With the increase in digital activity and interactions, several users are shifting their focus to privacy-oriented messengers. Signal and Threema are two of the popular options among privacy enthusiasts.
But, how are they different? Can you pick one of them over the other for your use case? Here, we'll discuss all the differences and help you make a better decision.
Signal and Threema: What Should You Know About Them?
Whether it is a popular option or a new one, it is essential to know background information about every app you decide to use.
Signal is a free and open-source private messenger that provides the latest and greatest security features. It is developed and maintained by a non-profit organization, i.e., Signal Technology Foundation.
WhatsApp's co-founder, Brian Acton, joined the foundation by adding $50 million in funds for Signal's development as an executive chairman in 2018. In case you are curious, this happened right after Facebook acquired WhatsApp.
Since then, Signal has seen rapid development, more feature additions, and improvements. Ultimately, Signal has become a popular privacy-focused messenger amidst WhatsApp's controversial privacy policy changes.
The developers at Signal and the open-source community have managed to provide most of the essential features, making it a perfect WhatsApp alternative.
On the other hand, Threema is yet another privacy-oriented messaging app with its origins in Switzerland. Unlike Signal, Threema offers a separate "work" version of the messenger tailored for businesses and teams.
Whether you use it for personal or professional use, know that it's a paid app that provides a private messaging experience. Initially, it was not an open-source application. But, in 2021, Threema decided to go open-source.
Overall, both the messengers have existed for almost a decade now and focus on privacy/security.
Threema vs. Signal: What Are the Differences?
Considering the messengers are entirely open-source and have quite a reputation, it becomes easy to recommend them. But, what should you choose?
Let us highlight the differences to help you with the decision.
Premium vs. Free
Threema is a premium app that needs a one-time fee of about $3.99 on Google Play Store and the App Store.
Once you purchase it, you do not have to pay for anything else forever. Signal is completely free. Considering it does not offer a separate version for work/teams, it is tailored for personal use.
Most users prefer a free messaging app because their friends/colleagues can easily install it and get connected. On the contrary, it could be problematic to convince your friends/colleagues to spend money on a messaging app.
So, it comes to what you prefer and whether your contacts favor using a free or paid app.
User Registration Info
The key highlight of Threema is that it does not require your phone number for registration, and it generates a user ID that you can share instead. Threema asks you to link the phone number, but you can choose not to.
To connect with other users, you require the username/ID. So, this minimizes the personal information needed to use the messenger. When it comes to Signal, you will have to provide your phone number to create an account, and you need to share your phone number with the recipients to communicate.
A phone number is an important piece of information. And, it could be convenient to have a phone number linked for your contacts to find you easily. So, it depends on what you give the most priority.
User Experience
While Threema is a good-looking app, the user interface is simple and effective. If you prefer a simple and easy-to-use app, Threema can be a good choice.
With Signal, you can expect the same—a usable and straightforward app with no unnecessary frills.
Both provide a good user experience. Considering every update brings something new, you may want to re-evaluate the user experience regularly if that's your priority.
Decentralization vs. Centralization
Threema relies on a decentralized network, meaning it cannot be easily shut down or affected by enforcing censorship. It does not rely on a single server, which makes it immune to common server outages, making it a completely reliable private messenger.
Signal, on the other hand, depends on a centralized server technology. In other words, it has a single point of failure; if the server gets impacted, the entire network goes down. While Signal provides options to bypass censorship, you cannot avoid outages. So, Threema can prove to be a better solution in such cases.
Extra Features
Considering Signal and Threema come out on top for their security features, it does not make sense to compare them for that.
You get end-to-end encryption on both of them along with essential privacy features like screen security, encrypted files, incognito keyboard, passphrase to secure the app, and minimal metadata. So, it is easier to judge based on extra features.
When it comes to Threema, it offers features like smart replies, creating polls in a group chat, using a third-party server for backup, and selecting image dimensions.
In addition to these, you get advanced collaboration features if you opt for Threema for work.
On the other hand, Signal offers the support for MobileCoin (a digital currency), censorship bypass, and the ability to replace the default SMS app to send messages to recipients not using Signal.
Cross-Platform Support
Both Signal and Threema are available for Android and iOS through the Google Play Store and the App Store. You will also find both of them available for desktop platforms that include macOS, Windows, and Linux.
However, Signal offers native desktop apps to communicate independently, without the mobile app. Unfortunately, Threema needs an internet connection active on your mobile to function, at least for now. So, you may want to lean towards Signal if you want an independent desktop client.
Which Privacy Messenger Should You Pick?
If you are not too worried about associating your phone number with the messenger, Signal is an easy recommendation. However, if you want the anonymity offered by Threema, it should be your pick.
Signal does not feature many extra features, but you can use it as your default SMS app to communicate with non-Signal users. In the case of Threema, you get various additional features without using it as an SMS app. It is also vital to consider Signal's free offering vs. Threema's premium price.
Overall, both offer the latest and greatest security features, but it all comes down to what you need. Don't forget that none of the features matter if your contacts don't want to pay for Threema.