Meshtastic
7 likes
Meshtastic is a project that enables you to use inexpensive LoRa radios as a long range off-grid communication platform in areas without existing or reliable communications infrastructure. This project is 100% community driven and open source!
License model
- Free • Open Source
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Self-Hosted
- Linux
- Flathub
- Flatpak
Features
Meshtastic News & Activities
Highlights All activities
Recent activities
POX added Meshtastic as alternative to bitchat
ralaud added Meshtastic as alternative to Meshchat and Sideband- POX updated Meshtastic
- FederalFarmer reviewed Meshtastic
Meshtastic is a really cool project. Since they support a ton of hardware many of the releases are unstable but you can always find at least a handful of boards with good support.
The biggest benefit to Meshtastic for this kind of off-grid comms system is the price and low barrier to entry. There are better systems but not for this cheap.
LoRa the protocol is good for long-range comms but Meshtastic isn't as good in real-world scenarios due to its 1 watt power output and poor object...
- FederalFarmer liked Meshtastic
Kezxo added Meshtastic as alternative to Briar
Meshtastic information
Developed by
Meshtastic LLC Licensing
Open Source (GPL-3.0) and Free product.Written in
Rating
Average rating of 4.5Alternatives
7 alternatives listedSupported Languages
AlternativeTo Category
Network & AdminGitHub repository
- 5,047 Stars
- 1,319 Forks
- 203 Open Issues
- Updated Jul 8, 2025
Comments and Reviews
Meshtastic is a really cool project. Since they support a ton of hardware many of the releases are unstable but you can always find at least a handful of boards with good support.
The biggest benefit to Meshtastic for this kind of off-grid comms system is the price and low barrier to entry. There are better systems but not for this cheap.
LoRa the protocol is good for long-range comms but Meshtastic isn't as good in real-world scenarios due to its 1 watt power output and poor object penetration in the 915MHz range. It boasts crazy distances but only if each node is on a mountaintop or something.
Realistically you'll get a couple miles out of a Meshtastic device. It's very useful in urban areas with lots of nodes but pretty deaf in the suburbs and unusable in the countryside.
Meshtastic offers a good way to communicate with each other in the absence of grid power and fixed networks. It is also possible to tunnel IP traffic via Meshtastic.