Messenger

Requirements / Order

We have only included services that meet the following requirements:

  • Client is open source
  • Does not use trackers
  • Uses end-to-end encryption
  • Current security audit is available (not more than three years old)

We tried to weigh the pros and cons of each service appropriately. The services are shown in descending order; if multiple services share first place, the order is random.

Signal

Signal

+

Very simple and easy to use

+

Worldwide use

+

Widely recognized encryption protocol

-

Requires phone number

-

Servers at Amazon, Google and Microsoft

-

Non-transparent financing

Website

Threema

Threema

+

Has its own infrastructure in Switzerland

+

Can be used anonymously

+

Simple and user-friendly

-

It’s not free

-

Mostly users in Europe

-

Outdated desktop app

Website

Session

Session

+

Decentralized

+

Anonymous

+

Bypasses censorship (onion routing)

-

Difficult to use

-

No Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS)

-

No individual calls (beta) and group calls

Website

SimpleX

SimpleX

+

Decentralized

+

No identifiers whatsoever (anonymous)

+

Modern architecture

-

Difficult to use

-

Questionable financing

-

No group calls

Website

Element

Element

+

Supports federated networks

+

Can be used anonymously

+

Transparent financing

-

Difficult to use

-

Leaves a lot of metadata

-

More suitable for organizations

Website

Briar

Briar

+

Decentralized

+

Anonymous

+

Usable without Internet

-

Difficult to use

-

iOS is not supported

-

No voice messages or calls

Website