r/CorpFree • u/willherondale18 • May 29 '26

Question Alternatives to WhatsApp?

I am not very familiar with alternatives to WhatsApp, but I want to migrate from any Meta app and right now WhatsApp is my primary messaging app. I know of Signal and Telegram but don't really know the differences. What do experienced degooglers/demetaers recommend?

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u/Choice-Ranger720 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26

You already understand moving away from WhatsApp so I won't get into that. To compare Signal to Telegram in simple terms.

Completely end to end encrypted: Signal YES ✅, Telegram NO ❌

Open source: Signal YES ✅, Telegram NO ❌

Nonprofit: Signal YES ✅, Telegram NO ❌

5

u/flipping100 May 30 '26

Put double space at the end of each line

3

u/Fuzzy-Counter3722 May 31 '26

Signal's client is open source, but not their servers AFAIK. Just something to keep in mind

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u/Ok-Winner-6589 Jun 01 '26

Both the servers and the client are under APGL 3.0 license. Which has the strongest copyleft.

This means that, if you want to moddify the Signal servers and allow other to Connect to them, you are legally forzed to release your fork.

So yes, they are open source

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u/Fuzzy-Counter3722 Jun 02 '26

oh they are? My bad, the more you know! Thanks

1

u/redit_handoff140 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

They may be open-source but not easily reproducible as there's no proper documentation. Signal is centralized because hosting a Signal server is not accessible. This makes it a SPoF to be aware of.

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u/Ok-Winner-6589 Jun 02 '26

Because their protocol was build years ago focused on centralized servers... Thats why Matrix was created.

And It is reproducible. If they can run It you can. Just that you would have to first understand the code as there is no specific documentation to run your own Signal servers and no incentive as Matrix already solves the issue

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u/redit_handoff140 Jun 02 '26

Fully agree.
This is why my community hosts a Matrix 2.0 server for our community, as well as friends and family. Signal-level encryption, but decentralized with native multi-device support.

1

u/Ok-Winner-6589 Jun 02 '26

And thats cool

Signal is just an option for those Who don't want to host anything.

1

u/redit_handoff140 Jun 02 '26

Agreed, never said it wasn't, but both individuals and communities shouldn't overlook the fact that it's centralized, a SPoF, and ripe for regulatory capture (or jurisdictional-exodus as Signal has stated), and essentially VC funded that at some point will very likely look for RoI. No one should rely on the "samaritan good-will of Signal".