What is Element?
Element is the flagship desktop and mobile client for Matrix, an open, decentralised messaging network. Its distinguishing property is that it is not tied to one company's servers: rooms live on Matrix homeservers, which you can run yourself, so a conversation can span organisations and different clients rather than being locked inside one provider. Encryption is on by default for the whole platform — messages, files, and voice and video calls through Element Call — and devices are verified against each other with a QR code or an emoji string. It also refuses to require a phone number. The app itself is free and AGPL-licensed; Element sells self-hosted server suites to organisations, which is where the company's revenue comes from.
Verified product facts
- Type
- messaging appEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- Yes
- Pricing
- FreemiumDeveloper-stated
- Open source
- Yes
- Developer
- ElementDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- AGPL-3.0
- Current version
- 1.12.30Developer-stated
- Official website
- element.io/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Element does at a glance.
Built on the Matrix open standard, an open network for decentralised communication
End-to-end encryption
On by default across the platform, including voice and video
Cross-signed device verification
Using a QR code or an emoji string
Private, invite-only rooms
Threads, read receipts, reactions, polls, emoji, location sharing, attachments and voice messages
File sharing, embedded links and share-to capabilities
Element Call
For end-to-end encrypted one-to-one and group voice and video
Widgets and integrations
Including the NeoBoard whiteboard, OpenProject and Jira
Unlimited message history
Runs on Windows, Mac and Linux
From an app store, F-Droid, or in a browser
No personal phone number required
Self-hostable
So the deployment does not depend on a single provider
Interoperable
With any other Matrix-based system, so there is no vendor lock-in
Grid View
For monitoring, sending and receiving across multiple rooms at once
What you can use Element for
- Chatting with people on a different organisation's server without either side changing providers
- Running your own communications server and keeping the client on your desktop
- Replacing a consumer messenger with one that does not ask for a phone number
- Holding an encrypted group call alongside the text conversation
Who is Element for?
- People who want encrypted messaging that is not tied to a single company's servers
- Organisations that need to self-host their chat, including in air-gapped environments
Who is Element not for?
- Anyone who wants a messenger where contacts are simply found by phone number, which Element deliberately does not require
- People who do not want to think about which homeserver an account lives on
Limitations
- There is no published price for the Enterprise or Sovereign server editions; both are sold through a sales conversation
- The minimum macOS version is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
- The macOS build is a zip archive from the vendor's update server rather than a Mac App Store listing
- Matrix's decentralised model means an account belongs to a homeserver, so the choice of server is part of setting it up
Strengths and trade-offs
What Element does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- End-to-end encryption is on by default across the platform, including voice and video calls.Developer-stated
- Built on the Matrix open standard, so it interoperates with any other Matrix-based system and there is no vendor lock-in.Developer-stated
- Devices can be verified against each other with a QR code or an emoji string.Developer-stated
- Does not require a personal phone number.Developer-stated
- Can be self-hosted and deployed air-gapped, so the conversation does not depend on one provider's servers.Developer-stated
- The application is free and open source under AGPL-3.0.
- Publishes a universal macOS build, so one download covers both Intel and Apple silicon Macs.
Trade-offs
- Element's paid server editions have no published prices; both the Enterprise and Sovereign tiers are 'talk to an expert'.
- The decentralised model means an account lives on a homeserver, so choosing and trusting a server is part of getting started rather than something handled for you.Derived
- The macOS build is a zip from the vendor's own update server, so installation and updates are manual rather than handled by a store.Derived
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Downloaded as a universal macOS zip from the vendor's update server, or obtained from an app store, F-Droid, or used in a browser.
- First launch Derived
- You sign in to an existing Matrix account or create one on a chosen homeserver; the client is not tied to a single provider, so the server is part of the setup.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Desktop application with encrypted voice and video calling built in, and integration widgets for tools such as Jira, OpenProject and the NeoBoard whiteboard.
- Apple Silicon
- Supported
What it does
Element is a client for Matrix — an open network for secure, decentralised communication — and that single fact explains most of its behaviour. Messages, files and calls are carried by Matrix homeservers rather than by one company’s cloud, so a room can include people whose accounts live on entirely different servers, and an organisation can run the server itself. Because the protocol is open and more than one client implements it, the vendor can describe the result as interoperability without lock-in: leaving Element does not mean leaving the conversation.
In day-to-day use it covers what a modern messenger does: private invite-only rooms, threads, read receipts, reactions, polls, file sharing, location sharing, voice messages and unlimited message history. Grid View lets you monitor and send across several rooms at once. Widgets bring other tools into a room — the vendor names its own NeoBoard whiteboard alongside OpenProject and Jira.
Encryption and identity
Element states that the entire platform is end-to-end encrypted by default, so messages, files, and one-to-one or group voice and video through Element Call can be decrypted only by the participants. Configuration can permit non-encrypted rooms, which is a choice an administrator makes rather than a default. Devices are cross-signed: you verify one against another with a QR code or an emoji string, which is what stops an attacker’s device silently joining the conversation.
Notably, Element does not require a personal phone number. For people who would rather not hand a phone number to a messaging service, that is the point of the product.
Free client, commercial server
The application is free and open source under AGPL-3.0. The company’s revenue comes from the server side instead. Element sells a self-hosted Element Server Suite in three shapes: a Community edition that is free of charge and open source, an Enterprise edition priced per seat per month that adds Synapse Pro, corporate oversight, auditing and support, and a Sovereign edition priced per deployment for air-gapped installations with no internet connectivity at all. Neither paid edition publishes a price — both end in “talk to an expert” — so the cost of a self-hosted deployment is not something you can look up.
On the Mac the application is distributed as a universal zip from the vendor’s own update server rather than through the Mac App Store, so installation and updates are manual. The minimum macOS version is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks.
Questions about Element
Is Element free?
The application is free and open source under AGPL-3.0. What Element sells is self-hosted server software: a free, open-source Community edition, an Enterprise edition priced per seat per month, and a Sovereign edition for air-gapped deployments priced per deployment. Neither paid edition publishes a list price.
Does Element require a phone number?
No. The vendor lists 'no personal phone numbers required' as a privacy property of the platform, which distinguishes it from messengers that use a phone number as the account identifier.Developer-stated
Is Element encrypted?
Yes. Element states that the entire platform is end-to-end encrypted by default — messages, files, and voice and video through Element Call — and that only those in the conversation can decrypt the data. Configuration can enable the creation of non-encrypted chat rooms.Developer-stated
Can I run Element without using Element's servers?
Yes. Element is a client for Matrix, an open and decentralised network, and the vendor sells a self-hosted Element Server Suite that can also be deployed air-gapped with no internet connectivity at all. The desktop client works with any Matrix homeserver.Developer-stated
Does Element work on Apple silicon Macs?
Yes. The macOS download is published as a universal build, so a single archive covers both Intel and Apple silicon Macs.
Competitors
Direct competitors: overlapping features aimed at the same users.
Telegram
Cloud messaging with groups, channels and 2 GB file sharing.
Both are messaging apps that work across desktop and mobile, but Telegram keeps messages on its own servers and encrypts only Secret Chats, while Element is end-to-end encrypted by default and can be pointed at a server you run.
Discord
Voice, text, and community chat platform.
Both host group conversations with rooms, threads and calls, but Discord is a single hosted service while Element is a client for a decentralised network that organisations can self-host.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Matrix
Open decentralised protocol for real-time communication.
Matrix is the open, decentralised network and Element is the client most people use to reach it, so the two are encountered together even though one is a protocol and the other an application.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
- Element — official websiteGrade B
- Element — source repositoryGrade D
