Compare
Where we lead, where we are level, where we still lag - and what will never be here.
Against the others
You will compare us with Signal anyway - better we do it for you, honestly. Five messengers, nine axes, data from official sources. Checked 18 September 2026.
| Tysha | Signal | Telegram | Threema | SimpleX | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone number | not needed | optional: Android, $2.99 | required | required | not needed | not needed |
| Can you be found by search | no - there is no search | only by exact username | by username, rolling out | yes, public | by ID | no |
| IP in a call by default | hidden | visible to contacts | visible | visible | relay for unverified | hidden |
| If the phone is lost | twelve words bring back the account, not the messages | a 64-character key | cloud backup | everything in the cloud | ID and contacts, no chats | only your own archive |
| Encryption by default | yes | yes | yes | Secret Chats only | yes | yes, except public channels |
| Post-quantum | ML-KEM-1024 in the handshake, SPQR ratchet on iPhone and iPad | Kyber-1024 and an ML-KEM-768 ratchet | none | none | transport only | sntrup761, direct chats only |
| Several devices and desktop | up to 5: iPhone, iPad; Mac soon | up to 5 | 4 + phone | unlimited | beta: phone and 2 computers | desktop links |
| Attachments and group calls | 1 GB, calls up to 5 | ~100 MB, up to 75 | 2 GB, up to 32 | 2 GB, calls up to 200 | 100 MB, up to 16 | 1 GB, no group calls |
| Your own server | in development | not possible | not possible | not possible | commercial OnPrem only | yes, the easiest of all |
Nobody finds you by search, a call does not show your address by default, and every connection starts with a code you handed over yourself. Nobody else has all three. In September 2026 Signal also allowed registration without a number - but on Android only and for $2.99, and usernames still work there.
Encryption by default is in all of them except Telegram - that is the minimum, not an advantage. A post-quantum handshake is also in Signal and SimpleX. We deploy your own server on request - like Threema, but not by yourself as in SimpleX. We are not inventing an edge here, because there is none.
Mac still in review, Android and Windows in testing, attachments up to 1 GB, group calls only up to five. If you need any of that - take Signal, and that is honest advice.
Limits
Naming the limits first is cheaper than reading them in reviews. Half of this list is a decision, not a backlog.
Long videos and heavy documents go through, though WhatsApp and Telegram allow twice as much. A file lives on the server for 14 days.
A new device sees what arrives after pairing: keys never leave the device they lived on. A consequence, not a forgotten feature.
Up to five devices per account, each with its own key that never leaves it. Pairing is a code the phone scans and confirms with Face ID; old history does not move across. Mac is coming soon.
The apps are written and in testing. We publish once they pass on real devices - we say it upfront so you know what to expect.
Shared conversations for 100 people. Group calls for up to five: every pair connects directly, with no server that hears the call.
The client code is available on request (AGPL), the server code is not. A server of your own for organisations is in development.
People search, channels, and a cloud with history the server can read. That is a decision, not a list of tasks.