The Best Private Messaging Apps for 2024 (2024)

It's not fun to think about, but your information is big business. There are people out there who are willing to buy your private chat logs, photos, or videos to use in identity theft schemes, scams driven by generative-AI deep fake technology, or good old fashioned blackmail. You should do what you can to protect your data starting with communicating via a secure private messenger.

Read on to find out how each of the three most popular private messaging services—Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp—measure up as we test the privacy, ease of use, social features, and video and voice chat so that you can pick the one that's right for you.

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Buying Guide: The Best Private Messaging Apps for 2024

Why Should I Use a Private Messaging App?

Privacy and security are terms often used interchangeably (especially in cybersecurity product marketing lingo), but we're using them to define very different things. When we talk about privacy, we're referring to information that can be used to track or identify you, like photos, conversations, your location, or the names of your family and friends. When we mention security, we're talking about whether you or your data is vulnerable to attack or theft. We make this distinction because there are lots of factors that can erode your privacy without necessarily affecting your security.

(Credit: René Ramos; puhhha/Shutterstock.com)

You should care about protecting your privacy because many people are keen to harvest and sell your data. You should care about the chat app's security because you don't want the app to get hacked, leading to criminals leaking your private chats, photos, or videos.

What Is the Most Secure Private Messaging App?

The best services use a process called end-to-end encryption (E2EE), where messages are encrypted in such a way that only the intended recipients—not the messaging company and not anyone spying on your activity—can see the message's contents. The encrypted messaging apps in this roundup all use E2EE, but they're not all implemented the same way. Signal and WhatsApp use E2EE by default for all person-to-person and group chats, as well as voice and video. Both also use the Signal Protocol, which has been evaluated and implemented by Google, Meta (read: Facebook), and others. We recommend Signal because it always uses E2EE encryption; WhatsApp and Telegram do too, but with some exceptions.

If you message a business account on WhatsApp, your message contents are not encrypted. Business accounts are clearly marked. Plus, the expectation of privacy when communicating with a business like Big Max's Kombucha Haus isn't the same as you'd expect when chatting with your spouse.

Telegram's E2EE implementation is a different story. With Telegram, only Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted. All other chats—normal one-to-one, group, and all others—are still encrypted but done so that Telegram holds the keys. That means the company could potentially read your messages or be compelled to hand over your conversations to law enforcement. Telegram says it won't do this, and the company's reputation for independence backs that up. However, we prefer tried-and-true E2EE implementation over homegrown encryption methods.

Which Messenger Protects Your Privacy?

When it comes to data collection and retention information, every encrypted messaging app on this list could better explain what information it collects, how long the company keeps it, and who can access it. Signal does the best job, as it's a free app run by a registered nonprofit that pledges never to sell, rent, or lease customer data, which is great.

Telegram's website has published several commitments to user privacy over the years, but it's run by a for-profit organization that recently rolled out questionable beta features to Android users. Experts say the platform's lax rules enforcement makes it a hotbed for scams and other cybercrimes.

WhatsApp's biggest privacy problem is its reputation. The app was purchased by Facebook before it became Meta and thus shares the parent company's scandalous past. To its credit, WhatsApp is open about its relationship with Meta and goes into detail about what data it shares with its parent company. Basically, your messages (except those to businesses) are between you and your contacts, but some identifying information—including IP addresses—may be shared.

(Credit: Signal/WhatsApp/Telegram/PCMag)

Each private messaging app on the list requires a phone number to use, and all ask for access to your contacts to find your existing friends. That means none of them is suitable for anonymous chatting. Signal is the most usable while sharing the least information, while Telegram and WhatsApp both require access to your contact list for full-featured texting. Signal and WhatsApp hash your contact list information, so they never hold the actual phone numbers of your friends.

In testing, we were impressed with Telegram's Secret Chats feature, which blocks device-level screenshots and screen recording. Signal and WhatsApp have similar features for users' regular chats. All of the apps allow users to customize their level of privacy on the app in the Settings menu.

Can Law Enforcement Read Your Chats?

The bad news is that law enforcement has many avenues it can take while obtaining your private conversations. The good news is that in 2021, an FBI document detailed exactly how well Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and others stand up to these methods. The feds say they can't get the contents of messages from Signal and Telegram, which is great.

That said, law enforcement can obtain a surprising amount of information on WhatsApp users. If those users are backing up WhatsApp to iCloud, the feds can simply grab their unencrypted messages. WhatsApp suggests its users deactivate iCloud backups.

The same FBI document mentioned above covers some privacy information. The document notes that Telegram might hand over IP address information and phone numbers of confirmed terrorists. Signal has no such information to offer (although Signal does require users' phone numbers to function). The FBI can apparently obtain some information on address book contacts with a court order and can use a pen register to obtain source and destination data (but not message contents) for messages every 15 minutes.

Which Messaging App Is the Easiest to Use?

If you're familiar with text messaging, all three of the encrypted messaging apps listed here are easy to adopt. The user interfaces have familiar speech bubble text messages, and you can customize the apps' appearances in the settings.

The most popular app is WhatsApp. Just about anyone you've ever wanted to talk to is on the platform (and everyone you hoped you'd never see again). The hardest part of using the other apps on this list will be finding other users to chat with.

The apps are pretty fun to use, too. A round of recent product updates saw Signal offer users light-hearted features like Stories, reaction GIFs, and stickers. Telegram and WhatsApp have offered these perks for a while, helping make them popular. Telegram has started monetizing some features, putting access to certain emoji or usernames behind a paywall, which is not ideal.

Which Messaging App Is the Most Social?

Messaging apps need to do more than just let you talk to one person at a time to differentiate themselves from SMS-based messaging. Social features are essential.

WhatsApp is a full social experience, letting you easily create group and private chats using a wide network of contacts already on the app. As mentioned, Signal doesn't have the massive user base that WhatsApp cultivated over the years, so finding groups of people to talk to can be a challenge. Popularity comes at a price though, as WhatsApp and Telegram have seen misinformation spread widely through their respective social networks.

Telegram makes it fairly easy to find groups to chat with or create a Channel to broadcast your thoughts, but many of its public spaces are clogged with spam and scammers, making them unusable for chatting. Telegram appears to operate more like a social media platform than a private messaging service, so content moderation is left up to group moderators or Channel owners.

Which Messaging App Has the Best Voice and Video Calling?

Each service makes voice and video calling tools easy to find and use. However, it's hard to say which is more reliable since it depends heavily on network conditions and individual hardware. Signal and WhatsApp extend their end-to-end encryption to voice and video calls, while Telegram's encryption caveats extend to its video and voice calling.

(Credit: Signal/WhatsApp/Telegram/PCMag)

Each service supports 30–40 participants—more than enough for a family or small group. If you're looking to build a following, Telegram is probably your best bet. The service lets you create groups of up to 200,000 people. That said, established social media and streaming platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube are probably better for established or aspiring influencers.

None of these services, however, can replace Zoom, Google Meet, or other products for large-scale ad-hoc video calls. For that, you need video conferencing software.

Which Messaging App Is Most Secure?

The apps on this list assure their users that you can rely on them for safe, secure messaging, but really only one can fully deliver on that promise. Editors' Choice winner Signal uses tried-and-tested technology to protect your messages from spies, law enforcement, and even Signal itself. Its nonprofit status removes any incentive for the company to harvest and sell user data, protecting your privacy. It also compares favorably with the competition in terms of features and ease of use.

Max Eddy contributed to this roundup.