# iroh

> Rust library that connects devices by public key over QUIC

**Category:** Rust  
**Pricing:** open-source  
**URL:** https://www.iroh.computer  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/n0-computer/iroh  
**Added:** 2026-10-17

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## The Hook

iroh lets your app dial another device by its public key instead of an IP address: it hole-punches a direct QUIC connection when it can and falls back to a relay when it can't, so peer-to-peer sync, file transfer or streaming works across NATs without you running networking infrastructure.

## What's Good

MIT OR Apache-2.0 (n0-computer/iroh), stable 1.x line with v1.3.0 released 2026-09-28. You get authenticated encryption, multiple streams with priorities and datagrams from QUIC. Ready-made protocols sit on top: iroh-blobs (BLAKE3 content-addressed transfer from kilobytes to terabytes), iroh-gossip (pub-sub overlays light enough for phones) and iroh-docs (an eventually consistent key-value store). The relay server and the DNS/Pkarr lookup server are in the same repo, so you can host the whole stack yourself. cargo add iroh to start. ★~12.7k.

## The Catch

Rust first: other languages go through the separate iroh-ffi bindings, which trail the core (iroh-ffi v1.1.0, July 2026). The free public relays run by n0 are rate-limited, shared by everyone and come with no uptime guarantee — the project itself says they are for development and testing. For production you either run your own relay or pay for n0's hosted relays (Pro from $19/month, dedicated relays from $199/month per region). It is a connection library, not a VPN: if you just want your machines on one private network, Tailscale or NetBird is the simpler tool.

## Verdict

The building block for local-first or P2P features in a Rust app — plan your own relay before you ship.