Comparison
RVNT vs Signal
RVNT: A peer-to-peer, post-quantum, end-to-end-encrypted messenger with no phone number and no servers. · Signal: The gold-standard E2EE messenger: open-source, independently studied, post-quantum, and run by a nonprofit that has proven in court it holds almost no data — but it still ties your account to a phone number and runs on central servers.
Bottom line: For almost everyone, Signal is the right choice today: it is proven, audited in the academic sense, reliable, and the people you talk to are probably already on it. Choose Signal if you want maximum trust, maturity, and reach.
Signal beats RVNT on nearly every dimension that comes from maturity: it has a decade of deployment, formal academic cryptographic analysis, a huge user base, rock-solid multi-platform apps, and a public record of resisting subpoenas. RVNT is unaudited, pre-release, and tiny by comparison. Where RVNT aims to differ is architecture and metadata: RVNT is peer-to-peer with no central server storing or relaying content, claims no phone number or email (a proof-of-work Ed25519 identity instead), routes over Tor by default with a mixnet, and ships on-device duress defenses (decoy PIN + panic wipe). Signal, by contrast, requires a phone number, runs on central servers, does not use Tor by default, and deliberately omits a duress/wipe feature. Both default to E2EE and both are post-quantum (Signal via PQXDH + SPQR with ML-KEM-768; RVNT via a hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 X3DH).
The facts, side by side
| RVNT | Signal | |
|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted by default | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption protocol | Hybrid post-quantum X3DH (X25519 + ML-KEM-768) + Double Ratchet, AES-256-GCM | Signal Protocol: X3DH + Double Ratchet with AES-256-GCM, now extended by PQXDH (handshake) and the Triple Ratchet / SPQR (post-quantum ratchet) Signal's classic stack is X3DH key agreement + the Double Ratchet, with AES-256 in CBC/HMAC historically and AES-256-GCM AEAD. In 2023 Signal added PQXDH (X25519 + CRYSTALS-Kyber/ML-KEM-768) to the initial handshake, and on Oct 2, 2025 shipped the Sparse Post-Quantum Ratchet (SPQR), combining the Double Ratchet with an ML-KEM-768 ratchet into a hybrid 'Triple Ratchet.' |
| Post-quantum key exchange | Yes | Yes Post-quantum protection is hybrid (classical + ML-KEM-768) and is being rolled out automatically; older clients downgrade gracefully when a peer lacks SPQR support, so coverage is universal at the handshake (PQXDH) and progressively universal for the ongoing ratchet (SPQR). |
| Requires a phone number | No | Yes A working phone number that can receive an SMS/call is still mandatory to create an account. Usernames (added 2024) only let others reach you without seeing your number; they do not replace the number for registration. |
| Requires an email address | No | No |
| How you’re identified | Local Ed25519 keypair, username claimed by proof-of-work | Phone number is required to register; an optional username lets you be contacted without sharing the number |
| Architecture | peer-to-peer | centralized |
| Metadata protection | Sealed sender + Tor by default + mixnet (cover traffic, fixed-size padding) | Sealed sender hides the sender from Signal's servers; private contact discovery and encrypted profiles/groups minimize what the server can see, but a central server still routes all traffic Sealed sender gives one-way sender anonymity from the server, and private contact discovery plus SGX-backed features reduce server knowledge. Government subpoenas (2016, 2021) confirmed Signal could only produce account-creation and last-connection timestamps. However, a central server still sees connection metadata such as IP and timing, which is why it is 'centralized' rather than a metadata-minimal P2P design. |
| Routes over Tor by default | Yes | No Signal does NOT route over Tor by default. It offers censorship circumvention (domain fronting / proxy support) when blocked, and users can manually run it through Tor/Orbot, but normal traffic goes to Signal's servers directly. |
| Open-source client | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited | No RVNT is pre-release and has not yet completed a formal third-party security audit — the code is open source so it can be reviewed, but treat it as not-yet-audited. | Partial Marked partial: the Signal Protocol has strong academic formal-analysis pedigree (e.g., Cohn-Gordon et al., IEEE EuroS&P 2017) and PQXDH received formal verification, but these are protocol/cryptography analyses rather than recurring full-stack commercial penetration audits of every client. Signal is exceptionally well-scrutinized for a messenger; 'partial' reflects that it is not a single, recent, end-to-end commercial audit of all apps. |
| Jurisdiction / who can be subpoenaed | Peer-to-peer (no central operator to subpoena) There is no company-run server that relays or stores message content, so there is no inbox in a data center to subpoena. A small bootstrap server only holds public prekeys + peer-discovery data. | United States (Signal Foundation / Signal Messenger LLC, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, California) |
| On-device duress / panic defenses | Yes | No Signal supports disappearing messages, a Signal PIN, registration lock, and screen lock, but has no built-in duress/decoy PIN or panic-wipe; a community feature request for a duress wipe was declined by Signal. |
| Max attachment size | No limit on a direct link (P2P streaming) No size limit on a direct peer-to-peer connection (segmented streaming with resume-on-disconnect). Transfers that fall back to a relay are currently capped at 256 MB until resumable relay ships. | ~100 MB per attachment (varies by platform: ~100 MB Android/Desktop, smaller on iOS) Commonly cited as ~100 MB per attachment, with per-platform variation (Android/Desktop near 100 MB, iOS images notably smaller). Limits change over time; treat as approximate. |
| Collects telemetry / analytics | No | No Signal is funded by donations/grants, runs no ads, and does not monetize data. Subpoena responses demonstrate it does not retain message content, contacts, or profile data; it is widely regarded as not running analytics/telemetry on users. |
The verdict
For almost everyone, Signal is the right choice today: it is proven, audited in the academic sense, reliable, and the people you talk to are probably already on it. Choose Signal if you want maximum trust, maturity, and reach. RVNT is for users who specifically want no phone number, no central server, Tor-by-default metadata resistance, and on-device duress protection — and who are willing to accept that it is young, unaudited, and small. Until RVNT has independent audits and a track record, treat it as promising-but-unproven and Signal as the safe default.
Frequently asked questions
Does Signal need my phone number?
Yes. Signal still requires a working phone number to register an account. Since 2024 you can set a **username** so people can contact you without seeing your number, but the number itself is mandatory to sign up. RVNT, by contrast, uses a local proof-of-work key as its identity and requires no phone number or email.
Is Signal more private than RVNT?
It depends on what you mean by private. For **content** privacy, both are end-to-end encrypted by default and both are post-quantum, so they are comparable — and Signal's cryptography is far more battle-tested. For **metadata** privacy, RVNT's design is more ambitious on paper: no phone number, a peer-to-peer architecture with no central content server, and Tor-by-default routing, versus Signal's central servers and required phone number. The crucial caveat is that Signal's claims are proven and audited, while RVNT's are unaudited and pre-release.
Has Signal actually been audited or tested in the real world?
Yes, in several senses. Its core protocol received a landmark formal security analysis (Cohn-Gordon et al., IEEE EuroS&P 2017) and its PQXDH post-quantum handshake was formally verified. Just as importantly, Signal has faced real U.S. grand-jury subpoenas (2016 and 2021) and could only produce an account's creation date and last-connection time, because everything else is encrypted or never collected.
Comparisons here are kept honest and dated — we name where the other app wins. RVNT is the post-quantum, peer-to-peer option with no phone number and no servers.