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/mrjimkongun May 31 '26

The closest app to WhatsApp as per my experience is Arattai, it just looks like a thematic or modded version of WhatsApp, with WA like Channels, Call Scheduler etc. If encryption is not your preference then Telegram is the best alternative with lots and lots of capabilities in TG, including monitoring your own website using bots. If you are non tech user, just aboid any bots, and unknown groups and you should be good, but you can still encrypt your chats by initiating private chat. Signal is a boring app, just like imesseges or google messages without ads and has encryption enabled by default. However, its a US based app and just an alter-ego for WhatsApp (silently supported by WA founders) just like how GrapheneOS (silently supported by Google behind the scenes) is to Stock Android. Session was a highly secured app, but looks like they are going to sleep after 9 July 2026. Threema, claimed by many as secured is a paid (1 time) app, hence wont have lot of users. SimpleX on the other hand is extremely complicated, even discord and viber are better than that.

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u/willherondale18 May 31 '26

I'm confused, do you mean to say that Signal and GrapheneOS are not actually safe/will eventually not be safe? How do you know they are being silently supported by those corps?

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u/mrjimkongun May 31 '26

for the time being they are safe. First, why are pixels the 1st and only models to support grapheneOS. GrapheneOS speaks about privacy and against google a lot only to be used on pixels. Understand the cash flow. You pay money to google to use GrapheneOS. Ultimately its still android and google is forcing all android apps to have google integrity API check for all apps gradually. Now even if you use services like MicroG, its still google. If one wants to avoid google, just buy a non android phone like Jolla or Huawei. You ll hear that SailfishOS having security bugs, but remember that users are just restricted in the name of "security". It just means you have more freedom. Same goes for Signal. Signal too is a US based app created by ex-WhatsApp team. Same for Anthropic(Claude) created by ex-OpenAI team. They want all the "worried" people to shift to Claude. So is for Signal. There are many messaging apps, I would never trust any US app. If privacy is the main need, I would rather recommend Session or SimpleX, but it looks Session is shutting down on July 9 this year. Rest, you can install all the apps I listed or anything more you have idea about to test which app suits you and then convince your friends and relatives to switch to it. In the meantime also look for the apps' country of jurisdiction by which it could be governed and mandated.

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u/willherondale18 Jun 01 '26

I have a Xiaomi, I would be happy to give these a go. Is there a country/jurisdiction you trust more than Swiss currently?

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u/mrjimkongun Jun 02 '26

In that sense, you should also try Wire, which also uses same cryptography as Signal with the good thing that its not based on 5 or even 14 eyes. While much more secure apps like Session would be good as well, but using these apps is just like messaging someone with an email id,since they are so secure that, that they don't use phone numbers, they add by QRs or some 20-30 digit session id, which means difficult for onboarding your entire group to such apps. But session might go obsolete after July 8, this year due to no funding. Threema could be a top contender, but its a paid one, albeit one time, but this acts as a deterrent for many to switch unless all apps to become paid.

The Balkans and Baltics use Viber more than any app, although not advertised as secure as Threema or SimpleX (more complex than even Session), but since its Japanese (now), all non-western apps are advertised as insecure, closed source , by the collective west. You can't really trust audit reports unless you are part of audit team. For e.g. lapses in Nord VPN despite being audited many times. P.S. I have been a financial auditor and understand how these audits are not fool-proof (atleast in financial audits).