Iranian messaging apps: the ones people use and trust
A plain guide to Iranian messaging apps: domestic ones like Eitaa and Bale, foreign ones Iranians rely on, and which fits family, privacy or meeting people.
"Iranian messaging apps" means two different lists. The first is apps built in Iran, such as Eitaa, Rubika, Bale and Soroush, which run on domestic servers and work without a VPN. The second is the foreign apps Iranians use every day, mainly Telegram and WhatsApp, with Instagram direct messages and Signal behind them. Which list you want depends on whether you need something official, something private, or a way to reach your family. I am Connery. I am Armenian-Iranian, I live in Los Angeles, and I built Hashti, a chat app with public rooms. I will tell you where it fits and where it does not.
I already wrote about what is used inside and outside the country in my post on the Iran chat app. This one is shorter on geography and longer on a practical question: which kind of app for which job.
The domestic apps
These are messengers built by Iranian companies. They matter because they are not filtered, so they work on a normal connection with no VPN. Some government services, banks and official channels publish only on them, which is why many people keep one installed.
Eitaa
A messenger closely associated with state-backed institutions. Many official bodies and religious organizations post on it. Lots of Iranians have it for notices and nothing else.
Rubika
A domestic app that combines messaging with a feed, a store and other features in one place. It leans toward being an everything app rather than a plain messenger.
Bale
Another domestic messenger. Some banks and government services use it for customer contact and notices.
Soroush
One of the earlier domestic messengers. It is less central than it once was, but it still comes up in conversations about local alternatives.
My view, and it is an opinion: I would not hold a private conversation on an app whose servers sit under the jurisdiction of the people I am worried about. That is not a claim about any one company. It is a question I would ask of any app, anywhere. Where are the servers, and under whose law? Many Iranians I know use these apps for official things and keep personal talk elsewhere.
The foreign apps Iranians rely on
Telegram
This is the big one. It has been officially blocked in Iran since 2018, and it is still one of the most used apps in the country, because so many people use VPNs. Groups, channels, news, shopping and family chats all live there. If you need to reach someone in Iran and will try only one app, try Telegram first.
Widely used for family calls and group chats when it is reachable. It has been blocked and unblocked at different times, and its status can change, so I will not tell you it works today. Ask the person you are trying to reach.
Not a messaging app in the strict sense, but a large share of Iranian social life and small business has run through Instagram direct messages for years. If you are trying to reach a shop or a creator, this is often the way.
Signal
A smaller crowd, chosen by people who care specifically about privacy. It has been blocked at times, so it is not a reliable first contact. As a private option it is respected, and I would use it for sensitive talk if it is reachable for both people.
Which app for which job
Reaching family inside Iran: Telegram first, WhatsApp second, and a phone number for the days both fail. Ask them which one works this week. They know better than any article.
Official notices, bank messages, government services: whichever domestic app the service uses. Install it for that purpose only.
Private conversation: Signal if both of you can use it, with the understanding that nothing is guaranteed. Think hard before putting someone inside Iran at risk with what you write. They carry the risk of the conversation, not you.
Group life with the diaspora: Telegram groups and WhatsApp family chats. They are free, they are everywhere, and the moderation varies a lot.
Meeting Persian speakers you do not already know: this is the gap. A family chat is invitation-only by nature. A Telegram group the size of a city is noisy. Neither is a room you can walk into and start talking.
Where Hashti fits
Hashti is free, 18+, and out now on the App Store. Android is in its closed test. It has public rooms with names and topics, plus private chats, calls and a walkie-talkie. The rooms are the point. You see a room with a topic, you walk in, and you talk. See the rooms page for how that works.
Here is how it is built for people who miss the old Persian chat rooms.
Identity is checked once against a government document. The photo is deleted. A fingerprint of the document stays, so the same document cannot open a second account. Unverified accounts cannot host rooms, speak in voice rooms or message strangers. Twelve verified reports closes an account permanently. If you spent any time in the old rooms, you know what that solves: fake names, harassers who came back under a new one, people who were not who they claimed. More on the approach is on the safety page.
Live translation covers 29 languages and is part of Hashti Plus, $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Everything else is free. For Iranians abroad this matters in a particular way. The children and grandchildren often understand Farsi but cannot write it. A room where one person types in English and another in Persian, and both are understood, can hold three generations. The translation page explains how it works.
What Hashti is not
I would be lying if I let you think Hashti is an answer for everyone searching this phrase.
It is not built for reaching family inside Iran tonight. Telegram or WhatsApp is the realistic answer for that, and I would rather tell you so.
The app's interface is in English today. A Farsi interface is being built. Until it ships, menus and buttons are English, even though the conversations in rooms can be in any language.
Apple has no App Store storefront for Iran, so people inside the country who use iPhones generally rely on an account from another country. I cannot fix that. Android is only in its closed test.
The identity check needs a government document. For some people, showing a document to any app feels like a risk, whatever the app does with it. I can tell you what Hashti does, which is delete the photo and keep a fingerprint. I will respect anyone who decides that is not for them.
And I do not control what is filtered in Iran. I will not guess at the status of any app, because it changes.
A short checklist before you trust any messaging app
Where are the servers, and under which country's law. For anything private, ask this first.
Does it need a phone number, and whose. Iranian and foreign numbers are treated differently by some apps and some networks.
Does it work without a VPN, and do you want it to. The apps that work without one inside Iran are the domestic ones. That is a trade, not a bug.
Who can message you. Open messaging brings spam and worse. Checked accounts bring less of both.
What happens when you report someone. If the honest answer is nothing, the app is not safe, whatever its marketing says.
My honest pick
For family inside Iran: Telegram, then WhatsApp, then a phone number. For official business inside Iran: the one domestic app the service uses, and only for that. For a private talk: Signal, when it is reachable, and care about what you write. For meeting Persian speakers outside the family circle, out loud, in a room, with people who have been checked: that is what I built Hashti for. Host a room with a clear topic, such as Farsi practice for people who understand but cannot speak yet, invite two friends first, and a room with three people already looks open.
Hashti is free, and it is 18+. Hashti Plus — live translation, writing help and catch-ups — is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and nothing else costs anything. How rooms work is on the rooms page, and how reports and the ID check work is on the safety page.