Alternatives to Status
A decentralised private messenger combined with a self-custodial crypto wallet and web3 browser. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Status
A decentralised private messenger combined with a self-custodial crypto wallet and web3 browser.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Status.
Session
An encrypted messenger with no phone number and no account, routed through an onion network.
Session drops the crypto wallet and web3 browser and offers onion-routed messaging with a random ID, though its network is tied to Oxen cryptocurrency infrastructure.
SimpleX Chat
A messenger with no user identifiers at all, not even a random one, so there is no account to correlate.
SimpleX Chat has no user identifiers at all and lets you choose or self-host relay servers, with no crypto wallet, and connections made by exchanging links.
Signal
An end-to-end encrypted messenger for calls and chats on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux, run by a nonprofit.
Signal provides end-to-end encrypted chats and calls without any wallet features, but requires a phone number to register and runs through a central nonprofit service.
Keet
A peer-to-peer chat app for encrypted messages, audio and video calls, and file transfers.
Keet is a peer-to-peer messenger with calls and file transfers and no phone number, but it is not open source and depends on a seed phrase.
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 that can work offline, available only on Android and iOS, and its developers say it is not ready for high-risk use.
Element
The reference Matrix client: end-to-end encrypted chat on a network you can host yourself.
Element is a federated Matrix client under AGPL-3.0 with bridges to other networks, dropping the crypto wallet in favour of a homeserver-based model.
Threema
Swiss encrypted messenger that works without a phone number or email.
Threema is a Swiss messenger with a random ID and no wallet features, requiring a one-time purchase on each platform.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Flotilla
A Discord-style community app built on Nostr relays, delivered as a progressive web app.
Freenet
A peer-to-peer platform for decentralized apps that run without central servers, starting with River chat.
Olvid
An end-to-end encrypted messenger that works without a phone number, email address or other personal data.
Cwtch
Metadata-resistant messaging over Tor with no central servers.
Stoat
An open-source group chat app with servers, channels, voice chat and role-based moderation for communities.
