Notes 
Peer-to-peer communication and file sharing app based on a friend-to-friend network built on GNU Privacy Guard (GPG). Optionally, peers may communicate certificates and IP addresses to and from their friends.
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
Retroshare
retroshare.cc 2 ratings so far*
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Threat level
Targeted
A targeted-tier tool. Built for a real, capable adversary. Overkill for everyone below. Threat levels
Our take
Built on a friend-to-friend model over GPG, which is the key distinction: privacy comes from only connecting to people you’ve explicitly trusted, not from anonymizing among strangers. That makes it strong for a known circle and weak as soon as you want to reach beyond it. Choose it for a closed group that wants encrypted chat and file sharing without a central server. It’s the wrong shape if you need broad, anonymous reach.
GitHub at a glance
RetroShare/RetroShare Stars
2,025
+4 this week
Forks
325
85 watching
Last commit
2d ago
healthy
Latest release
v0.6.7.2
2.9y ago, 9 total
Star history
Issues
73% closed
260
open
714
closed
+1 / -5
opened / closed, last 4 weeks
Opened vs closed, last 12 weeks
Commits, last 26 weeks
298 commits, active 23 of 26 weeks
72 contributors since Jul 2015
Languages
- C++ 85.9%
- C 6.2%
- QMake 1.6%
- Other 6.3%
Updated daily from the GitHub API. Star tracking since Jun 15, 2026.
Website at a glance
retroshare.cc
F score 10
Weak website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 4d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
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