WhatsApp
Messenger
Telegram
SimpleX ChatPick
App19.6k
Messenger with no user IDs at all: contacts connect through one-time links, so there is no number or username to leak.
- No tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- No account
- Free
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Signal
App in Messaging, Video calls
Free messenger where texts, calls and group chats are end-to-end encrypted by default, run by a nonprofit.
Signing up needs a phone number, though a username can hide it from contacts.
Privacy passport
4 of 5 checks- No trackingYesNo ads and no third-party trackers or analytics.
- Open sourceYesApps and server code are public, so anyone can check them.
- Only you can read itEncryptedSynced with end-to-end encryption: the provider can't read it.
- No accountNeededYou need an account to use it.
- FreeYesFree to use.
Where it stands among 13 messaging apps
No tracking
Yes
Partly
Open source
Yes
Partly
Only you can read it
Yes
Partly
No account
Yes
No
Free
Yes
No
Other messaging apps
ThreemaPick
App1k
Swiss messenger you buy once; it works with a random Threema ID, no phone number or email required.
- No tracking
- Partly open
- End-to-end encrypted
- No account
- Paid
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Molly
App3.8k
Hardened Android build of Signal that adds a passphrase-locked database and talks to the same Signal network.
- No tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- Account needed
- Free
- Android
SessionAudited
App931
Encrypted messenger that gives you a random ID instead of asking for a phone number, and routes messages through an onion network.
- No tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- No account
- Free
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
ElementAudited
App13.6k
Chat app for the open Matrix network: encrypted private chats and rooms, and you can pick or run your own server.
- Minimal tracking
- Open source
- Partly encrypted
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
WireAudited
App1.2k
Encrypted messenger and team workspace with calls and file sharing, built on the MLS standard for group encryption.
- Minimal tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web