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Signal: The Best Free Encrypted Messenger

★★★★★ 9.6/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools Updated 2026-06-02
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Reviewed by The Empire Reviews Editorial Team — Product testing & research.
We are a small in-house team that buys, uses and stress-tests every product before it is ranked. We have no sponsored placements: brands cannot pay for a higher position. When a cheaper or unaffiliated product is genuinely better, we say so and rank it first. How we test →
Updated June 2026

Signal: The Best Free Encrypted Messenger

Signal is a free, open-source, end-to-end encrypted messaging app run by a non-profit. Honest review.

What it is

Signal provides end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice and video calls. It is run by the non-profit Signal Foundation, funded by donations, and its protocol is the gold standard the whole industry copied.

There is no paid tier and no advertising. Signal collects almost no metadata by design.

What you get for free

Entirely free and donation-funded. No paid tier exists.

Who it is for

Anyone who wants private messaging without a corporate data business behind it.

Our take

We earn nothing and recommend it without reservation.

Check current priceWe do not currently hold an affiliate link for this product. It is reviewed and ranked purely on merit.
Reviewed by The Empire Reviews Editorial Team — Product testing & research.
We are a small in-house team that buys, uses and stress-tests every product before it is ranked. We have no sponsored placements: brands cannot pay for a higher position. When a cheaper or unaffiliated product is genuinely better, we say so and rank it first. How we test →