Badger logoBadger
Signal alternative

If Signal had a
social feed.

Signal is the gold standard for private messaging — and we say so plainly. But it's a messenger, and it's built to stay one. Badger takes the same spirit — end-to-end encryption, no data business, your privacy in your hands — and makes it social: private feeds, moods, an optional shared map, and rich groups, all for the people you already trust.

Get Badger → Read the manifesto
Badger vs Signal

Same values. More to do together.

An honest look — including the places Signal leads.
  Badger Signal
End-to-end encrypted chats & media Yes Yes
Nonprofit, open-source, metadata-minimising No — encrypted, but not a metadata-minimising nonprofit Yes — the gold standard
A persistent social feed for your circle Yes — every chat and group is a feed No — messages and ephemeral Stories
Moods, status & an optional shared map Yes No
Meetings, polls & rich group tools Yes Groups, kept deliberately simple
Follow public Bluesky / RSS feeds in a group Yes No
Reciprocal privacy — share it, or you can't see it either Yes N/A — no moods or location to share
How people find you Your contacts or a BadgerCode — no directory Phone number or username
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More than a messenger

A place to be social — not just to send messages.

Signal is where you send a secure message. Badger is where a group of friends actually lives — a private, encrypted feed you scroll, post to, and keep up with. It's the shape of the social apps you already know, minus the strangers, the algorithm, and the company mining it all.

  • Every conversation is a feed — post, reply, quote, like, @mention, pin
  • Moods and status, so you can feel how your people are doing at a glance
  • An optional shared map — opt-in and reciprocal, with a real Ghost Mode
  • Meetings and polls to settle plans without leaving the chat
  • Bring public Bluesky and RSS feeds into a group — no algorithm attached
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Encrypted in the same spirit

Your privacy, in your hands — and honestly stated.

Every chat, group, photo, video, voice note and file in Badger is end-to-end encrypted — we couldn't read your messages if we tried. On top of that, everything about you sits behind switches you own, and every one of them is reciprocal. We'll be straight with you where Signal still leads — its metadata minimisation is exceptional and it answers to a nonprofit, not a market. If that purity is your top priority, Signal is a superb choice. If you want strong encryption and a real social life for your circle, that's us.

  • End-to-end encrypted messages and media, per device
  • Six things you can choose to share — mood, status, location and more — all reciprocal
  • No ad business behind the app; no AI trained on your content
  • Ghost Mode drops you off every map at once
Respect where it's earned

We're not trying to out-Signal Signal.

Signal set the bar, and much of the world is safer for it. Badger isn't a replacement for a pure, minimal, nonprofit messenger — it's what you reach for when you want that spirit of privacy and somewhere to actually be social with the people you trust. Different job, same side.

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