Ricochet Refresh connects two people directly as Tor onion services, with nothing in the middle. There’s no server to log anything and almost no metadata to collect because your identity is just a generated onion address with no username, phone number or account attached. It’s open source and looked after by the nonprofit Blueprint for Free Speech. There are clear limits to it. It runs on desktop only and sits in maintenance rather than active development. Both people also have to be online at the same time because nothing is stored for later delivery.
Ricochet Refresh
Anonymous desktop chat over Tor with no servers or accounts.
ricochetrefresh.net
FreeOpen SourceE2E EncryptedWindowsmacOSLinux
Pricing Free and open source, funded by donations.
Strengths
- No servers and no account, just a Tor onion address
- Leaks essentially no metadata about who talks to whom
- Open source, maintained by a free-speech nonprofit
Considerations
- Desktop only, with no mobile app
- Both parties must be online, with no offline delivery
Listed in Messaging
