Threema
Switzerland
Pay-once Swiss messenger that needs no phone number or email.
A Swiss messenger, launched in 2012 and run by Threema GmbH near Zurich. It costs about €4, once. No subscription for personal use. And it works without a phone number or email: you get a random Threema ID, and that's the only thing tying you to the account.
What's in it
- End-to-end encryption for messages, group chats, voice and video calls, and file transfers
- No phone number or email needed. Your ID is a random string, and you can verify contacts in person via QR code for the highest trust level
- Servers in Switzerland, with very little metadata kept around
- Open-source apps (since 2020), audited by outside security firms
- A separate Threema Work product for companies that need device management and a managed rollout
Why pay for a messenger
You're not the product. There's no ad business and no data harvesting; the one-off price funds the development. It has been used inside the Swiss government, among other organisations that care about that distinction.
Trade-off
The paywall, even a small one, keeps the network smaller than WhatsApp's, so you'll likely be the one talking friends into installing it. If you want strong privacy with minimal metadata and don't mind that, Threema is about as clean as it gets.
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