privacytools.io/_includes/sections/instant-messenger.html

<h1 id="im" class="anchor"><a href="#im"><i class="fas fa-link anchor-icon"></i></a> {% t Encrypted Instant Messenger %}</h1>

<div class="alert alert-warning" role="alert">
  <strong>{% t If you are currently using an Instant Messenger like Telegram, LINE, Viber, <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/10/where-whatsapp-went-wrong-effs-four-biggest-security-concerns">WhatsApp</a>, or plain SMS you should pick an alternative here. %}</strong>
</div>


{% include cardv2.html
title="Signal"
image="/assets/img/tools/Signal.png"
description="Signal is a mobile app developed by Open Whisper Systems. The app provides instant messaging, as well as voice and video calling. All communications are end-to-end encrypted. Signal is free and open source."
labels="success:VoIP"
website="https://signal.org/"
forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-signal/664"
github="https://github.com/signalapp"
windows="https://signal.org/download/"
mac="https://signal.org/download/"
linux="https://signal.org/download/"
googleplay="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms"
android="https://signal.org/android/apk/#apk-danger"
ios="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/signal-private-messenger/id874139669"
%}


{% include cardv2.html
title="Wire"
image="/assets/img/tools/wire.png"
description="Wire is a free and end-to-end encrypted chatting application that supports instant messaging, voice, and video calls. Full source code is available."
labels="warning:<a href=//www.vice.com/en_us/article/gvzw5x/secure-messaging-app-wire-stores-everyone-youve-ever-contacted-in-plain-text>Warning</a>:Wire stores some plaintext metadata about its users on their servers. This data includes profile names, profile pictures, usernames, and users' lists of connections and conversations.|success:VoIP"
website="https://wire.com/"
forum="https://forum.privacytools.io/t/discussion-wire/750"
github="https://github.com/wireapp/"
windows="https://wire.com/en/download"
mac="https://wire.com/en/download"
linux="https://wire.com/en/download"
googleplay="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wire"
android="https://wire.com/en/download"
ios="https://itunes.apple.com/app/wire/id930944768?mt=8"
web="https://app.wire.com"
%}

<h3>{% t Complete Comparison %}</h3>
<ul>
	<li><a href="{% t https://securechatguide.org/effguide.html %}">{% t securechatguide.org %}</a> - {% t Guide to Choosing a Messenger. %}</li>
	<li><a href="{% t https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ %}">{% t securemessagingapps.com %}</a> - {% t Secure Messaging Apps Comparison. %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://www.thinkprivacy.io/messengers.html %}">{% t thinkprivacy.io %}</a> - {% t Simple Secure Messaging Apps Comparison. %}</li>
</ul>


<h3>{% t Worth Mentioning %}</h3>

<ul>
  <li><a href="{% t https://briarproject.org/ %}">{% t Briar %}</a> - {% t An ultra-secure peer-to-peer instant messenger that connects to contacts via Direct Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Tor over the internet, keeping its users protected from surveillance and censorship. %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://about.riot.im/ %}">{% t Riot %}</a> - {% t An open-source, federated messenger that utilizes the Matrix protocol. This application is primarily recommended as a large group/team chat solution. While Riot has the ability to perform 1-on-1 communications we believe there are better solutions for direct communications. %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://retroshare.cc/ %}">{% t RetroShare %}</a> - {% t An end-to-end encrypted instant messaging and voice/video call client. RetroShare supports both TOR and I2P.  %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://xmpp.org/ %}">{% t XMPP %}</a> - {% t Federated instant messaging protocol with <a href="https://conversations.im/omemo/">OMEMO</a>, OTR, or OpenPGP end-to-end encryption: %}</li>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="{% t https://conversations.im/ %}">{% t Conversations %}</a> ({% t Android %}) - {% t An open-source Jabber/XMPP client for Android 4.4+ smartphones. %} <span class="badge badge-success">{% t OMEMO %}</span></li>
    <li><a href="{% t https://gajim.org/ %}">{% t Gajim %}</a> ({% t FreeBSD, Linux, Windows %}) - {% t An open-source fully featured XMPP client.%} <span class="badge badge-success">{% t OMEMO %}</span></li>
    <li><a href="{% t https://monal.im/ %}">{% t Monal %}</a> ({% t iOS, MacOS %}) - {% t An XMPP client in active development. %} <span class="badge badge-success">{% t OMEMO %}</span> <span class="badge badge-success">{% t VoIP %}</span></li>
    <li><a href="{% t https://omemo.top/ %}">{% t Other OMEMO-ready clients %}</a></li>
  </ul>
  <li><a href="{% t https://www.kontalk.org/ %}">{% t Kontalk %}</a> - {% t A community-driven instant messaging network. Supports end-to-end encryption. Both client-to-server and server-to-server channels are fully encrypted. %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://keybase.io/ %}">{% t Keybase %}</a> - <span class="badge badge-warning" data-toggle="tooltip" title="{% t This software relies on a closed-source central server. %}">{% t Warning %}</span> {% t End-to-end encrypted messaging with social verification. %}</li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://status.im/ %}">{% t Status %}</a> - <span class="badge badge-warning">{% t Experimental %}</span> {% t A free and open-source, peer-to-peer, encrypted instant messanger with support for DAPPs. %}</li>
  <li> <a href="{% t https://tox.chat/ %}">{% t Tox %}</a> - <span class="badge badge-warning">{% t Experimental %}</span> {% t A free and open-source, peer-to-peer, encrypted instant messaging, and video calling software.%} <span class="badge badge-success">{% t VoIP %}</span></li>
  <li><a href="{% t https://jami.net/ %}">{% t Jami (formerly Ring/SFLphone) %}</a> - {% t Gives you full control over your communications and an unmatched level of privacy. Jami has text messaging, video and audio calls, file transfer, and video conferencing. %} <span class="badge badge-success">{% t VoIP %}</span> </li>
</ul>


<h3>{% t Related Information %}</h3>

<ul>
  <li><a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/14/communicating-secret-watched/">{% t Chatting in Secret While We're All Being Watched - firstlook.org %}</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://signal.org/android/apk/"> {% t Advanced users with special needs can download the Signal APK directly. Most users should not do this under normal circumstances. %}</a></li>
  <li>{% t Independent security audits %}</li>
  <ul>
    <li>{% t<a href="https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1013.pdf"> A Formal Security Analysis of the Signal Messaging Protocol (2019)</a> by Katriel Cohn-Gordon, Cas Cremers, Benjamin Dowling, Luke Garratt and Douglas Stebila %}</li>
    <li>{% t<a href="https://wire.com/en/security/#audits">Independent security audits</a> on Wire's website %}</li>
    <li>{% t<a href="https://keybase.io/docs-assets/blog/NCC_Group_Keybase_KB2018_Public_Report_2019-02-27_v1.3.pdf">Keybase's Protocol Security Review (2019)</a> by <a href="https://www.nccgroup.trust/">NCC Group</a> %}</li>
  </ul>
</ul>