Keybase vs DEF CON Forums
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Keybase
Securely message anyone on social media or other platforms without needing their personal contact information. All communications are end-to-end encrypted and accessible across multiple devices. This open-source platform is free and ad-free for all users.
- Secure messaging to social media users
- End-to-end encryption
- Multi-device support
- Open source
- Ad-free
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Keybase is a messaging platform where: • you can write securely to any twitter, reddit, facebook, github, and hacker news user • you don't need to know someone's phone number or email address • all messages are secure, end-to-end encrypted • multi-device: your messages survive and transfer with encryption to new phones & computers Keybase is so much more. It is: • free for everyone, and free of ads • open source (https://github.com/keybase/client) • multi-platform, w/apps for macOS, Linux, and Windows (https://keybase.io/download) By using the Keybase app you agree to the following terms: • you'll be a nice Internet person Keybase for mobile is brand new and we yearn for feedback. Inside the app, click the gear icon and then choose "feedback" to send us a summary of your experience.
DEF CON Forums
Connect with the hacker and infosec communities. Discuss topics, plan for DEF CON conferences, and access the official forums directly through a streamlined interface. Supports multiple languages and prioritizes user privacy.
- Access DEF CON forums
- Connect with hacker community
- Infosec discussions
- Conference planning
- Multi-language support
- Privacy-focused
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DEF CON Forums are a place to talk with others in the hacker and infosec communities as well as help plan or play at the next DEF CON conference. This app gets you to https://forum.defcon.org/ without the web interface. Multi-language interface is now supported Privacy and Security Notes: - No AdMob - No Google Analytics - The app wants permissions for camera, etc, but seems to work find without them.
Screenshots
Verdict
Keybase and DEF CON Forums both sit at 3.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 42% of Keybase's written reviews are positive against 0% of DEF CON Forums's. Keybase also leads on ratings volume (323 vs 6). DEF CON Forums's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.1). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Keybase holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Keybase has 323 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 42% of Keybase's written reviews are positive against 0% of DEF CON Forums's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Keybase | DEF CON Forums |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (323 ratings) — better | 3.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 42.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 323 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Keybase, Inc. | DEF CON, Inc. |
Customer experience
Keybase
DEF CON Forums
Bugs and requests
Keybase
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login screen freezes
- Incompatible with older devices
- Messaging issues and lost chats
- Unreliable file sharing
Requested features
4 requests- Add iPad app support
- Improve message threading and navigation
- Integrate with more social platforms
- Add password manager functionality
DEF CON Forums
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Keybase
No in-app purchases
DEF CON Forums
No in-app purchases
