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Software · Development

Lightning

Chat and calls on Matrix.

  • Completely free
  • Linux
  • Open source
  • No account

Overview

Features described in its GitHub repository, on its official website and in its Flathub listing: group chats and calls, screen sharing, end-to-end encryption.

Overview written by LicitPro from the documentation published by the authors and the cited sources; we have not tried the resource ourselves.

Excerpts that establish this information
  • “Group calls with screen sharing, real threads, Spaces, and search inside encrypted rooms.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “Group calls with screen sharing, real threads, Spaces, and search inside encrypted rooms.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “C++20 application state, models, routing, policy matrix-rust-sdk Matrix, E2EE, sync, threads, media” — official website, 10 November 2026

At a glance

All of Lightning is free: no feature is locked behind a paid plan, and its code is open.

Its licence (GPL-3.0+) is a copyleft open source licence: you may use, study, modify and redistribute it, including commercially; modified versions must keep the same licence.

Strengths

  • Open source code
  • No account needed
  • Commercial use allowed

About

Lightning is a desktop messenger for Matrix, the open network for secure, decentralised communication. Sign in to any homeserver, or to several accounts at once, and reach people wherever their account lives. Conversations are organised into Spaces, rooms and threads. Send rich text, pictures, files, voice messages, polls, reactions and custom emoji, and find something you sent months ago without scrolling back to it. Private rooms are end-to-end encrypted throughout: verify your other devices by comparing emoji, restore your keys from backup, and search even your encrypted rooms with an index that never leaves this computer. Group voice calls and screen sharing run in the room itself.

Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

Sources and checks

  • Facts collected from GitHub (credit card, account, source code, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use) —
  • Facts collected from Flathub (credit card, source code, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use, version) —
  • Facts collected from Official plan pages (pricing, licence, terms) (commercial use) —
  • Facts collected from LicitPro automatic classification () —
  • Last technical check: 7 November 2026
  • Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

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