Messenger Comparison Table
This is not intended to be an extremely comprehensive list, but enough to get a grasp on the situation.
The only client for now that we recommend is Conversations, a top notch XMPP client, fully supports the OMEMO XEP, is easy on the battery, and doesn't force you into a walled garden. It is not the easiest thing getting your friends and family to switch apps, so at the very least any apps with end-to-end encryption (E2EE) support should always be preferred over apps without.
For a much larger list of messengers, albeit in German, see this overview and their "Why Not?" list.
Last updated: 2022/11/28
| Name | FOSS Client | Non-Free Dependencies | FOSS Server | Protocol | Federated | Decentralized | Encryption | Encrypted by Default | Battery Drain | Data Usage | Desktop Client | File Sharing | Voice Calling | Video Calling | Multi-Device Support | Offline Messaging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conversations | GPLv3 | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | Yes: prosody/ejabberd | XMPP | Yes | Yes | TLS + OMEMO E2EE | To contacts with OMEMO | Minimal | Minimal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Element | Apache | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | Yes: synapse | Matrix | Yes | Yes | TLS + Olm/Megolm E2EE | Not yet | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Signal | GPLv3 | Play/Website: Yes, GMS | Code over wall | Custom | No | No | TLS + Signal E2EE | To contacts with Signal | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | With Phone | Yes |
| SimpleX | AGPLv3 | No | Yes: SimpleXMQ SMP | Custom | Yes | No | Custom E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | WIP | Unknown |
| Jami/Ring | GPLv3 | No | Yes: opendht | Custom | N/A | Yes | TLS + SRTP + Custom E2EE | Yes | High | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Session | GPLv3 | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | Unclear | Custom | N/A | Yes | Custom E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | WIP | WIP | Yes | Yes |
| Delta Chat | GPLv3 | No | N/A | Yes | Yes | TLS + OpenPGP E2EE | To contacts with AutoCrypt | Low | Minimal | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Briar | GPLv3 | No | N/A | Custom | N/A | Yes | Custom E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | WIP | Images Only | No | No | No | No |
| Silence (deprecated) | GPLv3 | No | N/A | SMS | Yes | Yes | Signal E2EE | To contacts with Silence | Minimal | Minimal | No | Images Only | No | No | No | Maybe? |
| Wire | GPLv3 | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | Yes | Custom | No | No | Custom E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Threema | AGPLv3 | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | No | Custom | No | No | Custom E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | Web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Telegram | GPLv2 | F-Droid: No, Play: Yes | No | Custom | No | No | TLS + Custom E2EE | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No | Yes | No | Custom | No | No | TLS + Signal E2EE | Yes | ? | ? | Web | Yes | Yes | Yes | With Phone | Yes | |
| Facebook Messenger | No | Yes | No | Custom | No | No | TLS + Signal E2EE | No | ? | ? | Web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google Hangouts | No | Yes | No | Custom | No | No | TLS | No | ? | ? | Web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Skype | No | Yes | No | Custom | No | No | TLS | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
