Session – European messaging app
An encrypted messenger that needs no phone number or email - you get a random Session ID instead. Messages are onion-routed through a decentralised network of nodes, and the project moved its legal home to Switzerland in 2024 for stronger privacy protection.
Quick facts
No phone number or email is ever required – just a random Session ID – and messages are onion-routed through a decentralised network so there's no central server logging who talks to whom.
Message delivery can feel slightly slower than a centralised app like Signal because of the onion-routing hops, and the smaller user base means fewer of your contacts are likely already on it.
Why does it score 92?
Incorporated in Zug, Switzerland – an EFTA country rather than a full EU member state.
Run by the non-profit Session Technology Foundation, with no investors, though the project originated under an Australian foundation before relocating in 2024.
There's no central server at all – messages are onion-routed through a decentralised network of nodes, so there's nothing for anyone to seize or subpoena.
Fully open source (GPLv3) and GDPR-compliant, having deliberately moved its legal home to Switzerland for stronger privacy protection.
See how they compare
Session
Signal
Whatsapp 
Telegram 
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