A Signal alternative with no phone number.
Encrypted by default, funded by donations, no ads. And no phone number, on any device, right in your browser.
Private messaging without handing over your phone number. Surf Messenger encrypts every chat by default, backs it up sealed from the first message, and opens in any browser.
Side by side.
- Made by
- Signal Foundation, a nonprofitSurf Platforms Inc.
- How it is paid for
- Donations and grantsDonations
- Ads
- NoneNone
- Phone number to sign up
- Required; a paid alternative is in Android betaNot asked for
- Messages encrypted by default
- Yes, alwaysYes
- Encrypted backup
- Opt-inOn from the first message
- In a web browser
- No web clientYes, on any device
| Signal | Surf Messenger | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Signal Foundation, a nonprofit | Surf Platforms Inc. |
| How it is paid for | Donations and grants | Donations |
| Ads | None | None |
| Phone number to sign up | Required; a paid alternative is in Android beta | Not asked for |
| Messages encrypted by default | Yes, always | Yes |
| Encrypted backup | Opt-in | On from the first message |
| In a web browser | No web client | Yes, on any device |
Rows describing Signal reflect what Signal publicly documents, checked in September 2026. They can change, and this page is the version we can defend today.
What changes.
No number, today, on every device.
Sign up with an email and a password, a passkey or a Google account, through a Surf account. Nothing asks for a phone number or stores one, on a phone, a laptop or a borrowed browser.
A browser tab is enough.
It runs in a browser and adds to a home screen on iPhone and Android, where it opens in its own window and starts without a network. Mac and Windows get their own build.
The same conversations as a social network.
Surf Messenger is the messaging of Surf on its own domain: the same account and the same threads, without the feed. If you use Surf, the people you talk to there are already here.
Questions people ask.
- How is Surf Messenger encrypted?
- End to end, by default, with the same family of protocols Signal uses: X3DH to start a conversation, a Double Ratchet per thread and sender keys in groups, on X25519, Ed25519 and AES-256-GCM. The full design is on the security page.
- Why would I use this instead of Signal?
- Sign up without a phone number, use it from any browser, keep a sealed backup from day one, and talk to the people you already know on Surf.
- How is it paid for, if not by ads?
- Donations, as Signal is. There is no advertising and no data sold.
- Can I verify who I am talking to?
- Yes. A 60-digit safety number, 30 from each account, that two people can compare in person or read aloud. When a contact's keys change the app tells a new device apart from a replaced key, and warns you to verify before sharing anything private in the second case.