Aria vs Blink
Aria
aria-softphone.com
Blink
icanblink.comSide by side
| Figure | Aria | Blink |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Softphone Software | 8.4 (#3) | 8.4 (#4) |
| Privacy | The privacy policy says the app has no telemetry or analytics, does not phone home, and stores account credentials, call history, contacts and recordings locally. | Blink states that it does not collect data from end-users and directs users to SIP2SIP's privacy information for its built-in SIP accounts. |
| Security | SIP signalling can use TLS and media can use SRTP with AES-128-CM and HMAC-SHA1-80; the maker says this is transport encryption, not end-to-end encryption. | The site lists ZRTP for encrypted media, OTR for encrypted chat, TLS for file transfers, and OpenPGP messaging support. |
Plans
In their own words
Aria
Aria is a native SIP softphone for connecting to standards-compliant SIP servers. It handles inbound and outbound calls, mute, hold, transfers, DTMF, presence, contacts, and call history. Audio support includes Opus up to 48 kHz, G.711, an adaptive jitter buffer, and local WAV recording. Desktop downloads are available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, with signed installers and in-app updates. The maker says iOS and Android apps are in testing and have no releases yet. A self-hosted push gateway is required for mobile apps to receive incoming calls in the background. Aria names Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, and 3CX as compatible server examples and also works with the maker's AriaRoute hosted PBX. The privacy policy says it has no telemetry or analytics and stores credentials, contacts, call history, and recordings locally. SIP signalling can use TLS and media SRTP, but the maker says this is not end-to-end encryption. Aria is free for personal and non-commercial use; business use requires a separate commercial licence.
Blink
Blink is a real-time communications client that uses SIP to connect with service providers, Bonjour on a local network and SIP2SIP. A SIP account from a provider is required. Voice and video features include Opus audio, H.264, VP8 and VP9 video, acoustic echo cancellation and ZRTP media encryption. Messaging supports MSRP chat, OTR encryption, SIMPLE presence and XCAP server storage. File transfers use MSRP and TLS and include progress reports and delivery confirmation. Screen sharing can run with audio, while conferences can combine participant management, VoIP, messaging, presence, file transfers and screen sharing. Blink supports multiple SIP accounts, iCloud syncing between computers and built-in account sign-up through SIP2SIP. It also lists OpenPGP messaging support and says it does not collect end-user data. The free plan is free and lists Linux, Mac and Windows downloads. Available features may differ by operating system and version, and some conferencing functions require a conference server. Blink was founded in 2002.