Signal AlternativesOnly Self-Hosted apps categorised as Instant Messengers

Signal is not available as a self-hosted solution but there are plenty of alternatives for power users and business that want to host a solution on-premise. The best Self-Hosted Instant Messenger alternative is Element. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Element or Wire. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Signal and 14 are Instant Messengers available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Self-Hosted Instant Messenger alternatives to Signal are SimpleX Chat, Jitsi Meet, Zulip and Nextcloud Talk.

filter to find the best alternatives

Signal alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Group Chat Apps or Encrypted Chat Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include EU, Open Source, Blackberry, Encrypted Chat, Apple Watch, Instant Messaging and Android Tablet. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Signal.
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Alternatives list

  1. Element icon

    Element

     769 likes
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    Provides secure collaboration with end-to-end encryption, supporting chat, voice, and video calls. Available on all major platforms, it enables digital sovereignty with a decentralized design and interoperability through bridges to systems like Slack and Teams. Includes enterprise-grade SaaS.

    302 Element alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Matrix.org
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Cloudron
    • Snapcraft
    Video calls for desktop and mobile
     
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    68
    Comments about Element as an Alternative to Signal
    LinuxDoge
    Positive
    3

    No phone number. You can choose a good server, but communicate with all. You can run it over Tor. The app is easy to use but full of features, that Signal still dreams of. There are Apps for every platform, in every Form.

    CatarinaTeles
    Positive
    8

    Decentralization and promotes home-servers

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It offers encrypted communication with a bonus of decentralized infrastructure.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
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    3 of 4 comments
    Signal Icon
    Element icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Element is a great Signal alternative.

    • Element is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Android & Mac alternative to Signal.

    • Element is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Signal.

    • Element is Free Personal and Open SourceSignal is Free and Open Source
  2. Wire icon

    Wire

     312 likes
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    Wire is the most secure collaboration platform featuring messenger, voice, video, conference calls, file-sharing, and external collaboration –all protected by the most secure end-to-end-encryption.

    281 Wire alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
    Wire screenshot 1
    Wire screenshot 2
    Wire screenshot 3
     
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    46
    Comments about Wire as an Alternative to Signal
    jamiegray
    Positive
    1

    Beautiful user interface, recommended by security researchers, open source

    Guest
    Positive
    2

    Works fairly similarly, easy to use, very smooth for the most part, seems actually a little less buggy than signal at times.. I still prefer signal because of the fact that it's from openwhisper systems and I believe it to be the most secure of all the secure private messengers

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Signal Icon
    Wire icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Wire is a great Signal alternative.

    • Wire is the most popular SaaS alternative to Signal.

    • Wire is Free Personal and Open SourceSignal is Free and Open Source
  4. Matrix icon

    Matrix

     381 likes
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    Matrix defines a set of open APIs for decentralised communication, suitable for securely publishing, persisting and subscribing to data over a global open federation of servers with no single point of control.

    166 Matrix alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • WebRTC
    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Cloudron
    • Java
    • Perl
    Main Page
     
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    24
    Comments about Matrix as an Alternative to Signal
    cadetdc1t8x
    Negative
    5

    Matrix is a protocol that Element uses. Matrix does not replace the functionality that element offers

    James Browne
    Negative
    3

    Its NOT alternative t signal. It is great and I love the Matrix protocol but not a messenger. Its a protocol a messenger could use... those are two distinctly different things.

    RemovedUser
    Negative
    1

    Matrix is a terrible and bloated protocol, and apart from this, it is not a good alternative to Signal. It is not a messenger that you could expect as an alternative and it is not viable for many reasons.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
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    3 of 4 comments
    Signal Icon
    Matrix icon

    • Most users think Matrix is a great Signal alternative.

    • Matrix is Free and Open SourceSignal is also Free and Open Source
  5. SimpleX Chat icon

    SimpleX Chat

     89 likes
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    SimpleX - the most private and secure chat and applications platform - now with double ratchet E2E encryption! Built on Haskell with Love and Coffee.

    69 SimpleX Chat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Flatpak
    SimpleX Chat screenshot 1
    SimpleX Chat screenshot 2
    SimpleX Chat screenshot 3
     
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    1
    11
    Comments about SimpleX Chat as an Alternative to Signal
    cricky
    Positive
    1

    SimpleX provides a similar experience to Signal with enhanced privacy

    Signal Icon
    SimpleX Chat icon

    • Most users think SimpleX Chat is a great Signal alternative.

    • SimpleX Chat is Free and Open SourceSignal is also Free and Open Source
  6. Jitsi Meet icon

    Jitsi Meet

     283 likes
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    Go ahead, video chat with the whole team. In fact, invite everyone you know. Jitsi Meet is a fully encrypted, 100% open source video conferencing solution that you can use all day, every day, for free.

    148 Jitsi Meet alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Apple Watch
    • F-Droid
    Jitsi Meet screenshot 1
     
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    7
    Comments about Jitsi Meet as an Alternative to Signal
    RemovedUser
    Negative
    0

    Jitsi is more focused, if not completely, on the video calling functionality. Signal is primarily for messaging. This is not a good alternative for Signal, but only for its video calls.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    saviour-simple
    Positive
    -1

    signal desktop should not be used due to massive vulnerabilities existing since 2018

    Signal Icon
    Jitsi Meet icon

    • Most users think Jitsi Meet is a great Signal alternative.

    • Jitsi Meet is Free and Open SourceSignal is also Free and Open Source
  7. Zulip icon

    Zulip

     264 likes
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    Zulip is the only modern team chat app that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip topics create a separate space for each discussion, so different conversations will never get in each other's way.

    221 Zulip alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    Zulip screenshot 1
     
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    1
    7
    Comments about Zulip as an Alternative to Signal
    PlaidRadish
    Positive
    0

    Zulip is the only other open source, secure option in the list of alternatives on this site.

    Signal Icon
    Zulip icon

    • Most users think Zulip is a great Signal alternative.

    • Zulip is Free Personal and Open SourceSignal is Free and Open Source
  9. Nextcloud Talk icon

    Nextcloud Talk

     33 likes
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    Self-hosted communication platform with secure audio, video, chat, web conferencing, screensharing, advanced encryption, and metadata privacy, running on user-controlled servers, supporting web and mobile apps, and eliminating third-party data exposure.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Nextcloud
    • F-Droid
    • Flatpak
    • Chocolatey
    Nextcloud Talk screenshot 1
     
  10. Snikket icon

    Snikket

     10 likes
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    Snikket is an ambitious project to build a new kind of XMPP-based messaging platform.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Docker
    Snikket screenshot 1
    Snikket screenshot 2
    Snikket screenshot 3
     
  11. Tinode icon

    Tinode

     10 likes
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    Fully open source instant messaging server and clients. No proprietary components or non-free dependencies. Backend in pure Go (GPL 3.0), with a command-line administration tool in python + gRPC. Clients for Android, iPhone, and Web - ReactJS (all licensed under Apache 2.0).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    iOS client
     
  12. Kontalk Messenger icon

    Kontalk Messenger

     30 likes
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    Kontalk is a secure instant messenger, allowing you to send and receive text, image and voice messages (other file types coming soon) to and from other Kontalk users completely free of charge.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
    Kontalk Messenger screenshot 1
    Kontalk Messenger screenshot 2
    Kontalk Messenger screenshot 3
     
  13. Cyanide icon

    Cyanide

     11 likes
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    Cyanide is Tox client for Sailfish OS .

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Sailfish OS
     
12 of 14 Signal alternatives