Bots
Build a bot in any language with a public Bot API: buttons, commands, groups, channels and inline answers. Chats with a bot stay encrypted, and DChat hosts nothing.
ButtonsCommandsGroupsChannelsInline answers
Signal: noneSession: none
Comparison
DChat vs Signal, Session and Telegram
Signal and Session keep your chats private, but leave out bots, mini apps, AI and channels. Telegram has all of those, but its chats are not end-to-end encrypted unless you turn it on, and one company runs every server. DChat gives you both.
Part 1 · DChat vs Signal and Session
All three are private. The difference is everything else: bots, mini apps, AI, channels, group calls and a wallet.
What Signal and Session leave out
Signal and Session were built to be private, and they are. But a private messenger that can only send messages is not enough for most people. These are the things you get on DChat and do not get on them, with the same end-to-end encryption.
Private AI replies
An AI that suggests or sends answers in your private chats. It runs on your own phone or your own computer, so your messages never go to a cloud AI.
- Your own phone
- Your own computer
- Never a cloud AI
Signal: noneSession: none
Mini apps
A shop, a form or a game that opens right inside the chat, and knows which account opened it once the bot has checked it.
Signal: noneSession: none
Channels, readable on the web
Broadcast to everyone who follows you, with reactions, view counts and pinned posts. Every public channel also has a web page anyone can read without an account.
Signal: noneSession: communities, not encrypted
Group video calls
Video calls with up to 25 people, plus screen sharing, without a phone number behind any of the accounts.
Signal: yesSession: none
A wallet in the chat
Send money to the person you are talking to as a payment bubble in the conversation. Non-custodial: the keys stay on your phone.
Signal: MobileCoin, some regionsSession: none
Stories and live streams
Photo and video stories with expiry controls, and live streams to the people who follow you.
Signal: stories, no liveSession: none
Web and desktop
Use DChat in any browser with DChat Web, or get the Windows, Mac or Linux app, and link it to your phone with a QR code.
Signal: desktop, no webSession: desktop, no web
Side by side
Every row is checkable. Sources and the date they were read are at the bottom of the page.
| Feature | DChat | Signal | Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your account | |||
| Sign up without a phone number | Yes | RequiredUsernames hide it from others, but you still need one to sign up | Yes |
| A username you own | YesRegistered on DChat's own chain | On top of a number | NoA long Account ID |
| Crypto knowledge needed | None | None | None |
| Bots, AI and apps | |||
| Bots with a public Bot API | YesAny language, runs on your own computer | No | No |
| Bots in groups and channels | Yes | No | No |
| Inline bots in any chat | YesType @bot and a few words | No | No |
| Mini apps inside the chat | Yes | No | No |
| AI replies for your account | Rolling outRuns on your own phone or computer, never in a cloud | No | No |
| Channels and stories | |||
| Broadcast channels | Yes | No | CommunitiesSelf-hosted, not end-to-end encrypted |
| Channel readable on the web, no account | Yes | No | No |
| Stories | Yes | Yes | No |
| Live streams | Yes | No | No |
| Calls and messages | |||
| Group video calls | YesUp to 25 people | YesUp to 75 people | None |
| Voice and video calls on by default | Yes | Yes | BetaOff until you turn it on |
| Screen sharing in a call | Yes | Yes | No |
| Live location | Yes | Static onlyA fixed point that does not move with you | No |
| Edit a sent message | Yes | Yes | No |
| Attachment size limit | 50 MB | 100 MB | 10 MB |
| Money | |||
| Built-in non-custodial wallet | Yes | MobileCoin only | No |
| Payments inside the conversation | Yes | Some regions | No |
| Your devices | |||
| Link a computer with a QR code | Yes | Yes | Restore onlyRe-enter your recovery password on each device |
| Web app in any browser | Yes | No | No |
| Multiple accounts in one app | Yes | No | No |
| Platforms | Android, web, Windows, Mac, Linux | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop |
Privacy, line by line
On privacy the three are close, and that is the point: with DChat you do not give any of it up to get the features above. Encryption hides what you say. This is everything around it.
| What the network can learn | DChat | Signal | Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who you are | |||
| Phone number tied to your account | None | Required | None |
| Email address tied to your account | None | None | None |
| Your address book uploaded | Never | Contact discovery | Never |
| What the network sees | |||
| Messages end-to-end encrypted | Always | Always | Always |
| Who sent a message, visible to the network | NoSealed sender | NoSealed sender | NoOnion routing |
| Group membership recorded publicly | NoKept off the chain | No | No |
| Your IP, hidden from the network | NoPrivate routing planned | No | YesOnion routing |
| Who is in control | |||
| An account database that could be seized | None exists | Phone number registry | None exists |
| Central messaging servers | NoneSwarmchat, staked nodes on a public chain | YesRun by Signal | NoneStaked node network |
| Operator can reset or suspend your account | NoNobody else holds your keys | Tied to a phone number | No |
Part 2 · DChat vs Telegram
Both have bots, channels and mini apps. The difference is privacy: encrypted by default, and no single company in the middle.
DChat vs Telegram
Telegram has bots, channels, mini apps and AI, and so does DChat. The difference is what happens to your messages. On Telegram, normal chats are stored on Telegram's servers in a form Telegram can decrypt. End-to-end encryption is off unless you start a Secret Chat by hand, and one company runs every server.
Encrypted by default vs only if you turn it on
DChat
End-to-end encrypted from the first message. Nothing to turn on.
Telegram
Cloud chats by default. End-to-end only in a Secret Chat.
Private chats
DChatPrivate chatsEnd to end
Always end-to-end encrypted.
TelegramPrivate chatsNot end to end
Not end-to-end encrypted unless you start a Secret Chat.
Group chats
DChatGroup chatsEnd to end
Always end-to-end encrypted, with keys for each group.
TelegramGroup chatsNot end to end
Never end-to-end encrypted. Secret Chats are one to one only.
On your computer and the web
DChatOn your computer and the webEnd to end
The same encrypted chats, linked to your phone by QR code.
TelegramOn your computer and the webNot end to end
Secret Chats do not exist in Telegram Desktop or Telegram Web, and do not move to a new device.
Chats with bots
DChatChats with botsEnd to end
Encrypted between you and the bot. DChat cannot read them.
TelegramChats with botsNot end to end
Normal cloud chats, through Telegram's servers.
One-to-one calls
DChatOne-to-one callsEnd to end
End-to-end encrypted.
TelegramOne-to-one callsEnd to end
End-to-end encrypted.
Group calls
DChatGroup callsIn transit
Encrypted in transit through a media server, not end to end.
TelegramGroup callsEnd to end
End-to-end encrypted, up to 200 people.
Line by line
| Feature | DChat | Telegram |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | ||
| Chats end-to-end encrypted by default | YesEvery chat, every group | NoOnly Secret Chats, which you start by hand |
| Who can read your normal chats | Only the people in them | Telegram's servers canClient-server encryption, keys held by Telegram |
| End-to-end encrypted groups | Yes | Never |
| Encrypted chats on desktop and web | Yes | NoNo Secret Chats in Telegram Desktop or Web |
| Encrypted chats on all your devices | YesEncrypted sync between your own devices | NoA Secret Chat lives on one device |
| Group calls end to end | In transitThrough a media server | Yes |
| Who runs it | ||
| Who runs the servers | Nobody aloneIndependent nodes, registered and staked on a public chain | One companyTelegram's own servers in rented data centers |
| Phone number to sign up | Not needed | Required |
| Handed over on a court order | No phone number to giveThere is no account database | IP address and phone numberTelegram privacy policy, section 8.3 |
| Address book uploaded | Never | If you allow contact sync |
| Who can freeze your account | NobodyYour keys stay on your device | Telegram and your carrierThe account lives on Telegram's servers and your number |
| Bots, AI and money | ||
| Bots and a Bot API | YesThe bot runs on its owner's computer, DChat hosts nothing | YesHosted through Telegram's servers |
| Mini apps | Yes | Yes |
| Where AI reads your messages | On your own deviceYour phone or your linked computer, no cloud | On Telegram's AI networkCocoon, off your device |
| Wallet | Built in, non-custodialKeys on your phone, payments inside the chat | Separate wallet serviceCustodial wallet, not offered in every country |
| Channels and stories | Yes | Yes |
Where Telegram is ahead
Telegram has been around for years and it shows in the numbers.
- Files2 GBper file, 4 GB with PremiumDChat sends 50 MB
- Groups200,000people in a group, at mostOurs hold 100
- Group calls200people at most, end-to-end encryptedOurs hold 25, encrypted in transit
- Head startiPhone apptoday, and millions of bots already built
If those numbers matter most to you, Telegram does them well. If you want every chat to be private without remembering to turn anything on, with no phone number and no single company in the middle, that is what DChat is for.
Which one fits you
If you want private chats and a full messenger
Sign up in seconds with no phone number, no email and no password. Every chat and every group is end-to-end encrypted from the start. On top of that you get what private messengers usually leave out: bots, mini apps, AI that runs on your own device, channels with a public web page, group video calls, stories and live streams, and a wallet for people who want one. Nobody can read your messages, freeze your account or reset your phrase, because nobody else holds your keys.
If you want the name everyone already knows
Mature, widely used, strong cryptography. You give it your phone number, and you get messages and calls, without bots, mini apps, AI or channels.
If hiding who you talk to outranks everything else
Session routes messages over an onion network, which hides your IP address from the network. You accept no group calls, calls that are still a beta, a 10 MB attachment cap, and no bots or channels.
If you want the biggest feature set and do not mind the cloud
Huge groups, big files and a large bot world. Your chats are stored where Telegram can read them unless you open a Secret Chat for each person, on your phone only, and your account is tied to your phone number.
How DChat protects the rest
Encryption hides what you said. Metadata is everything else.
Sealed sender
An ephemeral key generated fresh for every message wraps the whole envelope, so a relay forwards your message without learning which account sent it. Our flood-based network makes this possible: every node already holds every message, so delivery never depended on knowing the sender.
Nothing to collect in the first place
No phone number, no email, no password, so no identifier ties your account to your real identity. Your address book is never uploaded. Group membership is never written to the chain. Message content never touches the chain. There is no account database and no advertising network correlating anything. Read the security page for what DChat does not protect against.
Sources
Every competitor row comes from that project's own published pages, read on 18 October 2026. Where a project's own docs and a third-party summary disagree, we use the project's docs.
- Signalgroup calls up to 75 people, usernames still need a phone number to sign up, platforms, the Signal blog for features added in 2025 and 2026.
- Sessiongetsession.org/faq for onion routing, group size, the 10 MB cap, calls in beta and off by default, no group calls, communities and multi-device; Session Pro.
- Telegramtelegram.org/faq for cloud chats, Secret Chats, servers, phone numbers and limits; the end-to-end encryption FAQ for Secret Chats on desktop and web; core.telegram.org/api/end-to-end for one-to-one only; the privacy policy, sections 3.4 and 8.3; encrypted group calls; bots and mini apps; AI on Cocoon.
- DChatOur Bot API, cryptographic specification, security page and guides.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us at contact and we will check it and correct the page.
Try it yourself
No phone number, no email, no password. Every chat encrypted from the first message. You are chatting about a minute after you install it.