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Editorial Team · 2026-10-11
Best Chat and Messaging Apps, Ranked by Our Scores
By Editorial Team · published 2026-09-15 · updated 2026-09-15
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WhatsApp tops our messaging scores at 8.4 — encryption on without a single setting, 2 GB file transfers, and a chat list that adverts have not reached — but the runner-up is the one that surprised us: FaceTime, at 8.3, sells nothing at all. Six messengers here were installed, scored on five criteria and reviewed on this site; the ranking is those scores, and the thing we checked hardest was which chats are actually end-to-end encrypted, because the answer is different in almost every app.
How we ranked them
Every app below has a full review with five sub-scores — core function, ease of use, monetisation, performance, and privacy and permissions — and the number at the head of each entry is the weighted result. For a messenger, privacy carries real weight: we read the Google Play data safety card and Apple's privacy label for each app, counted the collected categories, and checked whether end-to-end encryption is the default or a per-chat option.
We also recorded what each app sells. Three of the six sell nothing — no adverts, no subscription, no in-app purchases — and that fact alone decides two places in the ranking.
One clarification before the list: this is a messaging ranking, not a social one. Facebook and Threads are in our catalogue and score 7.0 and 7.4, but they are feeds with a chat attached, and we left them out on purpose.
1. WhatsApp — the default, and still the right one
WhatsApp Messenger scores 8.4 with a 9.0 for core function: messages, calls and media go through on connections where rivals stall. Every personal chat, call and status is end-to-end encrypted without asking, files travel at up to 2 GB, and groups reach 1,024 members. Personal use is free with no subscription.
The two marks it drops are honest ones. Since June 2025 the Updates tab carries advertising, targeted on your city, language and followed channels — though the chat list itself stayed clean. And cloud backups are stored unencrypted until you turn the option on, which is the first thing to do after installing.
Good for: anyone who wants encryption without configuring it. Not for: anyone who wants no advertising business behind their messenger at all.
2. FaceTime — sells nothing, but only Apple can start a call
FaceTime is the odd one out: it takes 3 MB, has no account to create, shows no adverts and sells no subscription — a 9.5 for monetisation, the highest here. Group calls tile the participants, SharePlay keeps a film in sync across the call, and a screen can be shared mid-conversation.
The 8.3 rather than higher is the platform. There is no Android app; since iOS 15 an Android or Windows user can join a call from a link in a browser, but they cannot start one, and SharePlay and screen sharing do not work in the browser.
Good for: households where everyone owns an iPhone. Not for: anyone who needs to call an Android phone first.
3. Telegram — the best groups, with one thing to understand
Telegram Messenger scores 8.2 on speed and structure: chats, photos and files live in the cloud with no storage limit, so every device shows the same history, groups run to thousands of members with polls, and folders sort hundreds of conversations into tabs. There is no advertising badge on the Play listing, and Premium is $4.99 a month with nothing essential behind it.
The privacy mark is 6.0, and it is worth being precise about why. Ordinary chats are stored on Telegram's servers and are not end-to-end encrypted; only a Secret Chat, started per conversation, is. The data safety card lists seven collected categories, including precise location.
Good for: large groups, channels and anyone who wants their full history on every device. Not for: anyone who assumes every chat is encrypted the way WhatsApp's are.
4. Threema — the only one that needs no phone number
Threema also scores 8.2, from the opposite direction. An account is a random eight-character ID with no phone number or email attached, contacts are verified by scanning each other's QR codes, and Google Play declares that the app collects no data at all — a 9.5 for privacy, the highest on the list. It is a single payment — $7.49 on Google Play, $6.99 on the App Store, as of September 2026 — with no subscription and no adverts.
What holds it at fourth is reach: five million installs against WhatsApp's ten billion, and a 3.8 Play rating that is mostly about not finding anyone to talk to.
Good for: people for whom anonymity outranks convenience. Not for: anyone who cannot persuade their contacts to pay before trying it.
5. GroupMe — organises people who are not on the same app
GroupMe scores 8.1 for a narrow job done well: members join a group by link, by QR code or by plain SMS, without everyone needing the app. Topics split a large group into readable threads and events collect RSVPs. It is free with no adverts and no in-app purchases — a 9.0 for monetisation — and it holds 4.7 stars across 1.5 million App Store ratings.
The privacy mark is 6.0: messages are among the eight collected data categories, and four categories are shared with third parties. SMS members also miss photos and reactions.
Good for: a team, a class or a wedding party that will never agree on one messenger. Not for: anything sensitive.
6. Discord — for groups that talk every day
Discord scores 7.8. Voice channels are joined without calling or inviting, text channels keep subjects apart, and screen sharing runs in the same room — a 9.0 for core function. There are no adverts, and Nitro at $2.99 to $9.99 a month is cosmetic rather than required.
It ranks last because of setup and footprint: a new server's channels and roles confuse newcomers, and the privacy label lists eleven collected categories with device identifiers shared for cross-app tracking, the largest footprint here.
Good for: a gaming group or a community that is in the same room most evenings. Not for: a quick chat with one person.
What we left out and why
BAND scores 7.6 and does clubs and teams well, but it shows adverts and sells their removal at $1.99 for 30 days — the only app in this category that charges monthly to remove ads. Life360 at 7.1 is a location tracker with a chat, not a messenger. imo costs $6.99 and shows adverts anyway, which we could not place above anything here.
Bottom line
WhatsApp wins on the scores and on reach, and the only real argument against it is the advertising business behind it. If that argument matters to you, the answer depends on who you talk to: FaceTime if they all own iPhones, Threema if they will pay for anonymity, Telegram if you live in large groups and can keep track of which chats are secret. GroupMe and Discord are tools for a specific shape of group rather than replacements for a phone's default messenger — good at that shape, and not trying to be anything else.
