PriChat or Threema: free versus open source
Threema is the messenger philosophically closest to PriChat. All the more interesting where the two differ, and where Threema is clearly better.
Threema is the messenger philosophically closest to PriChat. Neither needs a phone number, and both say: we want to know as little about you as possible. That makes this the most interesting comparison of all, and it does not come out in our favour everywhere.
What Threema gets right
Threema gives you a random eight-character ID instead of a phone number. You can use it fully anonymously, the company is based in Switzerland, the apps are open source and the cryptography is documented. It is an honest, clean solution, and there is little to criticise about it.
Threema costs a one-off fee of around four euros (as of July 2026). You can see that as a drawback, but it has a pleasant flip side: a provider you pay does not have to monetise you some other way.
Side by side
| Threema | PriChat | |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number required | no | no |
| Price | one-off, around 4 euros | free |
| Installation | app from the store | browser, installable as an app |
| Apps open source | yes | no |
| External audit | yes | no, not so far |
| Server location | Switzerland | Germany, or your own server |
| Self-hosting | business product only | yes, with a license key |
Where Threema is better
- Open source and externally audited. For security software that is a strong argument, and PriChat does not have it.
- Established. Threema has been around for over ten years, with public authorities and companies as customers.
- Paid model. A price tag is an honest business model.
Where PriChat is better
- Free and store-free. No purchase, no hurdle, runs in the browser on any device. Someone who has to buy Threema first thinks twice, and a messenger the other person never installs is useless to you.
- Metadata in the database. We store no plaintext record of who talks to whom, and groups and friend requests are pseudonymised or sealed as well.
- Self-hosting for private users too. With Threema, self-hosting is reserved for the business product.
The honest advice
If open, externally audited code matters more to you than price, take Threema. If you want your contacts to be able to join without a purchase and without an app store, and metadata frugality matters to you, try PriChat. Both are sensible decisions, and that is rare enough in this market.