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Software · Internet & communication

Briar

Briar is a messaging program, available on Linux and Android: Tor network support and data encryption.

  • Completely free
  • Linux and Android
  • Open source

Overview

Briar is a messaging program, available on Linux and Android.

Features described in its F-Droid listing and in its Flathub listing: Tor network support and data encryption.

Services and protocols mentioned: Bluetooth.

Overview written by LicitPro from the documentation published by the authors and the cited sources; we have not tried the resource ourselves.

Excerpts that establish this information
  • “Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate.” — Flathub, 10 November 2026
  • “If the internet's up, Briar can sync via the Tor network, protecting users and their relationships from surveillance.” — Flathub, 10 November 2026
  • “You can link Briar with a device running Briar Mailbox (even on Android: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.briarproject.mailbox/) to receive encrypted messages from your contacts while Briar is offline.” — F-Droid, 10 November 2026

At a glance

All of Briar is free: no feature is locked behind a paid plan, and its code is open.

Its licence (AGPL-3.0) is a copyleft open source licence: you may use, study, modify and redistribute it, including commercially; modified versions must keep the same licence.

Strengths

  • Open source code
  • No advertising
  • Commercial use allowed

About

Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate. Unlike traditional messaging apps, Briar doesn't rely on a central server - messages are synchronized directly between the users' devices. If the internet's down, Briar can sync via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, keeping the information flowing in a crisis. If the internet's up, Briar can sync via the Tor network, protecting users and their relationships from surveillance.

Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

Sources and checks

  • Facts collected from Flathub (credit card, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use, version) —
  • Facts collected from Official plan pages (pricing, licence, terms) (commercial use) —
  • Facts collected from F-Droid (credit card, source code, licence, free status, platforms, ads, commercial use, version) —
  • Last technical check: 7 November 2026
  • Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

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