Comparison
Signal vs Telegram
Signal and Telegram are the two most common answers to leaving mainstream messengers, but they solve different problems: Signal optimises for private-by-default conversations, Telegram for fast, feature-rich communication at scale. Here is how they compare on the points that matter for the decision.
| Pricing | ||
| Price | Free No paid tiers; funded by donations, not user data. | Free · Premium $4.99/mo Core app is free; Premium unlocks larger uploads, faster downloads and extra customisation. |
| Business model | Nonprofit, donation-funded Operated by Signal Messenger, LLC under the 501(c)(3) Signal Technology Foundation. | Optional subscription Telegram FZ-LLC funds the service through Premium; no third-party ads in private chats. |
| Ads & trackers | None Exodus Privacy scan (v8.16.1, June 2026) found 0 tracker signatures in the Android app. | None detected 0 advertising or analytics trackers found by Exodus Privacy, though the Android app requests 71 permissions. |
| Privacy & security | ||
| End-to-end encryption | Always on, every chat and call Signal Protocol by default; encryption is never an opt-in setting. | Opt-in Secret Chats only Regular cloud chats are client-server encrypted and stored server-side; E2E is limited to Secret Chats on mobile. |
| Open source | Clients and server (AGPL-3.0) Full source on GitHub with reproducible Android builds; the entire model is publicly reviewable. | Clients only (GPL-2.0) Reproducible builds for Android and iOS since v5.13, but the server code remains closed and unaudited. |
| Cryptography review | Formally analyzed Academic analysis of the Signal Protocol; the post-quantum PQXDH handshake (2023) was machine-verified with ProVerif and CryptoVerif. | Independently studied MTProto 2.0 has been analysed academically; weaknesses reported in 2021 were subsequently patched. |
| Experience | ||
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux macOS 12+, Windows 10/11, 64-bit Linux, iOS 15+; no web client. | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Web Cloud chats sync instantly across every device, including the browser. |
| Groups & file sharing | — Focused on private one-to-one and group chats, calls, and file sharing rather than large communities. | Groups up to 200,000 members · 2 GB files Large public channels and communities are the core strength; 2 GB per file on the free tier. |
| User rating | 4.7 (1.1M ratings) Apple App Store; ranked #1 in our communication chart with 9/9 trust checks. | 4.0 (275K ratings) US App Store; ranked #2 in our communication chart with 7/9 trust checks. |
The bottom line
Choose Signal if
Choose Signal if private-by-default is the whole point: every chat and call is end-to-end encrypted with no settings to remember, and both the clients and the server are open source under a donation-funded nonprofit. It is the safer default for sensitive conversations and for anyone who does not want to think about encryption modes.
Choose Telegram if
Choose Telegram if you value large communities, public channels, and effortless multi-device sync — including a full web client — over default end-to-end encryption. Its free tier is generous with 2 GB file sharing and groups up to 200,000 members, as long as you accept that only opt-in Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted.