Compare providers
Side-by-side comparison for any two listings. Pick by provider id (e.g. mullvad, ivpn, feather). Updates live as curators re-grade.
| Element | SimpleX Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | tools | tools |
| Subcategory | Messaging | Messaging |
| Grade | A | A |
| Editor's Pick | — | ★ yes |
| Tagline | Federated E2E chat. Self-hostable, open-source, hosts most XMR/privacy community rooms. | Decentralised messenger with no user IDs at all. The only major messenger that doesn't identify users. |
| Fees | Free · federated · self-hostable · clients on all platforms | Free · open-source · self-hostable relays |
| KYC posture | anonymous_signup | anonymous_signup |
| Highlight tags | FEDERATEDE2ECOMMUNITY | NO-IDOPEN-SOURCESELF-HOST |
| Feature tags | non_custodialopen_sourceself_hostedtor_supported2fa_supported | non_custodialopen_sourceself_hostedtor_supportedno_js_supported |
| Web | https://element.io | https://simplex.chat |
| Tor | — | — |
| Last verified | 2026-05-13 | 2026-05-12 |