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Session vs SimpleX Chat: catalog facts
Session	SimpleX Chat
Free Free and open source under the GPL 3.0, run by the Session Technology Foundation.	Free Free and open source under the AGPL 3.0. The company is funded by investment and…
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Command line
No phone number or email needed; the account is a random ID Onion routing hides your address from recipients and from the network	No user identifier of any kind, so conversations cannot be correlated by account Double ratchet encryption with an additional layer for the relay servers
Losing your recovery phrase means losing the account with no reset Delivery can be slower than a centralised messenger	Connecting means exchanging a link or QR code in person or elsewhere No contact list means a lost device is a lost set of conversations unless backed up
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0	License: AGPL-3.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

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