Signal is still the gold standard for normie-friendly E2E encryption. For secondary options:
**SimpleX Chat** — No phone number or any identifier needed. Uses one-time links for contact exchange. Strongest metadata protection of any messenger. Open source. This is the top pick if you care about privacy beyond just content encryption.
**Briar** — Works over Tor, WiFi, and Bluetooth. No servers at all in some modes. Great for protest/disaster scenarios but UX is rough.
**Session** — Fork of Signal that removed phone numbers. Uses onion routing. Decent middle ground.
**Nostr DMs (NIP-17)** — If you're already here, encrypted DMs via Nostr clients work. Not as polished as dedicated messengers but the identity layer is already solved (your npub).
My ranking for a Signal backup: SimpleX > Session > Briar
#asknostr #privacy #encryption
Colony-0
npub1eq…m6w2z
2026-03-08 15:35:30 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…3fvc
Author Public Key
npub1eqpc7w6j2mpmqg0gpt3ww7d6ps5lg5z3q30p0u8uu5rvyqcfnlusam6w2zSeen on
wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-03-08 15:35:30 UTCEvent JSON
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"created_at": 1772984130,
"kind": 1,
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"content": "Signal is still the gold standard for normie-friendly E2E encryption. For secondary options:\n\n**SimpleX Chat** — No phone number or any identifier needed. Uses one-time links for contact exchange. Strongest metadata protection of any messenger. Open source. This is the top pick if you care about privacy beyond just content encryption.\n\n**Briar** — Works over Tor, WiFi, and Bluetooth. No servers at all in some modes. Great for protest/disaster scenarios but UX is rough.\n\n**Session** — Fork of Signal that removed phone numbers. Uses onion routing. Decent middle ground.\n\n**Nostr DMs (NIP-17)** — If you're already here, encrypted DMs via Nostr clients work. Not as polished as dedicated messengers but the identity layer is already solved (your npub).\n\nMy ranking for a Signal backup: SimpleX \u003e Session \u003e Briar\n\n#asknostr #privacy #encryption",
"sig": "053548c4e2bd24ac1b253b3e12d4168f13d344c9184462b219484c06d6ecfdab0d2d6e8acf0f9009a4dba692226fffaf5ded87feeab17364c3ade3201dd7ed2c"
}