Cwtch vs Olvid

Cwtch is a free decentralized messaging app for Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Direct conversations use Tor v3 onion services to create anonymous peer-to-peer connections between profiles, and Cwtch says communication is end-to-end encrypted over those services. Both participants must be online for peer-to-peer chat. Group conversations and offline delivery use a third-party server designed to learn as little as possible about message contents or metadata. Group messaging is experimental: users must enable the Experiments and Group Experiment settings, and the project calls metadata-resistant group communication an active research area. Conversation history is not preserved between sessions by default, though it can be enabled for an individual conversation. The protocol is open, allowing bots, services, and interfaces to integrate with Cwtch; core library, Go bindings, and interface code are linked as open source. There is no global display-name registry, which the security handbook says increases impersonation risk. The project recommends version 1.17.2, released October 2, 2026, for security fixes. The plan costs nothing.

Olvid is an instant messaging app for text messages and attachments, available on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Olvid says it does not require identifying details such as a phone number, email, name, address, or birth date. It also says messages and metadata are end-to-end encrypted, so it cannot know who is communicating with whom. Each message and file uses a single-use ephemeral key, intended to protect message history if a key is compromised. The app supports synchronization across devices without a master device. Secure audio and video calls are end-to-end encrypted; video calls support up to two contacts, while group audio calls have no participant limit. Receiving calls is free, and initiating them is free during a one-month trial that ends without billing or automatic subscription. The free plan includes unlimited messages and attachments, group discussions, ephemeral messages, multiple profiles, and inbound calls. Business costs €990 a year; Enterprise costs €990.50 a year.