WeChat

vs

Element

Facebook Messenger is a free standalone chat application that is well integrated with the social network, Facebook. With Facebook Messenger you can stay in contact with friends and family, and other contacts from Facebook. The applicaiton has a ton of built-in features that make communication fun and engaging. Send images, gifs, video messages, voice notes, and stickers or share content from around the web. Facebook Messenger automatically syncs with your Facebook contacts without the need of adding phone numbers or identification manually.

Skype is a telecommunications application that specialize in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices and consoles. The software allows you to connect with friends and business colleges worldwide. Skype provides free online calls, messaging, affordable international calling to mobiles or landlines and Skype for Business for effective collaboration among teams.

A mobile group messaging app developed and owned by Microsoft. GroupMe was first launched in 2010, today the application has over 12 million registered users that engage in group communication. The application makes it easy to stay in touch with those who really matter to you, and to do so in groups.

Signal is a cross-platform encrypted messaging application that has a strong focus on privacy. The application is developed by Signal Messenger LLC and provides users with features like one-to-one and group messages, which can include files, voice notes, images and videos. The software is famous for being used by the whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden who once said "I use Signal every day, it is the most scalable encryption tool we have".

With Telegram people can communicate and via instant messaging and voice over IP. Telegram is a cloud-based software and services that have a focus on privacy, speed and security. The client was initially created by the brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov, the creators of the Russian social network VK back in 2013. Today the application is used cross-platform by over 400 million users world-wide.

Threema is a messenger application that puts security and privacy first. The application is designed to generate as little user data as possible. The service is fully GDPR-compliant and the company has its own servers hosted in Switzerland. With Threema you can keep in touch with friends, family and co-workers while enjoying privacy and rest assured that you personal data is not commoditized.