Safe chat apps that don't need your phone number
Want a safe chat app without a mobile number? Discord and Element use email, Signal and Telegram hide it behind a username. Here is what each one really asks.
If you want a safe chat app without a mobile number, the honest answer is that very few apps skip the number completely, and "no number" does not automatically mean "safe". Discord and Element let you sign up with an email address. Signal and Telegram still ask for a number to register, but they let you use a username so strangers never see it. Which one is right depends on whether you are protecting your privacy from other users, from the company, or from both.
I built Hashti, a chat app, so I have thought about this question a lot. I will tell you where Hashti fits, and where you should use something else.
First, ask what you are protecting
When people search for this, they usually mean one of three things.
The first is: I do not want strangers to learn my phone number. That is the most common worry, and it is a good one. A phone number can be used to find your name, your address, your other accounts.
The second is: I do not want the company to link my chats to my real identity. That is a harder goal, and no big app fully gives it to you.
The third is: I do not have a number right now. Maybe you travel, maybe you use a tablet, maybe you just got a new SIM and do not want to share it yet.
These need different answers, so keep your own reason in mind as you read.
Apps that sign you up with an email instead
Discord
Discord asks for an email address, a username and a password. No phone number is needed to start. It is built around servers, which are communities with channels, and it is a sensible place to talk to people who share a hobby.
The limits: Discord sometimes asks for a phone number later if it thinks your account looks suspicious, and the safety of a server depends heavily on the people who run it. A well-moderated server is great. A badly moderated one is not. That is my opinion from using it, not a measured fact.
Element and Matrix
Element is an app that runs on the Matrix network. You can register with an email, and the whole system is open, so you can even choose which server holds your account. It supports encrypted rooms and private chats.
The limit is ease of use. It is for people who do not mind a few extra choices at setup. If you are helping a relative who is not comfortable with technology, it may be a hard sell.
Apps that need a number once but hide it from other people
Signal
Signal needs a phone number to register. After that, you can set a username and switch off the setting that lets people find you by your number. From then on, the people you chat with do not need to see it. Messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and it is run by a nonprofit.
The honest limit for this search: the number is still needed once, and Signal is built for people you already know. There are no public rooms to discover people.
Telegram
Telegram works the same way on sign-up: a number at the start, then a username that you can share instead. You can hide your number in the privacy settings. It has large public groups and channels, so it is closer to a place to meet people.
One thing worth knowing, and widely reported, is that ordinary Telegram chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Only the optional secret chats are. If your goal is privacy from the company, read the settings carefully. If your goal is only to hide your number from strangers, a username does that job.
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. You can see how rooms work on the Hashti rooms page.
I want to be straight with you about the trade I made, because it matters for this exact question. Hashti is built around being able to trust who you are talking to, so it checks identity once against a government document. The photo is deleted. A fingerprint stays, so the same document cannot be used to open a second account. That is more than a phone number, not less. If your reason for searching is "I do not want to give the company any identity at all", Hashti is not the right app for you, and I would rather say so now than waste your time.
If your reason is "I want to meet strangers without getting harassed or fooled", the trade looks different. Here is what the check buys:
- Unverified accounts cannot host rooms, speak in voice rooms or message strangers.
- Twelve verified reports closes an account permanently, and the fingerprint means that person cannot just return with a fresh sign-up.
- The people who can reach you are accountable for what they do.
You can read the full details on the Hashti safety page.
I will not claim a phone-number-free sign-up for Hashti here, because I only want to put facts in this post that I can stand behind. Check the App Store listing for exactly what the sign-up screen asks, since that can change between versions.
A phone number is a weak safety tool anyway
Here is something I learned building this. A phone number feels like proof of a real person, but it is not. Numbers can be bought in bulk, rented for a few minutes, or reused from someone else. A person who was banned can get a new number in minutes.
So when an app says it uses your phone number for safety, treat that with some doubt. It stops casual abuse. It does not stop a determined bad actor.
On the other side, hiding your number does not by itself make you safe either. If you give a stranger your full name, your workplace and your street in a chat, no app can protect you from that. The most useful safety habits are free:
1. Use a username that does not include your real name or birth year. 2. Keep your real phone number, address and workplace out of public rooms. 3. Do not click links from people you just met. 4. Use the block and report buttons early. They exist for a reason. 5. If an app asks for money from you to "verify" yourself, leave.
So which one should you pick?
Here is how I would choose.
If you only need to hide your number from strangers, use Signal or Telegram with a username. Both are fine for that.
If you want to sign up with no number at all, use Discord or Element, and join well-run communities.
If you want to talk with new people and care most about who is on the other end, Hashti is built for that, with the cost that you verify your identity once. You can read how it works on the chats page.
And if you only need to talk to your family, use whatever they already have. The safest app is the one everyone will actually open.
I do not think there is one perfect answer, and I distrust any list that pretends there is. Decide what you are protecting first, then choose the app that matches it. If that turns out to be an app other than mine, that is a good result. You came here for a safe place to talk, and I would like you to find one.
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.