Tox

Serverless peer-to-peer messaging with a cryptographic ID.

tox.chat

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FreeOpen SourceE2E EncryptedWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroid

Pricing Free and open source.

Tox is about as decentralized as messaging gets. There are no central servers at all. Your identity is a cryptographic Tox ID and clients like qTox wire you straight to your contacts. It’s open source and community-run with no company standing behind it. The thing to know is that those direct connections expose your IP address to the people you talk to. It won’t hide your location the way an onion-routed app would. Development is patchy from one client to the next and there’s no official iOS app. It suits you when you want a serverless, no-account messenger and you don’t mind your contacts seeing your IP.

Strengths

  • Fully serverless and distributed, with no company in control
  • No phone number or email, just a cryptographic Tox ID
  • Open source, with multiple independent clients

Considerations

  • Peer-to-peer means your contacts can see your IP address
  • Development is uneven and there is no official iOS client

Listed in Messaging

Tox alternatives

SimpleX ChatMessaging with no user identifiers at all, not even a random number.SignalThe mainstream secure messenger, trusted and easy to use.SessionOnion-routed messaging with no phone number and no central servers.ElementOpen, federated chat on the Matrix network, no phone number needed.