ComCom – Communication app Comparison

In light of the recent update to WhatsApp's terms of service, here is a useful comparison list of different messaging platforms like Telegram, Signal, etc.

From the heystacks.com archiveUpdated 1 May 2024708 views

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I_qS5Oy1lRpd6FEw-4AqrFxq-FLN-m6bJPJf2drdwRY/edit?usp=sharing			This project is live build on wip.co	This project is started by Patrick Loonstra

Please contribute! – Make suggestions and I will pick up the edit – Together we make this overview complete and better			📖 Read about the updates of this project	💬 Contact me to get access to the file		✍️ Add comment to cell to discuss

WhatsApp	Facebook Messenger	iMessage	Telegram	Signal	Threema	LINE	BiP	Delta Chat	WeChat	KakaoTalk	Wickr	Dust	Element	Viber	Wire

Link		https://www.whatsapp.com/	https://www.messenger.com/	https://support.apple.com/guide/messages/welcome/mac	https://telegram.org/	https://signal.org	https://threema.ch/en	https://line.me/	https://bip.com/	https://delta.chat/en/	https://www.wechat.com/	https://www.kakaocorp.com/service/KakaoTalk	https://wickr.com/	https://usedust.com/	https://element.io

Terms & Conditions		https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/client	https://www.facebook.com/terms.php	https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/icloud/	https://telegram.org/faq	https://signal.org/legal/#terms-of-service	https://broadcast.threema.ch/en/terms-of-service	https://terms.line.me/line_terms/?lang=en		https://delta.chat/en/gdpr		⛔	https://wickr.com/terms/	⛔

Privacy policy		https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/privacy-policy/	https://www.facebook.com/policy.php	https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211975	https://telegram.org/privacy	https://signal.org/legal/#privacy-policy	https://threema.ch/en/privacy	https://terms.line.me/line_rules/?lang=en	https://bip.com/en/privacy-policy/	https://delta.chat/en/help		https://www.kakaocorp.com/kakao/ai/algorithm	https://wickr.com/privacy/	https://usedust.com/privacy-policy/

Wikipedia		https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Messenger	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_(software)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(software)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threema	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIP	https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Chat_(Instant_Messenger)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KakaoTalk	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickr	⛔

Number of users					500 mln	20 mln			53 mln

Owner		Facebook	Facebook	Apple	Telegram Messenger LLP	Signal Messenger LLC	Threema GmbH	LINE Corporation	BiP İletişim Teknolojileri ve Dijital Servisler A.Ş.	Merlinux GmbH	Tencent Inc.	Kakao Corp.	Wickr Inc.	Radical App, LLC

Active since		2009	2011	2011	2013	2014	2012	2012	2020	2019	2011	2010	2012	2014

Open source (define in the rows below)		⛔	⛔	⛔	✅	✅	✅	⛔	⛔	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔

Open source client		⛔	⛔	⛔	✅		⛔	⛔	⛔			⛔	⛔	⛔

Open source server

Free		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔	✅

Platforms

iOS app		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅		✅	✅

Android app		✅	✅	⛔	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅		✅	✅

Web app		✅	✅	⛔	✅	⛔	✅	⛔		⛔	✅		⛔	⛔

MacOS app		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔	✅		✅	✅		✅	⛔

Windows app		✅	✅	⛔	✅	✅	⛔	✅		✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔

Linux app		⛔	⛔	⛔	✅	✅	⛔	⛔		✅	⛔		✅	⛔

Functionality

Group chat		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Backups		Google Drive or iCloud	Facebook account	iCloud	Telegrams own cloud	Local (off by default)	Local and Threema's own cloud

Voice messages		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Voice call		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Voice group call		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔

Video call		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Video group call		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔

Images share		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Files share (other files than images and video's)		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Possibility to share public url of your profile		✅	✅	⛔	✅	⛔	✅

API		⛔	✅	⛔	✅	✅	✅		✅

Chatbot Support		✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔

Share location		✅		✅	✅	✅

Security (more is better)

2-step verification		✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔

Ablility to lock app with pass		✅	⛔	⛔	✅	✅	✅

End-to-end encryption		✅			✅	✅

Standard end-to-end encryption		✅			⛔	✅

Data linked to you (less is better)

Needed for registration		Phone number	Facebook account	Apple ID + phone number (optional)	Phone number	Phone number	Threema ID			Email address

Phone number		✅		✅	✅	✅	user decision

Email address			✅	✅			user decision			✅

Location		✅	✅	⛔			⛔

Search history

Contacts		✅					user decision

User ID		✅					✅

Device ID		✅		✅

Diagnostics		✅		⛔

Data usage

Content of messages

Financial info		✅					⛔

Sources used		https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whatsapp-vs-signal-telegram-2020-chinmayee-paunikar/?articleId=6684071742228492289

https://www.securemessagingapps.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_cross-platform_instant_messaging_clients

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/telegram-messenger/id686449807#ember321

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/signal-private-messenger/id874139669

Need to process		https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/whatsapp-facebook-messenger-telegram-signal-imessage-user-data-collect-privacy-labels-apple-app-store-2349216

technology privacy messaging list review

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