# RetroShare/RetroShare

RetroShare is a Free and Open Source cross-platform, Friend-2-Friend and secure decentralised communication platform.

Repository: https://github.com/RetroShare/RetroShare
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/retroshare
Homepage: https://retroshare.cc/
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-16T12:16:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4051, "days_push": 17, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2012, forks 323 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:05.184356+00:00)

## What it is
RetroShare is a free, open-source, cross-platform, decentralized Friend-to-Friend (F2F) communication platform built in C++ with Qt. It provides encrypted chat, mail, forums, boards, channels, and file sharing over a secure peer-to-peer network, with optional Tor/I2P integration for anonymity.

## Use cases
- share files privately with friends over a secure p2p network
- chat in decentralized censorship-resistant chat rooms
- send encrypted offline messages to friends
- read and write forum posts offline and sync later
- publish and subscribe to file channels
- hide my IP address using Tor or I2P
- build a private friend-to-friend darknet
- share large files with swarming transfers

## When to choose
- you want fully decentralized, ad-free, open-source communication with no terms of service
- you need privacy and anonymity beyond direct friends via anonymous tunnels
- you want combined chat, mail, forums, and file sharing in one toolkit
- you need censorship-resistant forums and offline-capable messaging
- you want to route traffic over Tor or I2P for extra anonymity

## When to avoid
- you need a large-scale public social network with global discovery
- you require centralized moderation or identity verification
- you need a lightweight mobile-first messenger (Android support is secondary)
- you want mainstream-compatible chat interoperability (e.g., with Signal or Matrix users)
- you cannot build from source or use the provided release packages for your platform

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: cryptography, chatbot, email, p2p, gui
- domain: privacy, messaging-platforms, social-media, files, censorship-circumvention, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: friend-to-friend-network, decentralized-communication, tor, i2p, anonymous-tunnels, darknet, secure-messaging, file-sharing, decentralized-forums, channels, boards, open-source, no-ads, encryption, swarming, bittorrent-like, chat-rooms, distant-chat, offline-messaging, censorship-resistant, forum, linux, macos, android, desktop

## Member repositories
- RetroShare/RetroShare (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:05.184356+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:01:01.454222+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/RetroShare/RetroShare (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:05.184356+00:00, sha 2ec57bcb4906)
  - homepage: https://retroshare.cc/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:40:52.511881+00:00, sha 94ed44b54aa3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.