Alternatives to Olvid
An end-to-end encrypted messenger that works without a phone number, email address or other personal data. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Olvid
An end-to-end encrypted messenger that works without a phone number, email address or other personal data.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Olvid.
Signal
An end-to-end encrypted messenger for calls and chats on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux, run by a nonprofit.
Signal is an open-source encrypted messenger run by a nonprofit, but registration requires a phone number that can receive an SMS or call.
Threema
Swiss encrypted messenger that works without a phone number or email.
Threema also works without a phone number or email using a random ID, with open-source apps, but requires a one-time purchase per platform.
Session
An encrypted messenger with no phone number and no account, routed through an onion network.
Session needs no phone number and routes messages through an onion network, with open-source clients, though losing the recovery phrase means losing the account.
SimpleX Chat
A messenger with no user identifiers at all, not even a random one, so there is no account to correlate.
SimpleX Chat removes user identifiers entirely and lets you self-host relay servers, with open-source apps, but contacts connect by exchanging links or QR codes.
Wire
End-to-end encrypted messaging, calls and file sharing for organisations.
Wire offers open-source encrypted messaging and calls for organisations with a self-hostable server, but needs an account tied to an email or phone number.
Keet
A peer-to-peer chat app for encrypted messages, audio and video calls, and file transfers.
Keet sends encrypted messages, calls and files peer to peer without a phone number or email, relying on a 24-word seed phrase for identity.
WhatsApp
An end-to-end encrypted messaging and calling app for phones, desktop computers and the web.
WhatsApp also encrypts messages and calls end to end and reaches far more contacts, but it is proprietary and tied to a phone number account.
Jami
A fully peer-to-peer communication platform with no servers relaying your data and no personal information needed to sign up.
Jami is a GNU peer-to-peer messenger with no servers and no phone number, adding calls and SIP, but offline messages wait for reconnection.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Olvid as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Delta Chat
A messenger that sends over email, so anyone with an address can be reached without installing it.
Olvid offers end-to-end encryption without a phone number or email and never reads the address book, but it is not open source and contacts must install it.
Keybase
An end-to-end encrypted messaging and file-sharing app for individuals, teams, families and groups.
Olvid is an encrypted messenger needing no phone number or email, with file sharing without size limits, and contacts must also install Olvid.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Molly
A security-hardened fork of Signal for Android with an encrypted local database and Tor support.
Briar
Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Tor.
MySudo
A privacy app suite for creating separate digital identities with their own phone numbers, emails and cards.
Cwtch
Metadata-resistant messaging over Tor with no central servers.
