When it comes to messengers we have Meta (Facebook) with the largest hand in the cookie jar, WhatsApp and Messenger are sadly used by many people, some with excuses like everyone else uses it. When it comes to privacy, these are the worst choices you can make.
Here are some messengers we can recommend for privacy:
When it comes to messengers I wish we had the perfect decentralized application, sadly we don't, but we do have some excellent choices!
Signal does the job and it uses as little metadata as it needs. Signal is the easiest sell when getting someone to move over from WhatsApp or Facebook messenger, it could even be the one to get your mum or grandmother moving in the direction of a little bit of privacy. It's free and super easy to set up. Yet, keep in mind even though it uses as little metadata as possible and the E2EE is second to none, Signal still uses AWS and Google servers for the group and one-on-one chats.
You also have Molly.im, which connects with Signal and is a hardened version on Android.
Reviews:
https://dt.gl/the-2022-review-of-messaging-service-providers-signal/
https://dt.gl/the-2021-review-of-messaging-service-providers-molly-im/
Open-SourceCentralizediOSiPadOSAndroid
Matrix is a Protocol and is best known for the app Element. However, Element is just one of many matrix-powered chat apps out there. I, personally, enjoy SchildiChat the most, however FluffyChat, and many others are very good and worth a look.
Reviews:
https://dt.gl/messaging-provider-review-2020-element/
https://dt.gl/the-matrix-more-than-just-element/
Open-SourceE2EEFederatedDesktopiOSiPadOSAndroid
XMPP started back in 1998, which makes it an early pioneer, and was developed to allow the exchange of information and data. One beauty of it is that you can host XMPP yourself or chose from many instances.
Review:
https://dt.gl/messengers-xmpp-conversations/
Briar is the best and safest communication on and offline, unfortunately, it is not available on iOS (yet). It is, however, an app which has no real rivals when it comes to anonymity! In a serious situation or when disaster strikes it can be the app that makes a difference. We highly recommend it for journalists, activists and anyone else who needs something beyond your usual everyday messenger.
Review:
https://dt.gl/the-2022-review-of-messaging-service-providers-briar/
Open-SourceE2EEDecentralizedLinuxF-Droid
Threema is a paid messenger, located in Switzerland. The code is mostly open-source (the server code is not).
Review: (2 years old, we will update soon)
https://dt.gl/2020-messeging-threema/
Open-SourceE2EEiOSiPadOSAndroidAccepts Bitcoin
Delta Chat uses your existing SMTP and IMAP server to send and receive emails/chats. This is all done over E2EE (End-to-End-Encryption). Delta Chat is using OpenPGP-Standard, so is a pretty good way to introduce yourself to using PGP for all your emails. Delta Chat generates all this for you, but if you do own an existing PGP Key, you can easily import and use that! This then allows your existing encrypted email partners to just carry on sending you encrypted chats/emails.
Review:
https://dt.gl/the-2020-review-of-messaging-service-providers-delta-chat/
Open-SourceE2EEDesktopiOSF-Droid
To sign up you do not need to be linked to an email or telephone number and it is referred to as the decentralized Signal.
Open-SourceE2EEDesktopiOSF-Droid
Cwtch (/kʊtʃ/ - a Welsh word roughly translating to “a hug that creates a safe place”) is a decentralized, privacy-preserving, multi-party messaging protocol that can be used to build metadata resistant applications.
Pretty new, really good and uses Tor.
Open-SourceDecentralizedE2EEAPKDesktop
Whether it's corporations or governments, digital surveillance today is widespread. Tox is easy-to-use software that connects you with friends and family without anyone listening in. While other big name services require you to pay for features, Tox is completely free and comes without advertising — forever.
Open-SourceDesktop
Jami is 100% open-source and no data is stored on any server. The encryption provided by Jami is RSA-Keys (4096-Bit). Please keep in mind that Jami has so far not been audited by any third party.
Review:
https://dt.gl/messnger-provider-review-2021-jami/
Open-SourceE2EEDesktopF-Droid
Status is an open-source, decentralized messenger, a non-custodial crypto wallet and a web 3.0 browser, designed to act as a network node which interacts with decentralized applications (dapps) that run on the Ethereum network.
Review:
https://dt.gl/2021-review-of-messaging-service-providers/
Open-SourceDecentralizedE2EEDesktopiOSF-Droid
Similar to Element or Slack, fully open-source and encrypted team chat.
Open-SourceE2EEDesktopiOSAndroid
The privacy-first messaging app, that works with or without internet access, cellular data or trust in the network
Open-Source iOS Android