Librem Chat vs Element X
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Librem Chat
This app provides secure text, voice, and video communication with end-to-end encryption. Share images, videos, and files in chat rooms while keeping conversations private. It is free and open-source software.
- End-to-end encryption
- Text chat rooms
- Voice and video calls
- Image, video, and file sharing
- Free and open-source
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* Chat rooms * Share images, videos, and files * Make voice and video calls * Keep your conversations secret with end-to-end encryption * Free and open-source software (FOSS)
Element X
Communicate securely and privately with instant messaging and video calls. This app offers robust features for individuals and communities, allowing you to own your data and choose where it's hosted. Enjoy real-time communication with synchronized history across all your devices.
- Real-time messaging
- Video calls
- Public and private rooms
- Rich messaging features
- Cross-device synchronization
- Data ownership and server choice
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Freedom to communicate on your own terms For individuals and communities - private communication between family, friends, hobby groups, clubs, etc. Element X gives you fast, secure and private instant messaging and video calls built on Matrix, the open standard for real-time communication. This is a free and open-source app maintained at https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-ios Stay in touch with friends, family and communities with: • Real time messaging & video calls • Public rooms for open group communication • Private rooms for closed group communication • Rich messaging features: emoji reactions, replies, polls, pinned messages and more. • Video calling while browsing messages. • Interoperability with other Matrix-based apps such as FluffyChat, Cinny and many more. Privacy-first Unlike some other messengers from Big Tech companies, we don’t mine your data or monitor your communications. Own your conversations Choose where to host your data - from any public server (the largest free server is matrix.org, but there are plenty of others to choose from) to creating your own personal server and hosting it on your own domain. This ability to choose a server is a large part of what differentiates us from other real time communication apps. However you host, you have ownership; it’s your data. You’re not the product. You’re in control. Communicate in real time, all the time Use Element everywhere. Stay in touch wherever you are with fully synchronised message history across all your devices, including on the web at https://app.element.io Element X is our next-generation app If you’re using the previous-generation Element Classic app, it’s time to try Element X! It’s faster, easier to use, and more powerful than the classic app. It’s better in every way and we’re adding new features all the time.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Librem Chat at 3.8 against Element X's 3.4. Librem Chat also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18.5). Element X's advantage is ratings volume (156 vs 11) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Librem Chat holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element X has 156 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Librem Chat's written reviews are positive against 39% of Element X's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Librem Chat ships an update monthly, Element X fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Librem Chat | Element X |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (11 ratings) — better | 3.4 (156 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 39.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 156 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 116 MB | 313 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | PURISM, SPC | Vector Creations Limited |
Customer experience
Librem Chat
Element X
In-app purchases
Librem Chat
No in-app purchases
Element X
No in-app purchases








