Compared
SHIFROM next to six other messengers, on facts you can check. Where others are ahead, the table says so.
| SHIFROM | Signal | Telegram | Session | SimpleX Chat | Briar | Threema | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone number to sign up | Not needed (no email or real name either) | Required; a username can hide it | Required | Not needed | Not needed (no user identifiers at all) | Not needed | Optional |
| Source code | App and relay open, AGPL-3.0 | App and server open, AGPL-3.0 | Apps open; server closed | Apps and storage server open | Apps and servers open, AGPL-3.0 | Open, GPL-3.0; no central server | Apps open, AGPL-3.0; server not published |
| End-to-end encryption by default, one-to-one | Yes | Yes | No; only in opt-in Secret Chats | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| End-to-end encryption by default, groups | Group chats are not ready yet | Yes | No | Groups yes; Communities in transit only | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in ways around blocking | Direct WSS, REALITY, Tor and REST fallback; switches when one is blocked* | TLS proxy; censorship circumvention setting | SOCKS5 and MTProto proxies | Onion routing over its own node network | Tor, .onion servers, private routing | Tor with bridges, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | None documented |
| Public apps today | None yet: Alpha 2, source builds on GitHub; Android first, then iOS and web | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop, web | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop | Android; desktop in beta; in maintenance mode since July 2026 | Android, iOS, desktop, web |
| Independent security audit | Not yet; planned before v1.0 | No commissioned audit published; academic analyses (2016, 2024) | No commissioned audit published; academic analysis (2022) | Quarkslab, 2021 | Trail of Bits, 2022 and 2024 | Cure53, 2017 | Several, latest Cure53 2024 |
| Price | Free; funded by donations | Free; nonprofit | Free; optional Premium, ads in some channels | Free; optional Session Pro | Free | Free | Paid, one-time |
* Tested by the founder on specific networks and dates; not a guarantee against every block. REALITY is not an anonymity system. The relay can still see timing, message sizes, authenticated sessions and delivery destinations. More in the questions and the engineering note on REALITY.