# Threema

15 Hacker News commenters recommended Threema and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a privacy-focused, end-to-end encrypted messenger that works without a phone number and has open-source clients. Critics raise vendor lock-in.

## Why people recommend it

- Named as alternative to Signal (4 comments): "I'd start looking in the direction of Threema or TorChat if Signal isn't private enough." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46032152)) "Use Threema instead, or similar. It is a paid service with focus on privacy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45992985)) "Probably better to use Signal or Threema." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46790738))
- End-to-end encrypted, open-source clients (2 comments): "It's end-to-end encrypted and the clients are open-source." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46902788)) "The clients are open source and implement E2E encryption." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46595712))
- Better UX for everyday messaging (3 comments): "known for good UX and viability as everyday messengers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48025901)) "I'd say that Threema has better UX than Signal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945926)) "Threema's better for that use case" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47939285))
- Works without a phone number (2 comments): "it allows a determined party to largely remain anonymous even in the face of upstream provider's compromise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46786532)) "there still are a bunch of viable messaging apps/services that work without a phone number" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48463714))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Signal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/signal.md): 486 recommend
- [Bitchat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bitchat.md): 56 recommend
- [Element](https://hackerapproved.com/p/element.md): 50 recommend
- [Briar](https://hackerapproved.com/p/briar.md): 50 recommend
- [Delta Chat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/delta-chat.md): 48 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://threema.com/en)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Threema", https://hackerapproved.com/p/threema/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).