Notes 
No phone number or email address is required to signup. Similar functionality like Element, but still in an earlier stage of development. Decentralized servers routed through Lokinet.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
Session
getsession.org 4.7 (19)
Messaging Open Source E2E encrypted No account Decentralized Windows macOS Linux Android iOS Free Switzerland
Rate Session: No account needed
Threat level
Targeted
A targeted-tier tool. Built for a real, capable adversary. Overkill for everyone below. Threat levels
Our take
No phone number and no email at signup is the headline, and for a privacy crowd that genuinely matters. The catch is reach: almost nobody you know already uses it, and onboarding contacts onto an account ID rather than a familiar handle is real work. Pick Session if metadata resistance ranks above convenience and you accept being the one who evangelizes it; if you just want secure chats with normal friends, Signal gets you further faster.
GitHub at a glance
session-foundation/session-android GPL-3.0
Stars
942
+7 this week
Forks
115
8 watching
Last commit
1d ago
healthy
Latest release
1.33.7
20d ago, 50 total
Star history
Issues
77% closed
211
open
695
closed
+0 / -2
opened / closed, last 4 weeks
Opened vs closed, last 12 weeks
Commits, last 26 weeks
386 commits, active 17 of 26 weeks
217 contributors since Oct 2024
Languages
- Kotlin 83.4%
- Java 15.7%
- Python 0.8%
Updated daily from the GitHub API. Star tracking since Jun 10, 2026.
Website at a glance
getsession.org
C score 50
Basic website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 4d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
Session alternatives
Signal Similar look and feel of WhatsApp and other commonly used messaging apps, makes switching easy. Signal requires your phone number as an personal identifier.
Delta Chat Delta Chat doesn't have their own servers but uses the most massive and diverse open messaging system ever: the existing e-mail server network. Chat with anyone if you know…
Brave Talk The person creating the call requires to use Brave Browser, but the participants can join from any browser.
Jitsi Meet Desktop version downloads can be found here .
Stoat Open source, self-hostable Discord alternative, formerly Revolt. Built for communities that want off Discord, but it is not end-to-end encrypted.
iMessage Apple's built-in messenger. End-to-end encrypted between Apple devices.
Session license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.