| IntelTechniques | Secure | E2EE Comms | Comparison | Beta v. 0.1 | October 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Messaging | Confide | Dust | Jitsi | iMessage | Matrix/Element | Session | Signal | Sudo | Telegram | Threema | Wickr | Wire | Notes | |||||||||||
| E2EE Messaging (In-Network) | YES | YES | YES | YES | OPTIONAL | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | PARTIAL* | YES | YES | *Whatsapp cloud (Google) backups are not E2EE | ||||||||||
| Country of Ownership | USA | USA | USA | USA | UK | Australia | USA | USA | UAE | Switzerland | USA | USA | USA | Many other cloud backups (Google, iCloud, etc) may not be E2EE | ||||||||||
| 14-Eyes Association | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||
| Open Source | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | PARTIAL | NO | PARTIAL | YES | |||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Metadata | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Analytics | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||
| Funding | Various | Mark Cuban | 8×8 | Apple | Matrix/Element | Loki | Signal | Anonyome Labs | Various | Threema | Various | Wire | ||||||||||||
| Registration Requirements | None | None | Phone/Email | None | None | Phone | None | Phone | Payment | Phone | None | |||||||||||||
| Device Contact Access | Optional | YES | NO | YES | NO | NO | YES | Optional | YES | NO | Optional | Optional | NO | |||||||||||
| Message Control Across Devices | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||
| Ephemeral Messages | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||
| User ID Format | Member ID | Name | Phone/Email | Username | Username | Phone | Phone | Phone | Username | Phone | Username | Username | ||||||||||||
| Free Version Available | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||
| Desktop/Browser Availability | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||
| Third-Party Audit | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | In Progress | YES | Non-Public | NO | YES | NO | Non-Public | YES | |||||||||||
| CTemplar | Discreet | Mailbox | Posteo | Protonmail | Tutanota | Sudo | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2EE (In-Network) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||
| E2EE (Non-Network) | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| Country of Ownership | Iceland | Czech Republic | Germany | Germany | Switzerland | Germany | USA | |||||||||||||||||
| 14-Eyes Association | NO | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||
| Open Source | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Metadata | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Analytics | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| Funding | Self Funded | Self Funded | Self Funded | Self Funded | Horizon | Self Funded | Anonyome Labs | |||||||||||||||||
| Registration Requirements | None | None | Payment | Payment | None | None | None | |||||||||||||||||
| Free Tier Daily Email Limit | 200 | 100 | 10 (Trial) | YES | 150 | YES | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| Custom Domain | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| Wildcards | YES | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | |||||||||||||||||
| 2FA | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||
| Desktop/Browser Availability | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||
| Third-Party Audit | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | NO | Non-Public | |||||||||||||||||
| Voice | FaceTime | Jitsi | Matrix/Element | Signal | Sudo | Telegram | Threema | Wickr | Wire | |||||||||||||||
| E2EE Calls (In-Network) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||||||||||||||
| Country of Ownership | USA | USA | UK | USA | USA | UAE | Switzerland | USA | USA | USA | ||||||||||||||
| 14-Eyes Association | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | ||||||||||||||
| Open Source | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | PARTIAL | NO | PARTIAL | YES | ||||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Metadata | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | ||||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Analytics | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | ||||||||||||||
| Funding | Apple | 8×8 | Matrix.org | Signal | Anonyome Labs | Various | Threema GmbH | Various | Wire | |||||||||||||||
| Registration Requirements | Phone/Email | None | None | Phone | None | Phone | Payment | Phone | None | |||||||||||||||
| Device Contact Access | YES | NO | NO | YES | Optional | YES | NO | Optional | Optional | NO | ||||||||||||||
| Max # of Users on Call (Base Tier) | 32 | 75 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 8 | 1:1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| User ID Format | Phone/Email | Name | Username | Phone | Phone | Phone | Username | Phone | Username | Username | ||||||||||||||
| Desktop/Browser Availability | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO (Voice) | YES | YES | YES | ||||||||||||||
| Third-Party Audit | NO | NO | NO | YES | Non-Public | NO | YES | NO | Non-Public | YES | ||||||||||||||
| Video | FaceTime | Jitsi | Matrix/Element | Signal | Sudo | Telegram | Threema | Wickr | Wire | Zoom | ||||||||||||||
| E2EE Video (In-Network) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | PARTIAL | |||||||||||||
| Country of Ownership | USA | USA | UK | USA | USA | UAE | Switzerland | USA | USA | USA | USA | |||||||||||||
| 14-Eyes Association | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||||
| Open Source | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | PARTIAL | NO | PARTIAL | YES | NO | |||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Metadata | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES | |||||||||||||
| 3rd-Party Analytics | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES | |||||||||||||
| Funding | Apple | 8×8 | Matrix.org | Signal | Anonyome Labs | Various | Threema GmbH | Various | Wire | Various | ||||||||||||||
| Registration Requirements | Phone/Email | None | None | Phone | None | Phone | Payment | Phone | None | |||||||||||||||
| Device Contact Access | YES | NO | NO | YES | Optional | YES | NO | Optional | Optional | NO | Optional | |||||||||||||
| Max # of Users on Call (Base Tier) | 32 | 75 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 8 | 1:1 | 4 | 100 | |||||||||||||
| User ID Format | Phone/Email | Name | Username | Phone | Phone | Phone | Username | Phone | Username | Username | ||||||||||||||
| Desktop/Browser Availability | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO (Video) | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||||||||||||
| Third-Party Audit | NO | NO | NO | YES | Non-Public | NO | YES | NO | Non-Public | YES | NO | |||||||||||||
| Contributors: Gustov, Up, X, MB |
Coming from IntelliTechniques, this is a comparison chart of the various ‘secure’ messaging apps out there, including mobile apps and email services. The top of the list is (not shockingly): Signal and Wire for messaging and Tutanota and Protonmail for email.
As I discussed in Radio Contra Episode 31, setting up a wifi-only device for communications is absolutely critical at this point in time.