DChat vs Session vs Signal
Feature by feature, taken from each project's own published documentation and dated, so you can check every row yourself.
The short answer
DChat is the only messenger here that gives you a complete communication app with no phone number, no email and no company account. Group video calls up to 25 people, 50 MB attachments, live location, message editing, multi-device linking, and a non-custodial wallet with payments sent straight inside a conversation. No operator can read your messages, suspend your account or reset your recovery phrase, because no operator holds your keys. Free on Android, web and desktop.
Session also skips the phone number, and routes messages over an onion network. The trade shows up in the product: no group calls at all, a 10 MB attachment cap, and calls that are still beta and switched off until you enable them.
Signal is the established name with strong cryptography and a large user base. It requires a phone number, which ties your account to a SIM and to the carrier that issued it.
The table
Every row is checkable. Sources and the dates they were read are listed at the bottom.
| DChat | Session | Signal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign up without a phone number | Yes | Yes | Required |
| Sign up without an email address | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Group video calls | Yes - up to 25 participants | None | Yes |
| Voice and video calls on by default | Yes | Beta - opt-in, off by default | Yes |
| Attachment size limit | 50 MB | 10 MB | 100 MB |
| Built-in non-custodial wallet | Yes | No | No |
| Payments inside the conversation | Yes | No | Limited - region dependent |
| Live location sharing | Yes | No | Yes |
| Edit a sent message | Yes | No | Yes |
| Multi-device linking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Published cryptographic specification | Yes - every primitive and parameter | Protocol blog posts | Yes |
| Operator can read your messages | No | No | No |
| Operator can reset or suspend your account | No - nobody holds your keys | No | Tied to a phone number |
| Runs on its own independent network | Yes - public chain and relay nodes | Yes - node network | No - runs on operator servers |
| Platforms | Android, web, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop |
Which one fits you
DChat, if you want a full messenger with no account behind it
Sign up in seconds with no phone number, no email and no password. Everything a modern messenger has - group video calls, albums, voice messages, live location, reactions, edits, disappearing messages, multi-device linking - plus a non-custodial wallet so paying someone is part of the conversation rather than a trip to another app. Nobody can read your messages, freeze your account or reset your phrase, because nobody else holds your keys. We publish our exact cryptographic primitives and parameters, which most closed messengers never do.
Session, if hiding who you talk to outranks everything else
Session routes messages over an onion network, which hides the link between sender and recipient at the network layer. If that specific property is your priority, it is the strongest of the three. You accept a slower app, no group calls, and a 10 MB attachment cap in return.
Signal, if you want the name everyone already knows
Mature, widely deployed, strong cryptography, and most people you want to talk to can already be found on it. You give it your phone number, and your account lives or dies with that number.
Sources
Every competitor row comes from that project's own published documentation, read on 2 August 2026. Where a project's own docs and a third-party summary disagree, we use the project's docs.
- Session: getsession.org/faq - onion routing, group size, the 10 MB attachment cap, calls in beta and off by default, and the absence of group calls.
- Signal: support.signal.org - always end-to-end encrypted, complete client and server source on GitHub, safety numbers.
- DChat: our own cryptographic specification, security page and architecture 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. You are chatting about a minute after you install it.