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Applications
Applications
Name
URL
Show Card
Notes
Sins
Operating Systems
License
Reproducible Builds
Proprietary Libraries
Encryption Protocol
End to End Encryption
Local Message Encryption
Onion Routing
Contact check
Last Audit
Tracking
Phone Number Necessary
Leaks Metadata
Needs Contact List
Advertising
Network Structure
Hosting Infrastructure
Funding
Stores
Legal Jurisdiction
Features
UX
Device Syncing
Storage Location
Automated Backup
Encrypted Storage
Reviews
Company Stance on Customer Privacy
Score
Stars
Briar
Briar is a P2P messenger designed for people with very high threat models, such as journalists. Briar does all communication though Tor, by default, and requires no identifiable information to use. Briar's protocol is solid, and has even received formal verification. Briar is suitable for people with well-funded, sophisticated attackers after them... Assuming they take other precautions, such as using burner phones or running a Pixel phone with . Briar is the most solid messaging app that doesn't require specialized hardware to use.
Android
Linux
GPLv3
Yes
No
Bramble
All
Yes
Yes
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
2017
No
No
No
No
No
Decentralized
None
Transparent
Play Store
F-Droid
N/A
Group Chats
Every day user
No Sync
No Storage
N/A
N/A
Good
20.5
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Conversations/Siskin (XMPP)
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
GPLv3
Yes
No
OMEMO (Signal Protocol)
All
No
Yes
Yes (if previously verified)
2016
No
No
Yes
No
No
Federated
Distributed
Transparent
Play Store
F-Droid
Depends on Server Location
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Enthusiast
Full Sync
Local Storage
No
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
17.5
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Delta Chat
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
GPL
No
No
OpenPGP (with Autocrypt)
Only app users
No
No
Yes (Only in Group Chats)
1000
Optional
No
Yes
No
No
Federated
Distributed
Transparent
F-Droid
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
Depends on Server Location
Voice Messages
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
No
No Encrypted Storage
Good
10.5
❤️❤️❤️
Element (Matrix)
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
Apache
No
No
OLM/MEGOLM (Signal Protocol)
All
Yes
No
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
2016
Optional
No
Yes
No
No
Federated
Distributed
Centralized
Partially Transparent
Play Store
F-Droid
App Store
Depends on Server Location
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Self Destructing Messages
Enthusiast
Full Sync
Cloud Storage
Local Storage
Self Hosting Possible
Partially
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
14.5
❤️❤️❤️
iMessage
NSA Partner
IOS
OSX
Proprietary
No
Yes
Proprietary, Unknown
All
Yes
No
No
2016
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Centralized
Apple
Not transparent
App Store
USA
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
Cloud Storage
Partially
Has Encrypted Storage
Poor
-9.5
🕷️
Jami
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
GPLv3
No
No
RSA-Keys
All
No
No
1000
No
No
Partially
No
No
Decentralized
None
Transparent
Play Store
F-Droid
App Store
N/A
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
File Exchange
Enthusiast
Manual Sync
Local Storage
No
No Encrypted Storage
Good
14.5
❤️❤️❤️
Signal
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Proprietary
No
Yes
Signal Protocol
All
Yes
No
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
2017
No
Yes
Partially
No
No
Centralized
Amazon
Microsoft
Google
Partially Transparent
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
USA
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
Partially
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
-0.5
Skype
NSA Partner
Makes money from Personal Data
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
Proprietary, Unknown
All
No
No
No
1000
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Centralized
Microsoft
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
No
No Encrypted Storage
Poor
-14.5
🕷️🕷️
Telegram
Telegram is WhatsApp's most direct competitor, but is not significantly better than WhatsApp. It's commonly touted as a FOSS alternative to WhatsApp, but it has , including a cryptographic protocol that can't be trusted. Telegram committed one of the cardinal sins of security: homebrew crypto in a production app. Telegram leaks metadata, and its design is not solid. Moreover, Telegram is , which not only creates an annoyance, but introduces trackers into the app. Although to be fair, they in the standard build. Additionally, , and never supports E2EE in group chats
Bespoke Encryption Algorithm
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
Client Open Source
No
Yes
MTProto
Only PMs
No
No
No
2017
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Centralized
Amazon
Google
Not transparent
Play Store
F-Droid
App Store
Dubai
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Unencrypted Chats Only
Cloud Storage
Yes
Key with Provider
Poor
-11.5
🕷️🕷️
Threema
Android
IOS
Web
Client Open Source
No
Yes
NaCI (no FPS)
All
Yes
No
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
2020
No
No
Partially
No
No
Centralized
Centralized
Transparent
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
Switzerland
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
No Sync
Local Storage
Self Hosting Possible
Partially
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
9
❤️❤️
Tox
Android
Linux
OSX
Windows
GPLv3
No
No
NaCI (no FPS)
All
No
Yes
No
1000
No
No
Partially
No
No
Decentralized
None
Community Project
F-Droid
Own Website
N/A
File Exchange
Advanced
No Sync
Local Storage
N/A
N/A
Good
15.5
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Whatsapp
NSA Partner
Makes money from Personal Data
Android
IOS
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
Proprietary, Unknown
All
Yes
No
Yes (fingerprint optional)
1000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Centralized
Facebook
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
USA
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
Self Destructing Messages
File Exchange
Every day user
No Sync
Local Storage
Cloud Storage
Partially
Key with Provider
Abysmal
-17.5
🕷️🕷️🕷️
Wire
IOS
Android
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
GPL
No
Yes
Proteus (Signal Protocol)
All
Yes
No
Yes (if previously verified)
2017
No
No
Yes
No
No
Centralized
Amazon
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
Germany
Voice Messages
Group Chats
Audio/Video Chats
File Exchange
Self Destructing Messages
Every day user
Limited to 8
Local Storage
No
Only IOS
Good
4.5
❤️
Zoom
Zoom is probably the worst messaging app out there. It has had , and many governments and companies have . Zoom has also had , some of which prompted Apple to release an update .
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
Proprietary, Unknown
None
No
No
No
1000
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Centralized
Amazon
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Enthusiast
No Sync
Cloud Storage
No
No Encrypted Storage
Abysmal
-14.5
🕷️🕷️
Discord
Android
IOS
Linux
Windows
OSX
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
None
None
No
No
No
1000
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Centralized
Amazon
Google
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Audio/Video Chats
File Exchange
Group Chats
Every day user
Full Sync
Cloud Storage
Yes
No Encrypted Storage
Poor
-17.5
🕷️🕷️🕷️
Slack
Android
IOS
Linux
Windows
OSX
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
None
None
No
No
No
1000
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Centralized
Amazon
Google
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Audio/Video Chats
File Exchange
Group Chats
Every day user
Full Sync
Cloud Storage
Yes
No Encrypted Storage
Poor
-17.5
🕷️🕷️🕷️
Session
F-droid build is available on a separate repo:
Android
IOS
Windows
Linux
OSX
GPLv3
Yes
No
Signal Protocol
All
Yes
Yes
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
1000
No
No
No
No
No
Decentralized
None
Transparent
Play Store
App Store
Own Website
F-Droid
Australia
Voice Messages
Group Chats
File Exchange
Self Destructing Messages
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
No
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
25.5
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Google Hangouts
NSA Partner
Makes money from Personal Data
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Web
Proprietary
No
Yes
None
None
No
No
No
1000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Centralized
Google
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Every day user
Full Sync
Cloud Storage
Yes
No Encrypted Storage
Abysmal
-24.5
🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️
Viber
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Proprietary
No
Yes
None
None
No
No
No
1000
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Centralized
Facebook
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
Luxembourg
Voice Messages
File Exchange
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
Self Destructing Messages
Every day user
Full Sync
Cloud Storage
Yes
No Encrypted Storage
Poor
-17.5
🕷️🕷️🕷️
Wickr
Android
IOS
Windows
OSX
Linux
Proprietary
No
Yes
RSA-Keys
All
Yes
No
Yes (fingerprint optional)
2017
No
No
No
No
No
Centralized
Google
Amazon
Not transparent
Play Store
App Store
USA
Voice Messages
Group Chats
File Exchange
Self Destructing Messages
Every day user
Full Sync
Local Storage
Cloud Storage
Partially
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
1.5
❤️
Tinfoil Chat
Requires a hardware device (to build oneself) and as such, is only suitable for people under extremely heavy threat
GPLv3
Yes
No
XChaCha20-Poly1305
All
Yes
Yes
Yes (notified if fingerprint changes)
1000
No
No
No
No
No
Decentralized
None
Community Project
Own Website
N/A
Voice Messages
Audio/Video Chats
Group Chats
File Exchange
Self Destructing Messages
Advanced
No Sync
Local Storage
No
Has Encrypted Storage
Good
19.5
❤️❤️❤️❤️
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