Comparison
RVNT vs SimpleX Chat
RVNT: A peer-to-peer, post-quantum, end-to-end-encrypted messenger with no phone number and no servers. · SimpleX Chat: The first messaging network with no user identifiers of any kind — not even random numbers — using disposable message queues instead of accounts.
Bottom line: For almost everyone who wants a private messenger they can use today — friends, journalists, activists, the privacy-curious — SimpleX Chat is the more responsible recommendation right now: it is audited, mature, cross-platform, and its no-identifier design is genuinely best-in-class for metadata privacy. Choose RVNT only if Tor-by-default routing, a fully peer-to-peer (not relay-federated) transport, and on-device duress defenses are specifically what you need and you accept that it is young, unaudited, and not broadly released.
RVNT and SimpleX share the same north star — strong end-to-end encryption, hybrid post-quantum cryptography, no phone number or email, no telemetry, and a refusal to run a central content server. SimpleX clearly wins today on the dimensions that come from being a real, shipping product: it has multiple independent Trail of Bits reviews behind it, years of production use, mature groups/calls/file-transfer (up to 1 GB relayed), and a self-hostable relay network with legally-binding transparency commitments. RVNT, by contrast, is an unaudited, pre-release passion project. Architecturally they differ: SimpleX is a federated relay network whose headline privacy property is having no user identifiers at all, while RVNT is a libp2p peer-to-peer network that leans on proof-of-work identities, sealed sender, a mixnet, and — notably — routes over Tor by default, which SimpleX leaves as an optional manual step. Both extend post-quantum protection to direct chats; SimpleX does not yet cover large groups.
The facts, side by side
| RVNT | SimpleX Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted by default | Yes | Yes All messages and files are end-to-end encrypted by default using the double ratchet with NaCl cryptobox. There is no non-E2EE mode. |
| Encryption protocol | Hybrid post-quantum X3DH (X25519 + ML-KEM-768) + Double Ratchet, AES-256-GCM | Double Ratchet (with header encryption) over NaCl cryptobox; post-quantum augmented with Streamlined NTRU Prime (sntrup761) SimpleX deliberately chose Streamlined NTRU Prime (sntrup761) over NIST's ML-KEM, citing the absence of patent claims and the same algorithm being used in SSH. It augments — rather than replaces — the classical Curve448-based double ratchet, so a break of one component does not break the other. |
| Post-quantum key exchange | Yes | Yes Quantum-resistant key exchange became the default for all direct (1:1) chats in v5.7 (April 2024) and is negotiated on every ratchet step. Note: as of 2025-2026 PQ resistance applies to direct chats only — large groups are not PQ-protected, which is a meaningful scope difference from RVNT's per-session hybrid PQ. |
| Requires a phone number | No | No SimpleX uniquely requires no phone number, email, username, or any account at all — its core differentiator. You are reachable only via links/QR codes you choose to share. |
| Requires an email address | No | No |
| How you’re identified | Local Ed25519 keypair, username claimed by proof-of-work | No user identifiers at all — not even random numbers. Connections use pairwise, per-queue addresses exchanged via one-time invitation links or QR codes; optional reusable contact address. SimpleX markets itself as 'the first messaging network operating without user identifiers of any kind.' There is no global address that can be used to look you up; contact is impossible unless you hand someone a link. |
| Architecture | peer-to-peer | federated Classified as federated, not pure peer-to-peer: messages route through redundant, disposable relay servers (SMP relays for messages, XFTP relays for files) that hold messages only transiently until delivered and store no user records. Anyone can run their own relays. This differs from RVNT's libp2p peer-to-peer transport, though both avoid a central content server. |
| Metadata protection | Sealed sender + Tor by default + mixnet (cover traffic, fixed-size padding) | Strong by design: no user IDs, unidirectional (simplex) message queues with separate pairwise identifiers per contact, double per-queue identifiers to decorrelate send/receive, no contact graph stored on any server. Optional private message routing and per-contact transport isolation (separate TCP connection / Tor circuit). |
| Routes over Tor by default | Yes | No Tor is supported and recommended for IP-address protection but is NOT on by default — users must install Orbot/configure a SOCKS proxy. SimpleX's own 'private message routing' (default since v6.0) hides your IP from the destination relay without Tor, but does not anonymize you from your entry relay the way Tor does. |
| 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: Trail of Bits performed a cryptography/protocol design review in 2022 and again in July 2024 (7 findings: 3 medium, 1 low, 3 informational — none critical). A broader implementation-level security assessment of the apps and key handling was scheduled for 2025-2026 but, as of this writing, the deep code/implementation audit has historically been the gap. This is still far more audit history than RVNT, which is unaudited. |
| 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. | SimpleX Chat Ltd, registered in the United Kingdom (England and Wales); operators of the preset relays differ, and users can self-host SimpleX Chat Ltd is a UK company (Companies House no. 13691484); its privacy policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Preset relay operators are legally bound by transparency/privacy terms, and users can fully self-host to avoid relying on the company's infrastructure. |
| On-device duress / panic defenses | Yes | Yes Offers a self-destruct passcode: entering this alternate passcode at the lock screen wipes the app database (added v5.1). The local database is encrypted with a random passphrase stored in iOS Keychain / Android Keystore (TPM where available). |
| 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. | 1 GB (via XFTP file transfer protocol) Files up to 1 GB are sent via the XFTP protocol with E2EE; files are held on XFTP relays transiently (around 48 hours) until retrieved. This applies to all transfers via relay, unlike RVNT which caps relayed transfers at ~40 MB but is unlimited on a direct link. |
| Collects telemetry / analytics | No | No The privacy policy explicitly states client apps contain no tracking or analytics code and share no tracking data with SimpleX Chat Ltd, preset operators, or third parties. Relay hosting providers may log IP addresses, and preset operators may share aggregate usage statistics only. |
The verdict
For almost everyone who wants a private messenger they can use today — friends, journalists, activists, the privacy-curious — SimpleX Chat is the more responsible recommendation right now: it is audited, mature, cross-platform, and its no-identifier design is genuinely best-in-class for metadata privacy. Choose RVNT only if Tor-by-default routing, a fully peer-to-peer (not relay-federated) transport, and on-device duress defenses are specifically what you need and you accept that it is young, unaudited, and not broadly released. The honest summary: SimpleX is the safer default; RVNT is an ambitious work in progress with a few design choices that go further on metadata anonymity by default but that has not yet earned the trust that independent audits and real-world use confer.
Frequently asked questions
Does SimpleX Chat need my phone number or email?
No. SimpleX requires no phone number, email, username, or account of any kind — it is built specifically to have no user identifiers, not even random ones. You connect by sharing a one-time invitation link or QR code, and you cannot be looked up or contacted by anyone you haven't handed a link to.
Is SimpleX Chat more private than RVNT?
On metadata, the two are in a similar league and each leads in places. SimpleX's no-identifier, per-queue design is arguably the strongest metadata-privacy architecture in any shipping messenger, and it has the audit history and real-world use to back it up. RVNT counters with Tor routing on by default (SimpleX leaves Tor optional/manual), a peer-to-peer rather than relay-federated transport, and a mixnet with cover traffic. But RVNT is unaudited and pre-release, so for verifiable, here-today privacy, SimpleX is the safer pick; RVNT pushes some defaults further but hasn't earned the same trust yet.
Has SimpleX Chat been independently audited?
Partly. Trail of Bits reviewed its cryptographic protocol design in 2022 and again in July 2024 (the latter found 3 medium, 1 low, and 3 informational issues — none critical, all hard to exploit). These are design-level reviews; a deeper implementation audit of the app code and key handling has been planned but historically lagged. That is still far more independent scrutiny than RVNT, which has had no audit at all.
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.