Software
Business
Streaming
Finance
Learning
Books
Leisure
AI
ReviewsThree billion-user messaging apps, all free, with encryption promises that mean very different things. The price is $0 everywhere; the privacy isn't.
| Signal | Telegram | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Truly Free | Free Forever | Free Forever |
| Free Score | 100/100 | 82/100 | 80/100 |
| Value | 9/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Card needed | No | No | No |
| Account | Phone number | Phone number | Phone number |
| Limits | None | None on personal use | None on regular chats |
| You get | End-to-end encrypted text, voice, and video | End-to-end encrypted messaging and calls | Unlimited messaging and groups up to 200,000 members |
| Real cost | Nothing. Nonprofit, donation-funded. | Nothing in money. Meta owns your metadata. | Nothing in money. Ad-supported channels; Premium exists. |
| Full review | Read → | Read → | Read → |
Our pick
For privacy: Signal — end-to-end encrypted, nonprofit, no metadata collection. For reach: WhatsApp — three billion users, encrypted content but Meta collects metadata. For features and large groups: Telegram — but regular chats are NOT end-to-end encrypted by default. Know the trade-off you're making.
More comparisonsBest Free Image Editors ComparedBest Free Video Editors ComparedBest Free Streaming Services ComparedFree Tax Filing ComparedFree Password Managers ComparedFree VPNs Compared — The Honest GuideFree Office Suites ComparedBest Free Learning Platforms ComparedFree Website Hosting Compared