Best WhatsApp Alternatives in 2026: Private Messaging Apps for WhatsApp and Telegram Users

Signal is the best all-round WhatsApp alternative for private messaging, SimpleX Chat and Session suit people who do not want a phone number tied to their account, and Element is the choice for federated group chat you can host yourself. Telegram works better for large public groups than for private chat.

The list is ordered by how well each app replaces WhatsApp for everyday messaging, and it also serves people leaving Telegram. Every tool with a card is listed on Enlisted, which shows whether it is open source and whether you can self-host. Encryption claims are attributed to the vendors, and there is a short comparison of phone-number and encryption approaches near the end.

One note on the table: Enlisted's Signal service listing is marked as a hosted product, while the Signal apps and server code are separate open-source listings under AGPL-3.0, linked in the Signal section below.

Why people look for WhatsApp alternatives

WhatsApp is free, familiar and used in many countries, which is why it is hard to leave. The reasons people look elsewhere are specific.

• Closed source, owned by Meta. Enlisted lists WhatsApp as proprietary and hosted only. It is owned by Meta, and its code cannot be inspected or run yourself.
• Tied to a phone number. WhatsApp accounts are registered with a phone number, so your identity and contacts follow that number.
• Encryption is only part of the picture. WhatsApp highlights end-to-end encryption for personal messages and calls. Some people also want protection for metadata, meaning who talks to whom, or want no central account server at all.
• A growing feature set. WhatsApp now includes Status, Channels and a built-in Meta AI assistant, plus a separate Business version, which is more than some users want from a chat app.
• Telegram users have their own reasons. Telegram's FAQ says its normal chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default, and its server side is closed.

How we picked

Each app here covers the core of WhatsApp: one-to-one and group messaging on phones, with calls where available. Enlisted's data decided the rest. Open-source projects had to show recent activity on GitHub, licences are quoted as listed, and each pick notes the account model and whether you can self-host. Facts come from Enlisted's listings and each vendor's own site, and privacy statements are the vendors' claims, not our own findings. Threema and Briar are not in Enlisted's catalogue, so they appear in prose near the end without cards. The approach shared by all Enlisted guides is described in how Enlisted ranks tools.

1. Signal: best overall private alternative to WhatsApp

Signal is a free messenger run by an independent nonprofit that offers text, voice and video chats, group conversations and file sharing. Its site says end-to-end encryption, built on the open-source Signal Protocol, is on for every conversation, adding that privacy is not an optional mode, and that there are no ads and no tracking. It is the nearest thing to WhatsApp's everyday experience with a stronger privacy stance.

The service is hosted by Signal and runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, macOS and Linux, with the desktop app linking to the phone app. The code is open: see Signal Android, Signal iOS, Signal Desktop and Signal Server, all AGPL-3.0. Signal is funded by donations, which can be made inside the apps. For more on the service, see Signal alternatives.

• Best for: people who want a WhatsApp-like app with end-to-end encryption on by default and a nonprofit behind it.
• Watch out for: accounts are registered with a phone number, and it is one hosted network run by Signal rather than a federated or self-hosted system.

2. SimpleX Chat: best for chat with no user identifiers

SimpleX Chat is an open-source private messenger and protocol that, according to the project, assigns no identifiers of any kind to its users, not even random IDs. The aim is to protect not only message content but also metadata, meaning who talks to whom and when. Messages use double-ratchet end-to-end encryption with an additional encryption layer, as the project describes it.

Apps are available for Android and iOS, and a terminal client runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. SimpleX's site says anyone can run servers and that it supports groups, channels and audio and video calls, and it says the project underwent independent security audits in 2022 and 2024. The software is AGPL-3.0, and the core is written in Haskell.

• Best for: privacy-focused users, journalists and activists who do not want a phone number or username tied to them.
• Watch out for: with no identifiers, there is no phone-book contact discovery, so you connect with people through links or QR codes, which takes more effort than WhatsApp.

3. Session: best for no phone number and onion-routed messages

Session is a decentralized private messenger that routes messages through onion-routed service nodes, with Android, iPhone and desktop apps. Its site says no phone number or email is required to sign up, that conversations are end-to-end encrypted, and that anyone can view, audit and contribute to its code. It supports group and community chats.

Enlisted lists the desktop client, which connects to Oxen Service Nodes. Some nodes store messages while a recipient is offline and others provide onion routing that hides users' IP addresses. The desktop code is GPL-3.0, and releases are signed with instructions for verifying them.

• Best for: people who want a messenger with no phone number and IP-address hiding built into the network.
• Watch out for: Session's homepage does not mention voice or video calls, so check its current call support if you depend on calls. Enlisted's listing tracks the desktop client only.

4. Element: best for federated, self-hostable group chat

Element is a web and desktop client for Matrix, the open protocol for decentralized messaging, offering encrypted chat, rooms and collaboration across servers rather than inside one company's network. For phones and tablets, its maintainers recommend the native Element X apps for Android and iOS. You can register on a hosted homeserver or run your own.

If you would rather have a friendlier front end, FluffyChat is a Matrix client written in Flutter that adds end-to-end encryption, encrypted chat backup, video calls through Matrix RTC, spaces and custom emotes. Cinny is a simple Matrix web and desktop client. To host your own server, Tuwunel is a Rust homeserver and Synapse is the Python and Rust reference homeserver. For workplace use, see the Slack alternatives guide.

• Best for: families, clubs and organizations that want group chat on a server they control, or with no single owner.
• Watch out for: you must pick a homeserver, and account rules depend on that choice, so the setup is more involved than installing WhatsApp.

5. Delta Chat: best for encrypted chat over your existing email account

Delta Chat is a decentralized messenger that sends chats over ordinary email servers, so conversations run through an email account instead of a single central service. The project's topics show that it works over the standard IMAP and SMTP protocols and supports Autocrypt-based end-to-end encryption.

Enlisted lists the Electron desktop app, released under GPL-3.0, and notes that a browser edition is experimental and meant for developers. Because it rides on email, your identity is an email account rather than a phone number. For help choosing an email provider, see the Gmail alternatives guide.

• Best for: people who like the idea of chat built on open email standards and no phone-number account.
• Watch out for: Enlisted's listing covers the desktop app, so check Delta Chat's own site for mobile apps, and expect it to feel different from a purpose-built messenger.

6. Wire: best for secure messaging with a free tier for small teams

Wire is a secure messaging platform whose server code is published as open source under AGPL-3.0, written mainly in Haskell and Rust. The repository holds the services that run it, covering conversations and teams, accounts, push notifications, file storage and single sign-on. The Wire name and logos are not licensed for use.

Enlisted lists a free plan for very small teams, a per-seat plan for small and mid-size businesses, and quoted enterprise and on-premises options. It sits closer to WhatsApp for work than to a family chat app, and Wire's site is the place to confirm current encryption details.

• Best for: small businesses and teams that want secure messaging with a path to self-hosting.
• Watch out for: it is team-oriented, and running the server means operating several services.

7. Telegram: best for large public groups and channels

Telegram is a cloud-based messenger with synced chats, very large groups, broadcast channels and bots built on an open API, available on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, macOS, Linux and the browser. Apps are free, with optional paid features, and Telegram's FAQ says all of its client apps are open source, with verifiable builds on iOS and Android. See the official Telegram Desktop and Telegram for Android listings.

The trade-off is encryption. According to Telegram's FAQ, normal chats and group chats use server-client encryption, and only Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted. A phone number is the primary way people find you, and a username is optional. If you are leaving Telegram, see Telegram alternatives and the section below.

• Best for: public communities, announcement channels and bots.
• Watch out for: end-to-end encryption is limited to Secret Chats, per its FAQ, and the service is hosted by Telegram only.

8. Viber: best mainstream swap with communities and business messaging

Viber is a proprietary messaging and calling app with one-to-one chats, voice and video calls, communities for larger groups and messaging options for businesses. It is a cloud service you use through apps, and Enlisted lists a free plan.

It is a straightforward swap for people who simply want a different mainstream messenger. Enlisted's entry could not read Viber's site, so confirm its encryption and feature details on the Viber page and the vendor's own pages. For other options, see Viber alternatives.

• Best for: people whose contacts already use Viber and who want a free messaging and calling app.
• Watch out for: it is closed source and hosted only, so it does not address the main reasons people leave WhatsApp.

Also worth checking: Threema and Briar

Neither is in Enlisted's catalogue, so there are no cards, only what each project says on its own site. Threema is a Swiss messenger that says all messages, calls and files are protected by strong cryptography based on open-source technology, that it requires no phone number or email address, and that it develops and hosts in Switzerland. It also sells a business product, Threema Work. Briar says it is censorship-resistant peer-to-peer messaging with no central servers, with end-to-end encryption, that it connects over Tor, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi even without internet access, and that it is free and open source and available for Android. Check each site for current pricing and platforms.

Regional and platform-specific apps

If your contacts live on a different mainstream app, Enlisted lists LINE, popular in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, KakaoTalk from Korea, WeChat from Tencent, Zalo from Vietnam, Meta's own Messenger and Apple's FaceTime for calls between Apple devices. These are all closed, hosted services, so they change who runs your messages rather than who can see how it works.

Telegram alternatives: if you are leaving Telegram

Telegram users often want one of two things. If you want private chat, Signal is the closest swap, since Telegram's FAQ says normal chats are not end-to-end encrypted. If you want to run a large public group or channel, Element on Matrix gives you rooms and spaces on a server you can host, and Discord is a hosted option for communities, covered in the Discord alternatives guide. Bots built on the Telegram API will not move, so check whether your community depends on them.

Encryption, phone numbers and metadata: what to compare

These are the approaches to compare, as each vendor describes them.

Metadata is the part many apps do not address. Content encryption protects what you say, while apps such as SimpleX Chat and Session try to also hide who you talk to, and a self-hosted Matrix server keeps account data on a machine you control. None of this has been verified by Enlisted, so read each project's security pages and audits.

Which WhatsApp alternative should you choose?

For a wider view, see all open-source WhatsApp alternatives on Enlisted, or browse the team chat category. If you are choosing workplace chat rather than a personal messenger, the Slack alternatives guide is the better starting point.