# Private and open-source alternatives to Viber

1. [Briar](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/briar/): A (94/100). Peer-to-peer encrypted messenger for Android and desktop that syncs over Tor, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Messages, forums and blogs are stored only on users' devices.
2. [Ricochet Refresh](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/ricochet-refresh/): A (94/100). Desktop instant messenger that runs each user as a Tor onion service and connects contacts peer to peer, hiding identity, IP address and metadata. Maintained by Blueprint for Free Speech.
3. [Session](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/session/): A (94/100). End-to-end encrypted messenger that uses a random Account ID instead of a phone number and sends messages through onion routing over a decentralized network of community-operated nodes. Stewarded by the Session Technology Foundation in Switzerland.
4. [SimpleX](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/simplex/): A (94/100). End-to-end encrypted messenger that has no user identifiers of any kind, not even random ones. Messages pass through relay servers that anyone can run.
5. [Berty](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/berty/): B (89/100). Peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted messenger built on IPFS by the French non-profit Berty Technologies. It needs no phone number or email and can exchange messages offline over Bluetooth and local networks.
6. [Cwtch](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/cwtch/): B (89/100). Decentralized, metadata-resistant messenger from the non-profit Open Privacy Research Society. Contacts talk peer to peer over Tor onion services, and optional group chats use untrusted servers that anyone can run.
7. [Quiet](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/quiet/): B (89/100). Peer-to-peer team chat, similar to Slack, that runs without servers: community members' devices sync messages directly over Tor. The developers warn it is not yet audited.
8. [Conversations](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/conversations/): B (83/100). XMPP (Jabber) client for Android that works with any standard XMPP server, with OMEMO end-to-end encryption on by default for one-to-one and private group chats.
9. [Threema](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/threema/): B (83/100). Paid end-to-end encrypted messenger from Switzerland that works with a random Threema ID instead of a phone number. The apps are open source; the server is proprietary.
10. [Tox & qTox client](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/tox-qtox-client/): B (83/100). Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging protocol with no central servers, and qTox, its desktop client for chat, voice, video and file transfer. qTox is now maintained by the TokTok project after the original repository was archived.
11. [Olvid](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/olvid/): B (81/100). End-to-end encrypted messenger from France that needs no phone number, email or other personal data; contacts are added by exchanging keys. Certified under the French ANSSI CSPN scheme.
12. [Dino](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/dino/): B (78/100). Desktop XMPP (Jabber) client for Linux built with GTK, with group chats, file transfers, and voice and video calls. OMEMO end-to-end encryption is on by default for one-to-one and private group chats.
13. [Molly](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/molly/): B (78/100). Independent fork of the Signal Android app that connects to the Signal network and adds database encryption with a passphrase, UnifiedPush notifications and a Molly-FOSS build without proprietary Google components.
14. [OpenPGP](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/openpgp/): B (78/100). Open standard for public-key encryption and signing of messages and files, defined in RFC 9580. It adds end-to-end encryption to existing channels such as email, through implementations like GnuPG.
15. [Signal](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/signal/): B (78/100). End-to-end encrypted messenger for text, voice and video calls, and groups, built on the Signal Protocol. Run by the non-profit Signal Foundation.

Source: https://privacyratings.com/alternatives/viber/