Briar – European messaging app
A peer-to-peer encrypted messenger designed for activists, journalists, and anyone who needs resilient communication. Messages sync directly between devices over Tor, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth - with no central servers - built by a European non-profit with EU public funding.
Quick facts
Messages sync directly between devices with no central server to seize or subpoena, and it even keeps working over Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi when the internet itself is cut off.
Both people need the app open and connected at the same time for messages to sync, and the desktop client is still in beta.
Why does it score 85?
The lead team is based in London, UK – outside the EU/EFTA, which caps the legal score even though the project is EU-funded.
Run as a non-profit software project with no investors, funded in part by the EU's Next Generation Internet programme.
There's no central server at all – messages sync directly between devices over Tor, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so there's nothing for anyone to host or seize.
Fully open source and GDPR-compliant by design, built specifically for activists and journalists who need communication that can't be taken down centrally.
See how they compare
Briar
Signal
Whatsapp 
Telegram 
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