Signalvs
Zoom
Zoom: Video conferencing that's easy, reliable, and secure
Signal
Speak Freely
As of 30 August 2026, Signal is free to use. Signal is a cross-platform centralized encrypted messaging service with a focus on privacy. Softwr lists it under Communication. Signal is made by Signal Foundation, launched in 2018, available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS.
Overview
What Signal does
Signal is a cross-platform centralized encrypted messaging service with a focus on privacy. It uses the Internet to send one-to-one and group messages, which can include files, voice notes, images and videos.
What people use it for
- Private messaging
- Secure group communication
- Confidential conversations
- Journalism communication
- Family messaging
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Signal.
- Signal must be installed on a phone before the desktop app can be used, so there is no phone-free desktop-only account
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Signal
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- SignalvsMicrosoft Teams
Microsoft Teams: Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place
- SignalvsLoom
Loom: Record instantly, share anywhere
- SignalvsRingCentral Video
RingCentral Video: Connected cloud communications
Pricing
What Signal costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- End-to-end encrypted messaging
- Voice and video calls
- Group chats
- Disappearing messages
- Screen lock
- No ads or tracking
Capabilities
Features
End-to-end encryption
Disappearing messages
Screen security
Group chats
Voice calls
Video calls
File sharing
No data collection
Open source protocol
Integration with Open source protocol
Signal Protocol
Integration with Signal Protocol
Desktop sync
Integration with Desktop sync
Signal Protocol
Signal Protocol security feature
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does Signal cost?
Signal is free for everyone. The messaging app is supported by grants and donations, not user fees, and is maintained by an independent nonprofit that is not tied to any major tech companies.
SourceDoes Signal have ads?
No. Signal is ad-free and does not collect advertising revenue.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Signal
- Company
- Signal Foundation
- Based in
- Mountain View, California, USA
- Founders
- Moxie Marlinspike, Brian Acton
Timeline
Signal over time
- Funding2018-02-21$50m
Signal Technology Foundation established
Source
Keep looking
Where to go from Signal
- Signal alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Signal pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Signal badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Communication softwareThe full category
- Best Communication softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Communication software for
Compare Signal with
- Zoom
- Loom
- Microsoft Teams
- RingCentral Video
- Telegram
- Messenger
- Novu
- Courier
- KakaoTalk
- Chatwork
- Viber
- Vowel
- Telegram
- Novu
- Viber
- Messenger
Other Communication software
Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place
Free, then $4/mo13 researched notesPure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices
Free, then $4.99/mo12 researched notesMeta's standalone messaging app for Facebook, with end to end encryption on by default since 2023
Free plan9 researched notesOpen-source notification infrastructure for multi-channel messaging
Free, then $30/mo8 researched notesNotification infrastructure API for sending messages across channels
Free plan8 researched notesThe default messaging app in South Korea, bundled with payments, taxi hailing and other Kakao services
Free plan10 researched notesGroup chat for global teams, built to replace email with real-time communication
Free, then $7/mo10 researched notesMessaging app with its strongest user base in Eastern Europe and the Philippines, owned by Japans Rakuten
Free plan11 researched notesPure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices
Free, then $4.99/mo12 researched notesOpen-source notification infrastructure for multi-channel messaging
Free, then $30/mo8 researched notesMessaging app with its strongest user base in Eastern Europe and the Philippines, owned by Japans Rakuten
Free plan11 researched notesMeta's standalone messaging app for Facebook, with end to end encryption on by default since 2023
Free plan9 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Signal, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Signal
Signal alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Signal pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Signal
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Signal badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Communication software alternatives
Chinese super-app combining messaging, payments, mini programs and identity, effectively required infrastructure in mainland China
Free to download, transaction fees on paymentsMessaging app with its strongest user base in Eastern Europe and the Philippines, owned by Japans Rakuten
Free to download, paid business messaging and out calls to landlines and mobilesMeta's standalone messaging app for Facebook, with end to end encryption on by default since 2023
Free, funded by Meta's advertising business
Messaging app that dominates Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, now run by LY Corporation under joint SoftBank and Naver ownership
Free to download, paid stickers and business messaging tiersThe default messaging app in South Korea, bundled with payments, taxi hailing and other Kakao services
Free to download, paid emoticons, gifting and business messaging
Conversational messaging and CPaaS with a flat platform fee stacked on top of Meta per-message rates
Per message sent
Korean business messaging built on the KakaoTalk interface for domestic enterprise teams
Per user per month
White-label community apps published under your own brand on iOS, Android and web
Per month, flat fee with no transaction charge