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 | Briar | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | tools | tools |
| Subcategory | Messaging | Messaging |
| Grade | A | A |
| Editor's Pick | — | — |
| Tagline | Federated E2E chat. Self-hostable, open-source, hosts most XMR/privacy community rooms. | Peer-to-peer messenger over Tor, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. No servers, no metadata. |
| Fees | Free · federated · self-hostable · clients on all platforms | Free · F-Droid + Play Store · Android primary |
| KYC posture | anonymous_signup | anonymous_signup |
| Highlight tags | FEDERATEDE2ECOMMUNITY | P2PTOROFFLINE |
| Feature tags | non_custodialopen_sourceself_hostedtor_supported2fa_supported | open_sourcetor_supportedself_hosted |
| Web | https://element.io | https://briarproject.org |
| Tor | — | — |
| Last verified | 2026-05-13 | 2026-05-12 |