Comparison

Element X vs Slate Forums

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time messaging
  • Video calls
  • Public and private rooms
  • Rich messaging features
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Data ownership and server choice
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Slate Forums

This community app allows users to engage with the Slate Auto Truck forum. Browse forums, threads, and user profiles, or log in to post content and receive native push notifications for alerts and messages.

Highlights
  • Native push notifications
  • Browse forum list
  • Browse threads
  • Search content
  • Post threads/replies
  • View and edit user profiles
Features
Read full description

Community app for the Slate Auto Truck (Pickup & SUV) forum at Slateforums.com. Browse as a guest or log in to use native push notifications for alerts and conversation messages. Key Features: - Native push notifications for the same alerts as on the website - Browse forum list - Browse threads list - Search content - Post threads/replies - View alerts - Watch content - View user profiles - Edit profile - Report content This Slate Forums app and the Slateforums.com website are independent / privately owned and are not affiliated in any manner with Slate Auto

Screenshots

Element X4 screens
Slate Forums4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Slate Forums at 5.0 against Element X's 3.4. Slate Forums also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.5). Element X's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (156 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Slate Forums holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element X has 156 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Element X ships an update fortnightly, Slate Forums every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Element X versus Slate Forums: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElement XSlate Forums
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (156 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews39.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings156 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size313 MB36 MB
Age rating17+9+
DeveloperVector Creations LimitedJWKZ LLC

Customer experience

Element X

All ratings156 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral12.8%
Negative30.1%
Written reviews179 reviews
Positive39.1%
Neutral20.1%
Negative40.8%

Slate Forums

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Element X

No in-app purchases

None

Slate Forums

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Element X free?
Element X is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Slate Forums free?
Slate Forums is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Element X or Slate Forums?
Slate Forums is rated higher. Element X averages 3.4 out of 5 from 156 ratings, while Slate Forums averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Element X or Slate Forums have ads?
Neither Element X nor Slate Forums shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Element X or Slate Forums?
Element X ships an update fortnightly, and Slate Forums every 5 months. Most recently, Element X was updated on October 16, 2026 and Slate Forums on October 6, 2026.

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