Alternatives to Quiet
A peer-to-peer team chat app that syncs messages between members' devices over Tor, with no server. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Quiet
A peer-to-peer team chat app that syncs messages between members' devices over Tor, with no server.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Quiet.
Cwtch
Metadata-resistant messaging over Tor with no central servers.
Cwtch is a metadata-resistant Tor messenger with no central servers and group support, adding macOS but with a limited feature set.
RetroShare
A decentralized, encrypted friend-to-friend network for chat, mail, forums, channels and file sharing.
RetroShare offers decentralized friend-to-friend chat, forums, channels and file sharing without a central server, though releases are infrequent.
Briar
Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Tor.
Briar is a peer-to-peer messenger over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Tor that works without internet, but runs only on Linux and Android.
SimpleX Chat
A messenger with no user identifiers at all, not even a random one, so there is no account to correlate.
SimpleX Chat uses self-hostable relay servers instead of pure peer-to-peer sync and adds iOS and terminal clients plus direct messages.
Berty
An open-source peer-to-peer messenger that works without central servers and can operate offline.
Berty is an open-source peer-to-peer messenger for Android and iOS that can work offline, though developers say it is not ready for high-risk use.
Session
An encrypted messenger with no phone number and no account, routed through an onion network.
Session routes messages through an onion network with distributed service nodes, adding an iOS client and one-to-one messaging.
Keet
A peer-to-peer chat app for encrypted messages, audio and video calls, and file transfers.
Keet provides peer-to-peer group chat, video calls and broadcast rooms with end-to-end encryption, but it is not open source.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Quiet as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Ricochet Refresh
An anonymous peer-to-peer instant messenger that connects contacts directly over Tor onion services.
Quiet uses Tor for serverless team chat on desktop and Android, but it is unaudited beta software without direct messages.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Jami
A fully peer-to-peer communication platform with no servers relaying your data and no personal information needed to sign up.
Status
A decentralised private messenger combined with a self-custodial crypto wallet and web3 browser.
Flotilla
A Discord-style community app built on Nostr relays, delivered as a progressive web app.
Campfire
A self-hosted group chat system from 37signals with rooms, direct messages and @mentions.
Mattermost
A self-hosted team chat platform with a desktop client, aimed at organisations that want Slack without the cloud.
