DEF CON Forums vs Element X
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
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
DEF CON Forums and Element X both sit at 3.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 39% of Element X's written reviews are positive against 0% of DEF CON Forums's. Element X also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (156 vs 6). DEF CON Forums's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 18.5). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.3 for DEF CON Forums against 3.4 for Element X. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element X has 156 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 0% of DEF CON Forums's written reviews are positive against 39% of Element X's.
DEF CON Forums ships an update every 3 months, Element X fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DEF CON Forums | Element X |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (6 ratings) | 3.4 (156 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 39.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 156 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 313 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | DEF CON, Inc. | Vector Creations Limited |
Customer experience
DEF CON Forums
Element X
In-app purchases
DEF CON Forums
No in-app purchases
Element X
No in-app purchases
