you dislike about Element?** The design of the web platform looks like chatgpt;it could look a bit better **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** I would say this platform seem to give me more security. Security is very important fo me ### 12. Secure Communication Platform **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rian M. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** I absolutely love the level the security features they have for each conversation. Along with the encryption and server options. I use it to communicate with my private network. **What do you dislike about Element?** I dislike the desktops version laginess. It's very hard to access due to some code glitch, i can't quiet figure out. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's giving us the level of security of knowing that our video conferences are confidential. They're also encrypted unlike many other platforms. ### 13. Easy and Secure **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Wiryono S. | First Commissioner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 21, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** Element easy to learn and not take a big space. **What do you dislike about Element?** Since it's a quite new than for some people need to learn. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** What I find is the security phase. ### 14. This app is very good **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lakshya R. | Elevenlabs, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 13, 2025 **What do you like best about Element?** I like best about Elements it has helped bring all my messaging app together. This app is also a great improvement over the old element app **What do you dislike about Element?** Please provide functionality to that would have people want to move from element.. I have both and can't use element as it is barely functional compared to element **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** To solve ### 15. Good App, Terrible Customer Support **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 23, 2024 **What do you like best about Element?** Their app is a pretty good Matrix client with most of the features you would expect from a messaging app. The mobile app confusingly has two different versions, and gives confusing errors, but still works okay. **What do you dislike about Element?** Never use any of their paid services. From their marketing, they sound great. But they won't work (particularly the integrations) and you will get zero customer support. I tried one of their business plans and kept getting an error when I tried to set it up. The error message said to contact tech support so I did... almost weekly for a month and a half with no response. Finally got someone from another department, who reached out to tech support, and tech support blew them off, too. The worst part was that when I asked about a refund (I had paid for the services for 2 months and got nothing), I was promptly ghosted. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** provides secure multi-patform messaging ### 16. Element has been an excellent option to use at work. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Abhishek B. | GRC Intern (Governance, Risk and Compliance in Security), Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2024 **What do you like best about Element?** I use it on a daily basis at work and it has a great and simple interface both in android and windows. Encryption has been guaranteed and all features required for workspaces are available. **What do you dislike about Element?** One issue I faced recently was that the decryption of files was taking time but I'm sure it will change soon. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** A great alternative to WhatsApp as that is used for personal communication. Element is secure and can be trusted. All types of files can be shared. Rooms can be created for directed communication. All-in-all, an effective and simple application to use at work. ### 17. Fast and easy, everyone in the office can use it. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Gage P. | Incentive Development Lead, Consumer Goods, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 13, 2023 **What do you like best about Element?** The message is delivered straightaway and can include information such as dates, times and venues. Element allows me to keep in touch with my global teams and avoid potential bombs that would otherwise sit in an email for 20 hours. **What do you dislike about Element?** Element is a great dashboard and nothing much to dislike about it. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Speeding up sales cycles with company-wide knowledge sharing. ### 18. Very succinct system of delivering consistent messaging **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mark N. | A/R Supervisor, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 19, 2023 **What do you like best about Element?** The tool is easy to use and transition wasn't bumpy at all. Provides regular, transparent and, clear communication in a very centralised place. **What do you dislike about Element?** No issues with the interface and navigation so far, we are just looking for more ways to integrate it. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Clear communications that helps keep everyone informed and quell any concerns they have. ### 19. A modern communication experience **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Hammy H. | CEO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 20, 2021 **What do you like best about Element?** Rather than just being yet another silly messaging application, Element utilizes Matrix protocol, which supports both federation and the brilliant bridging, integrating with third-party messaging apps, giving you a unified messenger at last. **What do you dislike about Element?** No voice messages yet. Push-to-talk/automatic playing of voice messages would also be a novelty so a real-time call isn't necessary in order to communicate. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Battery drain and psychological overload with too many messaging apps. ### 20. Free IM with group or individual options **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 15, 2020 **What do you like best about Element?** Riot has given us the ability to have continuous and free instant messaging without having to see everyone's replies and read through the whole conversation to catch up...unless you want to do so in the group chat. The fact that it is also encrypted, if you select that option, is a huge plus especially for the confidential needs of any client details we may be discussing. **What do you dislike about Element?** Hmm...I honestly can't think of one. It does exactly what we want it to and is very user friendly. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** We needed an instant messaging system, like Yahoo IM (that's not discontinued btw), that would sit in the corner and not be another website we had to monitor or keep up with. Riot gives you the option of sound and pop-up notifications and, what has been the life saver for me, when you get a new comment or message then the R emblem on your task bar has a red notification number to moves in front of the R. It's subtle enough to not distract you but unique enough to catch your eye. ### 21. Encrypted Chat solution.... and it's FREE! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Steven C. | IT Administrator, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Configuration was easy due to it's self hosting capabilities. Training on the product was even easier since it functioned like easy to use chat application. We also appreciated the fact that there is a browser and app version of the application which allows for flexibility of access. **What do you dislike about Element?** I would say the feature I dislike the most is the security keys that are created for each account. Some users are more responsible with their information that others, so user management has been a challenge when someone loses or misplaces their key. I haven't discovered a work around as of yet, so we have some duplicate users. Other than that it has been smooth sailing. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Riot.im solved a challenge we were having when one of our internal products lost it's chat function. We work in the realm of emergency management. There was a need for an encrypted chat function and Riot.im fit the bill. The flexibility of the application has created communication opportunities during various incidents. ### 22. My own experience on using Riot **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David P. | Research intern, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 27, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** It was very intuitive communication and file exchanging. It is a nice app because they put a lot of emphasis on privacy because I learnt they use encryption. The r/privacy subreddit recommended that I use Riot, and I was a satisfied user. **What do you dislike about Element?** I wish there was a better explanation on how to use the main functions. I encountered a few bugs when I did not have a good internet connection. My message was not delivered and I had retype it again. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Remember to install it in all your devices so everything is well sync. In my case, on Linux ubuntu 18 and my phone android. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it as a communication tool for video sharing and it worked pretty well. I think using federated messages is the future given that centralization is destroying the free internet. ### 23. Riot user here **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Matthew D. | Account manager , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 26, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Rather impressive.As it is decentralized and uses matrix. It is the most polished, easiest to use Matrix app. The app works most of the time but it is user friendly. **What do you dislike about Element?** E2E isn't enabled by default yet and the matrix eco system and riot app aren't ready for the mass consumer in my opinion. Your biggest challenge will be convincing other people to use it. The app is sluggish. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** The application does not stay open in the background, or is not automatically started in the background after a reboot, so it does not receive/send the messages. It's the same issue I have with many similar applications; I have not tested all, but of those that I tried, only WhatsApp seems to timely receive and send the messages. It's a shame because I otherwise like Riot. ### 24. It is an universal secure chat app under your control **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sankalp S. | Senior Software Development Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** It has a very simple interface, adding the ability for more unexperienced PC-Users to use it. Collaboratively editing google docs and chatting at the same time is possible with riot and this is something which I use the most **What do you dislike about Element?** There is clearly a User Experience issue esp. in web version Most often used parts are functional, but some are yet not. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are currently using this as medium to communicate in between the team and work on the shared document which needs to be edited by multiple person at the same time. ### 25. Riot IM Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Riot is a great IM client and we have used it extensively across the organization. It is open source which we like because it allows us to integrate with many other products and software we use. **What do you dislike about Element?** The product is fairly new. This means we often don't see as many advanced features, and the product is not as mature overall as some others. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** It's a good product and on the right track. It is new so not all features match up to other tools, but open source is nice and you can integrate lots of other stuff with it. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Allows employees to communicate with each other effectively across the organization. Provides a good way for employees to share and collaborate. ### 26. excellent project **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** karim a. | manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** end-to-end encryption support stands out private/public chat rooms room members by link and/or invitation themes different levels of notification file sharing audio and video conferencing (I have not personally tested this) **What do you dislike about Element?** There are still a few issues to resolve: not all files are downloaded correctly (size limit for the beta version?) The pasted text appears twice when you enter it in a chat room (but correctly once you press Enter) not all web pages are previewed correctly text search in the chat room is slow (unencrypted rooms) text search in a chat room does not work (encrypted rooms) Also, I really hope that this horrible green color will not be the default color and will not deter people. (Don't worry, you can choose different colors for different rooms.) **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Personally, I am a big fan and I am really looking forward to seeing what its continued development will bring. I would recommend at least trying it. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** - support stands out - private / public chat rooms - room members by link and / or invitation - themes - different levels of notification - file sharing ### 27. Easy to connect between multiple communities **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** amin s. | aminserve, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** I have been using (Riot on Matrix) for over a year with the team and it is never a problem. The application is becoming more and more secure and of better quality, which is much more important than emoji updates. **What do you dislike about Element?** - The encryption and processing devices could be much better (I think they are working on it). - Mobile applications do not support multiple accounts. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** I advise everyone to try because it is - Open source - Federated - (bridges IRC, gitter, and others) **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it for communication between my teams and private lounges. ### 28. Security, flexibility and communication under your control **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Javier R. | Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 02, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** that is based on open source software, where you can set your own server with encryption and communicate with other users in other servers, even with calls or even in other protocols like IRC **What do you dislike about Element?** Setting up a server may be no that easy, and sometimes there is communication issues with the secure keys changing constantly **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Setting your own server may be time consuming but its worth it **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** descentralized, transparent, flexible, trustable peer to peer communication. ### 29. Awesome App **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pawan K. | Associate IT Developer - Front End, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** This is awesome app. As simple as easy to use this also has many features and stickers. Open source project and even you can integrate bot that can monitor your app or project and send instant message if something unexpected happens. I liked this app because this has privacy and transparency too. **What do you dislike about Element?** As I am android user i downloaded from play store and I think file size can be more compressed. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Even I am outside of my office I can see all the activity going on my project with bot integration with riot.im. There are benefit with rooms that somebody can easily reply on any ### 30. riot.im **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Joshua M. | Registered Nurse, Government Administration, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** I like riot.im since it doesn't require a phone number for me message and it's ability to integrate voice and videos with my colleague and groups.it nice since it keeps my conversation with peers and lover private. **What do you dislike about Element?** When the riot.im has gathered all my conversation and app integrations,makes my phone to be slow running and takes long to start **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Their should be well secure end to end encrypted instant messages that supports roit.im **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** To make sure rioti.im can be installed in all Android phones like that of 8.1samsungs j1 ### 31. Liberate your communications **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brian J. | Hr manager, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Riot is an open source chat app with a growing and vibrant community, that is eager to help and grow in a professional sense, since our company has moved to riot a year ago we have never experienced a problem. The app is getting better and safer **What do you dislike about Element?** Encryption can be a little frustrating but new updates are coming **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Open source, regulated, Bridge between multiple services ### 32. Riot has a nice UI and UX but has certain bugs **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Akshitha S. | Teaching Assistant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 29, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** I love the interfaces they are very clean neat and to point alongside being customizable. **What do you dislike about Element?** The fact that it has certain Android bugs though it is evolving **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was searching for alternatives to slack for the company ### 33. No problems **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Defense & Space | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 25, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Linking different systems and communities with Riot. I haven’t had any major problems using this software. **What do you dislike about Element?** It is a little difficult to manage multiple Riot accounts on mobile app (ex: a personal account vs business account) but this isn’t a common problem **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Great to use for team projects for instant updates! **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Personal as well as team chats. Staying up to date in a chat system rather than an email. Constant updating ### 34. Riot is another messaging app, from which message can be seen on any device eg. Laptop, pc, mobile **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Networking | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 26, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** Message can be seen on any devices eg. mobile, PC, tablet and laptop at same time but circulated in room area **What do you dislike about Element?** We still can face challenges while deleting, editing, threading, pinned message and so on. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Riot app has lot to be improving area but it also having some advantages, so go for it **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Message can be seen on any device with same timing ### 35. One of the best group decentralized crypto-messengers **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dennis I. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 04, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** It's open source and based on matrix, a lot of people have done code review and bug reporting so its one of the safest options now **What do you dislike about Element?** Small userbase, but I'm quite sure it will grow **Recommendations to others considering Element:** Open source, secure cross platform decentralized messenger. What else would you need? **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Privacy, group discussions ### 36. Solid but average product **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Medical Practice | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 27, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** As an upside, Riot is easy to understand and incorporate into your daily work. **What do you dislike about Element?** Other than providing a messaging platform, Riot doesn't do anything too noteworthy. There are plenty of other platforms that provide more innovation. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Riot is what our work uses to communicate between people in different parts of the office. It saves on walking time between offices. ### 37. Riot: safe and secure messanger **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Muhammed R. | Muhammed R, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** I like the design and platform options that are available with riot. It's also opensource software. **What do you dislike about Element?** It need more often updates and much better marketing. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** If you want a highly secure messenger, Riot is good option for you **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Team collaboration on specific projects ### 38. Easy and moderate performing **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Snehil K. | Student, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 10, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** We can implement the customer interface, as per requirements easily and in addition to reports can made easily & feedbacks **What do you dislike about Element?** Sometimes it takes more time to redirect one page to another **Recommendations to others considering Element:** it is easy to use and solve problems easily I recommend go for it. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Tracking the reports and customer related problems ### 39. Good Open Source Application in developing stages **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 29, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** I like the User Interface, its neat customizable and user friendly **What do you dislike about Element?** It has certain bugs on Android that can be worked upon **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was experimenting with the various business chat applications to search the right one for my company. ### 40. Great instant messaging service **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 04, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** It's user friendly, and it doesn't require a ton of training. **What do you dislike about Element?** It sometimes doesn't save our work address and we have to type it in everytime we get on. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Instant messaging, private chat, sending links or pictures. ### 41. It’s been really easy to use and the on boarding is really straight forward **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Animation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 07, 2019 **What do you like best about Element?** The ease of use and customer interface is simple and easy to understand. Building a report is simple as well **What do you dislike about Element?** Navigating beyond the dashboard is a bit of a challenge **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Customer retention and tracking ### 42. An open standard for Instant Messaging and more **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 29, 2017 **What do you like best about Element?** Beside the Riot application, which is currently the most advanced client application following it, there is an open standard, the Matrix protocol, a protocol aimed to real-time messaging. It covers all the features you used to have in Skype, Slack, and so, but it's fully open and free to be implemented by anyone. No more proprietary solution, no risk to be trapped anymore and having to rely on third party reliability. You can host your IM server yourself on your premise, and keep your internal business conversation really private, since those exchanges will never leave your server. But you are also connected to the federation of matrix servers, and you can communicate with the rest of the world. And even better, you can bridge other IM networks as well, without losing essential features. **What do you dislike about Element?** My major drawback with the Matrix solution is that your user is tightly linked to the server where it has registered. Which means that if you registered with your company server in order to benefit the privacy of internal exchanges, when you leave the company, you also have to leave that account. So, you can be better advised to have a professional and a separate personal account on a more generic or personal server. And currently, the Riot application hasn't yet support for multiple accounts. But it will surely happen soon (or later)… in the meantime, you can work around this limitation by wrapping Riot into Rambox or Franz. **Recommendations to others considering Element:** The implementation of a Matrix server on premise is quite easy, but require to be an IT expert. However, the deployment of riot for the users is trivial and easy. Non-technical users may struggle with it, especially when leaving Skype, but we have not faced any major adoption issue. Technical users have really enjoyed the move. We advise a test period in order to receive feedback and ensure plain adoption. **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our main interest in Riot, and its underlying Matrix protocol, is to regain the control of the data we exchange over Instant Messaging. No need to trust any third party anymore, no risk to get stuck if the third party is unreliable or change the service. We host the service, the code is open-source, we have the freedom and control of our tools, and our data. And at the same time, we are connected to the world, since our server is federated with other Matrix server, so we can have external conversation using the same tool. We use the IRC bridge with great success to provide support to IRC users for example. So, with Riot, we have quite advanced realtime messaging client that allow us to keep the control. ### 43. Fine Collaboration App **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Writing and Editing | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 02, 2018 **What do you like best about Element?** Easy to use, nice user interface, decentralized, flexible **What do you dislike about Element?** Lousy notifications, too many options that ends up confusing the user **What problems is Element solving and how is that benefiting you?** Volunteer work. Helps in instant messaging to the team lead. ## Element Discussions - [Is element Matrix secure?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-element-matrix-secure) - [How does element IO make money?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-does-element-io-make-money) - [Is element a safe app?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-element-a-safe-app) - [View Element pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/element-io/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-22+19%3A21%3A55+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=d3394397-6570-4bac-b13f-2af5445369e2&secure%5Btoken%5D=25eda34ef381840cf9a777f4e759777827710d8ce2f4744bc22eaa9170816cf9&format=llm_user) ## Element Features **Business Instant Messaging** - File Sharing - Notifications - Search **Administrative Tasks - Frontline Worker Communication Platforms** - Training & Learning Modules - Health & Safety Policies - Onboarding & Offboarding - Surveys & Feedback - Employee Services - Knowledge Management **Business Instant Messaging ** - Audio Conferencing - Video Conferencing **Communication Features - Frontline Worker Communication Platforms** - Group Messaging - Private Messaging - Announcements - Emergency Notifications **Business Instant Messaging** - Mobile Application - Web Application - Integrations **Operations - Frontline Worker Communication Platforms** - Shift Scheduling - Insights & Analytics - Task Management - SOPs & Documentation **Generative AI - Business Instant Messaging** - Text Summarization **Agentic AI - Frontline Worker Communication Platforms** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance **AI - Business Instant Messaging** - AI Powered Search - Smart Notifications - AI Powered Language Translation - Content Generation **Agentic AI - Business Instant Messaging** - Cross-system Integration - Natural Language Interaction ## Top Element Alternatives - [Slack](https://www.g2.com/products/slack/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (37,395 reviews) - [Microsoft Teams](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-teams/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (17,532 reviews) - [Rocket.Chat](https://www.g2.com/products/rocket-chat/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (348 reviews)