European alternatives to Signal (2026)
Signal is genuinely excellent and EU privacy advocates widely recommend it. This page is for people who specifically want an EU-jurisdiction provider — for example, to keep data under EU law, or who prefer not to rely on a US-based non-profit.
Signal is technically excellent and is widely trusted by privacy researchers. The consideration here is purely jurisdictional: it relies on a US phone number and is operated by a US non-profit subject to US law. The European alternatives below offer comparable privacy with the added benefit of European legal protections and, in some cases, no phone number required.
Looking for an EU-based alternative to Signal? Compare Olvid, SKRED, TeleGuard and more — all hosted and operated under European privacy law.
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Olvid (France)
— French messaging app that works without a phone number and keeps even the metadata of your conversations private.
✓ Open source✓ Audited✓ Free tier✓ No account needed -
SKRED (France)
— French messaging app where messages go directly between devices — no company server in the middle storing your conversations.
✓ Free tier -
TeleGuard (Switzerland)
— Swiss messaging app that lets you sign up without a phone number or email — completely anonymous to use.
✓ Free tier✓ No account needed -
Threema (Switzerland)
— Swiss messaging app that requires no phone number or email to sign up — pay once and keep your identity private.
✓ Open source✓ Audited✓ No account needed -
Wire (Switzerland)
— Swiss-German messaging app with end-to-end encrypted text, voice, and video calls across phone and desktop.
✓ Open source✓ Audited✓ Free tier
