The Signal and Telegram's makers market the messaging apps as private and secure, proudly stating that they're not in the hands of big tech. A non-profit organization owns Signal, while an independent for-profit owns Telegram. But does that alone make them better? More private? Secure?
Below is a comparison of both applications' privacy capabilities, along with a parallel between some of their most prominent features. Hopefully, this will help you figure out which app is right for you...
Signal vs Telegram: Main Features
The best way to choose the right app for you is to look at their major features and compare.
So what are a few of the features each app includes? We've summed up a few of their main messaging features below and will go into more depth into different aspects further on.
You can see a summary of Signal's main features below:
- A built-in image editing tool.
- Strong end-to-end encryption and no user records.
- Screen lock PIN within the app.
- Sending self-destructing messages.
- View-once media (i.e. the ability to set photos to disappear after a single viewing).
- The ability to backup and restore messages.
- Incognito keyboard feature.
Here is a summary of a few of Telegram's major features:
- Locking conversations.
- Sending scheduled and silent messages.
- Sending self-destructing messages on Secret Chats.
- Editing sent messages.
- Group voice chats.
- Unlimited personal cloud storage.
- Sharing live location and setting proximity alerts.
- Connecting with users near you.
Now that you have a quick summary on each app, let's get into the nitty-gritty of each app with regards to their similarities, major differences when it comes to privacy, and how they compare when it comes to convenience...
Signal and Telegram Similarities
Both Signal and Telegram are cross-platform messaging applications that you can use on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's hardly surprising that these apps share quite a few similarities when it comes down to the core of what they do.
They allow chatting, sending photos and videos, stickers, file transfers, as well as video and voice calls.
Messaging apps like these also tend to update to keep up with competitors, adding new features and improving to keep up with the times and demands.
Always be sure to do your own research to see the latest features and developments.
Privacy with Signal
Signal was built with privacy in mind—and it shows. All the chats on Signal have end-to-end encryption between devices running the app, and the company that owns the application has zero access to your messages.
It also grants you a self-destruct feature for your messages. If you want, you can set a message or even a chat to self-destruct after a specified amount of time, and it will disappear after it's read.
The application stores encryption keys on users' phones and computers. Every time the security key of the people you're talking with changes, you'll be notified. The purpose of that is to avoid spoofing.
Another privacy perk some may find interesting is that Signal offers a built-in feature that blurs the faces in the images sent—and it does so automatically.
One especially intriguing fact about Signal is that Edward Snowden endorsed it as his secure messaging tool of choice.
Privacy with Telegram
Telegram does offer end-to-end encryption, but it's optional and not the default setting for chats. Telegram messages get encrypted between you and the Telegram server, which means that technically it's possible for the company to intercept your messages on its server.
However, Secret Chat messages offer end-to-end encryption. So if you want the best privacy protection for your messages, you should make all chats secret.
The downside is that if you use Secret Chats, you cannot access them on another device and if you log out, you lose all your Secret Chats. You also can't make a secret version of a group chat.
Telegram also allows the self-destructing messages. It lets you choose how long messages remain available to access and read.
Ads: Telegram and Signal Policy
It's important to understand how free messaging apps make money, since you'd want to know if income comes from data harvesting or advertising. Both Telegram and Signal are free apps, but neither one displays ads.
As of the beginning of 2021, there are no ads, tracking, or affiliate marketing on the apps.
However, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has announced plans to begin monetizing the app in 2022 to raise funds to sustain and improve the messaging platform.
File-Sharing and Group Chats
Through Telegram, you can share files that are up to 2GB in size, while Signal allows files up to 100MB.
Group chats in Telegram can host up to 200,000 people, and Signal's upper limit is 1,000 people. Why you would possibly need 200,000 people on a group chat is a mystery, but if you do, Telegram has the upper hand.
Privacy or Convenience?
Signal is a clear winner when it comes to privacy alone. But when you look at other aspects, it's evident that Telegram offers useful features that shouldn't be ignored
In fact, if you care more about convenience rather than privacy, maybe Telegram is the way to go. As stated, Telegram offers message synchronization between all your devices (when not using Secret Chats), while Signal does not.
You can also add useful Telegram bots to your conversations. The downside is that the more bots you add, the less private encryption you have, and your privacy suffers.
Signal doesn't allow the use of bots as they impact privacy, and as established, privacy is of the utmost importance to its creators.
With all that said, Signal is not an inconvenient app to use. Rather, it's only a less convenient one compared to Telegram when it comes to certain features.
It certainly has ample messaging features such as video chat, file transfers, and a desktop version.
It's good to note that both of these messaging apps are better than WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in terms of privacy. They have no affiliation to Facebook and they offer better security than SMS.
Signal vs. Telegram: Who Wins?
In the end, which app is better is left to you to decide based on your personal preferences. There are pros and cons to both apps. To figure out which one would better suit you, ask yourself: do you prioritize convenience over privacy, or is privacy paramount?
If you want an app that ensures every message you send remains private, choose Signal. It's simpler but more secure.
If you want convenience, additional features, and a large user base, go with Telegram.