Session
Open-source encrypted messenger without phone numbers, routed over decentralised nodes.
- Swiss CompanyThe operating company is headquartered and legally incorporated in Switzerland.
- Swiss OwnedThe ultimate controlling owner is Swiss (Swiss persons, companies, foundations or public bodies).
- Open SourceThe product’s source code is published under an open-source licence (client and server).
- Free PlanA permanently free plan is available (not just a trial).
getsession.org
Overview
Session is a messenger for one-to-one and group chats that can be used without a phone number or other real-world identity. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and sent through onion-routed requests over the Session Network, whose nodes are run by independent operators who stake the SESH token. Each account’s messages are held by a small group of nodes (a swarm) until the recipient fetches them.
The Android, iOS and desktop clients are open source under the GPL-3.0. The current protocol does not provide perfect forward secrecy; a Protocol v2 with forward secrecy and post-quantum encryption is in development.
The Swiss Session Technology Foundation took over stewardship from the Australian OPTF in October 2024. In April 2026 it let all paid staff go for lack of funds. After a donation campaign it said in June 2026 that two to three developers would continue the work, and in October 2026 it put the launch of the paid Session Pro tier on hold. The developers are not based in Switzerland.
Why it may be a Swiss alternative
Session is operated by Session Technology Foundation, which is headquartered in Zug. Swiss-headquartered company. Ownership is mixed or not fully verified, or development happens mainly abroad.
Note: although the company is Swiss, customer data is not hosted in Switzerland.
May replace
- WhatsAppWhatsApp LLC · USNo phone number needed; development capacity has been sharply reduced since 2026.
- SignalSignal Technology Foundation · USUses a decentralised node network instead of central servers; the current protocol lacks forward secrecy.
Foreign products with overlapping functionality. An alternative is not necessarily a one-to-one replacement.
Swiss footprint
Five independent questions. A Swiss company is not automatically Swiss-hosted — and vice versa. How the footprint is assessed
Swiss company. Swiss-headquartered company. Ownership is mixed or not fully verified, or development happens mainly abroad.
- HeadquartersIs the operating company headquartered in Switzerland?
- Zug, Zug (ZG), SwitzerlandVerified[1]
- Legal jurisdiction
- OwnershipIs the company ultimately Swiss-owned?
- YesVerified[1]
A foundation under Swiss law has no shareholders; it is supervised by the Federal Department of Home Affairs. All four members of the foundation board entered in the register live outside Switzerland (Melbourne, Berlin and Fredericton, Canada); one Swiss resident holds signing authority.
- DevelopmentIs the product developed in Switzerland?
- NoInferred[4]
Since mid-2026 Session has been maintained by two to three developers led by chief software architect Jason Rhinelander, who is registered as living in Fredericton, Canada. The earlier team came from the Australian OPTF. No development team in Switzerland is described.
- HostingIs customer data hosted in Switzerland?
- NoVendor claim[2]
Messages are stored on swarms of Session Nodes operated by a community of independent operators around the world; no Swiss storage location is stated. The foundation runs the seed nodes that new clients contact first.
- InfrastructureIs the hosting infrastructure operated by a Swiss-owned provider?
- No — Independent Session Node operators (decentralised network)Vendor claim[2]
Features & platforms
- Platforms
- Deployment
- Made for
- Interface languages
- Unknown / not verified
- Launched
- 2020
Privacy & security
- End-to-end encryption
- Yes
- Not verified
- Encryption at rest, Encryption in transit, Multi-factor authentication, Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC), SCIM provisioning, Public API and Data export
- Certifications
- None listed
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Unknown / not verified
- Enterprise plan
- Unknown / not verified
- Billing in CHF
- Unknown / not verified
Prices checked 15 Oct 2026. Always confirm on the vendor’s site. Pricing page ↗
Open source
- Open source
- YesVendor claim[8]
The Android, iOS and desktop clients and Session Router are GPL-3.0; the storage server run on Session Nodes is MIT-licensed.
- Licence
- GPL-3.0, MIT · OSI-approved licence
- Source code
- github.com/session-foundation
- GitHub
- 61 public repositories
- last commit
Statistics from GitHub, fetched 15 Oct 2026.
Company
Non-profit foundation in Zug that has stewarded the Session messenger since October 2024, taking over from the Australian OPTF. Its board members live in Australia, Germany and Canada.
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Sources & verification
Every claim on this page is marked as verified, vendor claim or inferred. Unknown means we could not confirm it — not that the answer is “no”.
- Verified Confirmed by an independent or official source such as the commercial register.
- Vendor claim Stated by the vendor in its own documentation, website or legal terms.
- Inferred Derived by the editors from indirect evidence — see the note.
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Session Technology Foundation
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