Secure messaging has become a critical frontier, balancing usability, metadata protection, decentralization, and real-world threat considerations. This article surveys eight messaging projects, highlighting their architectural approaches, key privacy and security strengths, and practical limitations. The analysis provides actionable insights for researchers, security professionals, and system administrators navigating the evolving landscape of secure communication.

Table Of Contents

• Importance of Secure Messaging
• Key Concepts in Secure Messaging
• Overview of Messaging Platforms
• Use Cases & Recommendations
• Conclusion

Importance of Secure Messaging

In an era of growing cyber threats and surveillance, secure messaging is essential to protect your conversations and sensitive data. It not only encrypts the content of messages but also helps safeguard metadata, user identities, and communication patterns. Using secure messaging tools is a key step in maintaining both personal privacy and organizational security in today’s digital world.

Key Concepts in Secure Messaging

• End-to-End Encryption: Only you and the recipient can read messages.
• Metadata Protection: Keeps details like who you are talking to and when private.
• Network Design: Centralized, decentralized, or peer-to-peer systems affect privacy.
• Usability vs Security: Strong security should still be easy to use.
• Smart Choice: Knowing these basics helps you pick the right secure messaging app.

Overview of Messaging Platforms

As privacy and security become more important in digital communication, many messaging apps offer different ways to protect users. This section gives a quick look at popular platforms, their key features, strengths, and possible drawbacks, helping you choose the right tool for your needs.

Session

Session is an end-to-end encrypted messenger designed for strong anonymity and metadata protection. It allows anonymous sign-up (no phone number or email needed) and routes messages through a distributed network of Service Nodes using onion routing, helping to hide IPs and metadata. Attachments are sent via onion-routed storage, and some platforms strip EXIF data for extra privacy.

Audit Tips: Verify how metadata is protected, check the reliability of the Service Node network, and ensure client-side privacy practices are followed. Pay attention to attachment handling and potential leaks during storage or transmission.

Step 1 – Download Session from this Link , the below screen will appear. Click on Create Account and pick a display name.

Step 2 – On successful account creation and login, click on + button to search for a person. You can see the person’s name after successful search and you will see a messaging area to chat with the person.

Step 3 – You can find your unique Account ID or QR from the Profile section.

Status

Status is a decentralized app that combines messaging, a crypto wallet, and a Web3 browser. Its messaging uses the Waku network, which is peer-to-peer and privacy-focused, aiming for decentralization and censorship resistance. Status is ideal for users in censorship-prone areas or those who want full control of their keys, though combining blockchain, messaging, and wallet features can make it more complex to use.

Audit Tips: Check for metadata leaks in the Waku network, ensure wallet keys are stored securely, and evaluate potential risks from using in-app Web3 features or dapps.

Delta Chat

Delta Chat is a messaging app that looks like instant messaging but works over standard email. It can use any mail server to send and receive messages, making it decentralized and easy to use without running dedicated messaging servers.

Audit Tips: Check how chat messages map to email headers (which can reveal metadata) and how encryption is applied, whether via PGP, Autocrypt, or server TLS. Keep in mind that privacy depends on the underlying mail server’s security.

Signal

Signal is a widely used end-to-end encrypted messenger and the origin of the Signal Protocol, which ensures secure messaging, calls, and group chats. It minimizes server-side metadata, and has a strong, well-audited cryptographic design. Signal uses phone numbers for identity but now offers usernames to improve privacy.

Audit Tips: Check key verification, linked-device management, group membership handling, and backup/export features. Be aware that device compromise, social engineering, and backups are the main practical risks.

 

SimpleX Chat

SimpleX Chat is a privacy-focused messaging network that doesn’t use user IDs or random identifiers. It claims to keep profile and contact information hidden from its servers and uses its own messaging protocols to provide privacy by design.

Audit Tips: Check how users find each other, how nodes are incentivized, and any assumptions about trust in the network.

Step 1 – Click on Create your profile and enter name and click on Create Profile button

 

Step 2 – Check Notification Settings and then move to creating a 1-time link.

Step 3 – Get the 1-TIME Invite Link as well as the QR Code to scan

Cwtch

Cwtch is a research-focused messaging project built for privacy and metadata resistance, especially in multi-person groups. It routes messages through Tor and uses decentralized infrastructure, though it is less mature than mainstream apps.

Audit Tips: Watch for metadata leaks when creating groups, check how group information is stored on helper nodes, and ensure Tor hidden services are securely managed.

Step 1 – Click on Add new profile and enter Display Name and Private Name.

Step 2 – Add Password and Re-enter Password to confirm and click on Add New Profile

Tox

Tox is a fully peer-to-peer messaging and VoIP platform with end-to-end encryption, designed for decentralization and censorship resistance. Its P2P setup removes central servers, but introduces challenges like NAT traversal, bootstrap node reliance, and client compatibility.

Audit Tips: Check NAT traversal, the trustworthiness of bootstrap nodes, and how friend lists or address books are handled to avoid accidental exposure of user data.

Step 1 – Enter Username, Password and Confirm Password and click on Create Profile.

Step 2 – You will see the contacts list and options to video call, audio call and a messaging area on the screen.

Zangi 

Zangi is promoted as a decentralized messenger with layered encryption, anonymous IDs instead of phone numbers, and self-destructing messages. While it claims strong security with AES-GCM and multi-layer encryption, marketing terms like “military-grade” do not guarantee safety.

Audit Tips: Look for open specifications when possible. For proprietary parts, check network traffic, app behaviour, and server interactions to identify any hidden data leaks.

Step 1 – You will get a Zangi Private Number on successful setup, then click on continue and you will see the chats section and clicking on individual chats will open their messages.

Use Cases & Recommendations

1. Session

• Use Cases:
  • Anonymous messaging without phone/email.
  • Privacy-focused group chats.
  • Situations requiring metadata resistance (e.g., journalists, activists).
• Recommendations:
  • Best for users who want anonymity by default.
  • Use on devices where you don’t want your phone number exposed.
  • Avoid for scenarios requiring mainstream adoption (contacts may not use it).

2. Status

• Use Cases:
  • Decentralized, Ethereum-integrated messaging and social networking.
  • Sending crypto payments along with messages.
  • Open-source collaboration and community chats.
• Recommendations:
  • Ideal for blockchain enthusiasts or decentralized app users.
  • Not optimal for purely personal messaging; adoption is limited.

3. Delta Chat

• Use Cases:
  • Chatting over email infrastructure with end-to-end encryption.
  • Using existing email accounts as chat accounts.
  • Situations where traditional messengers are blocked.
• Recommendations:
  • Good for users who don’t want a separate messaging app.
  • Make sure both parties use Delta Chat for encryption to work.

4. Signal

• Use Cases:
  • Secure end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice, and video calls.
  • Mainstream private communication.
  • Multi-device synchronization.
• Recommendations:
  • Best for general users, journalists, and businesses valuing privacy.
  • Keep app updated; backup safely with encrypted options.

5. SimpleX Chat

• Use Cases:
  • Lightweight, decentralized messaging.
  • Anonymous communication without central servers.
  • Low-bandwidth environments.
• Recommendations:
  • Good for privacy-conscious users with limited device resources.
  • May lack some advanced features; pair with other tools if needed.

6. Cwtch

• Use Cases:
  • Anonymous, metadata-resistant messaging.
  • Peer-to-peer chat over Tor network.
  • Group and private messaging for privacy-focused communities.
• Recommendations:
  • Ideal for activists and researchers requiring high anonymity.
  • Technical knowledge may be needed for full benefits.

7. Tox

• Use Cases:
  • Decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging, voice, and video calls.
  • No central server, fully open-source.
  • Privacy-focused collaboration.
• Recommendations:
  • Suitable for technically inclined users wanting serverless messaging.
  • Not as user-friendly as Signal; ensure network stability.

8. Zangi

• Use Cases:
  • Encrypted messaging and VoIP calls.
  • Enterprise communication with security requirements.
  • Multimedia sharing in private groups.
• Recommendations:
  • Good for businesses needing secure communications.
  • Less known in mainstream privacy circles; verify encryption claims for sensitive use.

Summary Recommendation Table

Conclusion

No single messenger fits all needs—choose based on your threat model. Signal excels in cryptography, Session and Cwtch protect anonymity, Delta Chat uses email for decentralization, Tox is fully P2P, and Status combines messaging with Web3. Always verify proprietary claims, and for researchers, these platforms offer rich opportunities for security testing and protocol study.

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Author: Muskan Sen is a Researcher and Technical Writer specializing in Information Security. Follow her- Linkedin