RetroShare

A decentralized friend-to-friend platform for encrypted chat, mail-like messages, forums, channels and file sharing, with no central server.

2k stars, 325 forks C++ On GitHub since July 2015

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

RetroShare at a glance

Open sourceUnclear licenseRead the license before commercial use
Health50 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDesktop appsSteps in the README
AppsWindows, macOS, LinuxBuilds in GitHub releases
Interface25 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~7 hoursMedian first reply; 35% of recent issues answered

What is RetroShare?

RetroShare connects you directly to people you have added as friends, and their friends can relay traffic, forming a private network without a central server. On top of it you get chat, private messages, forums, channels, boards and file sharing in one desktop application. Builds are offered for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the interface has 25 translations. Compiling from source relies on submodules and per-platform build guides and scripts.

Good fit if

  • You want a group network for chat, forums and files that no company or server operator can shut down.
  • Your contacts are willing to exchange keys and run the same desktop app.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want a modern private messenger with mobile apps: SimpleX Chat.
  • You want a federated chat server for an organization: Synapse.

Before you adopt it

The repository data did not identify RetroShare's license, so it is listed here as not open source by the OSI definition until confirmed; check the license files in the source tree. Commits continue from a few developers, but the latest tagged release dates from November 2023, so you may need newer builds from the project's download page. Documentation for building is admittedly incomplete.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 31 October 2026. Report a correction

How to run RetroShare yourself

Docker
No Docker files in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for Windows, macOS, Linux in GitHub releases
Interface languages
25 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish and Japanese
Show all 25

Afrikaans, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Welsh

Install instructions: retroshare.cc or the README on GitHub.

RetroShare health: is it still maintained?

50 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmNone in 12 monthsLatest: v0.6.7.2, 30 November 2023
Issue repliesWithin ~7 hoursMedian first reply; 35% of recent issues answered
Bus factorLow riskThe most active of 4 authors wrote 49% of recent commits
  • Activity
    45 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 5 November 2026.
    20 / 30
  • Contributors
    4 people wrote the 45 commits of the last 90 days; the most active wrote 49% of them.
    9 / 20
  • Releases
    0 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v0.6.7.2, on 30 November 2023.
    1 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 35% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 7 hours.
    15 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 4.6 of 10.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 6 November 2026. How the score works

RetroShare security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard4.6 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyNoNo SECURITY.md or similar
Signed releasesPartlyOnly some downloads can be checked against a signature

What each check found

  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Code review9 / 10Some changes are merged without review
  • License file9 / 10A license file is present, but not where tools look for it
  • Binary files8 / 10A few compiled binaries are checked into the repository
  • Signed releases4 / 10Some releases are signed
  • Pinned dependencies3 / 10Some dependencies use fixed versions
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Branch protection0 / 10The main branch has no protection rules
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Security policy0 / 10No security policy
  • Static analysis0 / 10No static analysis found
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 2 November 2026. Checks that do not apply to RetroShare are left out.

RetroShare license: is it open source?

We could not identify the license of RetroShare. Check the repository before you build on it.

  1. July 2015First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayUnidentified license.

RetroShare for developers

Written in

  • C++ 87%
  • C 6%
  • QMake 2%
  • HTML 1%
  • NSIS 1%
  • Other 3%

Getting involved

Contributing guideNot foundNo CONTRIBUTING file in the repository
Open issues261On GitHub
Authors, 90 days4Of 45 commits

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to RetroShare

  • Rocket.ChatThe Secure CommsOS™ for mission-critical operations 81 health · MIT · 46.4k stars
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All 20 projects in Team chat

Questions about RetroShare

Is RetroShare open source?

We could not identify its license, so treat it as not open source until you have checked the repository.

Is RetroShare still maintained?

Its health score is 50 of 100 (actively developed). It had 45 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 5 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 30 November 2023.

How do I run RetroShare?

You can run it as an app for Windows, macOS, Linux. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is RetroShare written in?

RetroShare is written mainly in C++ (87% of the code), with C (6%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is RetroShare available in?

The repository has interface translations for 25 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to RetroShare?

Close alternatives in the Team chat category include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost, The Lounge.