Open Source Telegram Alternatives

The best open source alternative to Telegram is Signal. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Telegram and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Telegram are Element, Tox, Wire and Matrix.

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Telegram 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 Online, Mac, Android, Windows, Linux, Android + Free and Open Source. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Telegram.
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Alternatives list

  1. Tinode icon
     10 likes

    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

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
     
  2. Nerimity icon
     11 likes

    Open-source chat platform providing community-focused group messaging, video calls, profile customization with animated avatars, custom emojis, tags, post creation, discovery of communities, and full source code access on GitHub. Entirely donation-funded.

    29 Nerimity alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • Self-Hosted
     
  3. Flotilla icon
     7 likes

    Decentralized chat platform built on the nostr protocol with support for multi-group communities, event calendars, threads, private messaging, web of trust, customizable access controls, monetization via zaps, full privacy, and white-label options for branding.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
     
  4. Sphinx Chat icon
     5 likes

    Sphinx.chat lets you use your lightning node to talk to anyone else who is running lightning and a sphinx compatible chat client.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
     
  5. SchildiChat icon
     14 likes

    SchildiChat is a Matrix client based on Element with a more traditional instant messaging experience.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Flatpak
     
  6. jami-commander (jc for short) is a simple but convenient CLI-based Jami client app for setting up accounts and swarms as well as sending.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Xabber icon
     53 likes

    Open source Jabber (XMPP) client with multi-account support, clean and simple interface. Being both free (as in freedom!) and ad-free, Xabber is designed to be the best Jabber client for Android .

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • F-Droid
     
  8. VeilidChat icon
     4 likes

    VeilidChat is a 1-to-1, person-to-person text only chat application which serves as a technology demonstration for the Veilid application development framework. All communication is end to end encrypted, authenticated, private routed, and peer-to-peer. It's currently in early beta.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
     
  9. Prav icon
     4 likes

    A user-friendly messenger for everyone with a focus on privacy and freedom.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid
     
  10. 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

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
     
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