Signal vs Telegram
The comparison people make when they have decided privacy matters and are choosing how much to trade for it. Neither app can dial a telephone number, so this is a choice between two messengers rather than between two calling services.
vs
Signal encrypts everything by default; Telegram does not. Telegram's ordinary chats are encrypted to its servers rather than end to end, with end-to-end reserved for opt-in secret chats — although its voice calls are encrypted. Signal has no such distinction, and it is run by a non-profit foundation funded by donations rather than by a business that needs the data.
Telegram is far better at scale: channels and groups in the hundreds of thousands, which is a genuinely different product rather than a bigger version of the same one. Both require a phone number to register, and neither can call a landline or a mobile that has not installed it.
Side by side
Pick what you care about and the differences reorder.
2 of 8 fields differ; 5 are the same.
How to read this comparison
Work down in this order and most comparisons resolve in under a minute. First, can it reach the number you actually need — a service that only calls its own users is not a cheaper version of one that dials a landline, it is a different thing. Second, what are the billing terms: the unit a call is measured in, and whether a fixed fee is added to each one. Third, what happens to money you do not spend.
The per-minute rate is deliberately not the first question here, and it is the only question most comparisons ask. At the same advertised rate, a service that rounds every call up to a whole minute and adds a per-call fee can cost close to double another on the short calls that make up most people's actual usage. The rate is the number that gets compared because it is the number that gets published.
Where they actually differ
Subscription
Signal: No subscription. Telegram: Offers a subscription. A subscription is cheaper per minute once you pass its break-even point and more expensive in every month you do not, which makes choosing one a bet on your own future behaviour. Prepaid credit is the opposite trade: a worse unit price in exchange for no commitment.
Platforms
Signal runs on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux. Telegram runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. This decides more comparisons than it ought to: a service that is excellent and unavailable on the device in your hand is not a candidate at all, and a desktop client matters more than it sounds when the alternative is holding a phone against your ear for an hour.
Where they are the same
- Calls a phone number: both only reaches its own users.
- Billing unit: both app to app only.
- Connection fee: both none.
- Credit expiry: both never.
- Account required: both account required.
What each one is
Signal
Signal is an end‑to‑end encrypted messaging app that supports secure text messaging, voice and video calls, and media sharing between Signal users; it does not provide calling to regular phone numbers via PSTN tariffs.
Telegram
Telegram is a cloud‑based messaging and social platform offering text, media sharing, group chats, and voice and video calls between Telegram users across multiple platforms; it does not provide PSTN calling to telephone numbers.
How each one bills you
As published by Signal
- none
- No calling credit is used; Signal is donation‑supported and uses internet data only.
- $0 (donation‑supported, no subscription required).
As published by Telegram
- none
- No calling credit is used; calls are peer‑to‑peer over data, and any payments relate only to premium features.
- $0 (free core service); optional premium subscription varies by region.
What each one asks of you
As published by Signal
Users register with a mobile phone number, receive an SMS or call for verification, and then can use Signal across devices (linked desktop clients).
As published by Telegram
Users register with a phone number and receive a verification code; as of 2024 some users can log in using Telegram‑issued NFTs without a phone number.
Plans, where each one sells them
As published by Signal
Signal is provided for free by the non‑profit Signal Foundation; no recurring subscription or per‑minute call charges apply for app‑to‑app usage.
As published by Telegram
Core messaging and calling are free; Telegram Premium offers extra features (larger limits, faster downloads, etc.) via a paid subscription; no per‑minute calling fees apply for app‑to‑app calls.
Published rates
The corridor prices each provider published at the time of the research. An empty list means the provider does not publish its rates outside its own app, which is itself worth knowing before you top up.
Signal
Signal publishes no per-country rates outside its own app.
Source, as recorded: Signal documentation and app‑store descriptions; no PSTN outbound calling feature is provided.
Telegram
Telegram publishes no per-country rates outside its own app.
Source, as recorded: Telegram documentation and app descriptions; no PSTN calling feature is described.
What each one does
Signal
- End‑to‑end encryption for all messages and calls by default using the Signal Protocol.
- Supports one‑to‑one and group voice and video calls.
- Open‑source client and protocol, with publicly available code for auditing.
- Minimises metadata collection, with the foundation claiming to retain almost no data about users or their contacts.
- Desktop apps linked to a primary mobile device allow multi‑device usage.
- Supports disappearing messages with configurable timers.
- Operated by the non‑profit Signal Foundation, funded through donations rather than advertising.
- Available globally via major app stores without monthly fees.
Telegram
- Cloud‑based chats with sync across phones, desktops, and web clients.
- Supports voice and video calls and group voice chats (voice chats/Voice Chats 2.0/Live Streams).
- Offers end‑to‑end encryption for voice and video calls and for Secret Chats.
- Provides large group chats and channels with potentially millions of members or subscribers.
- Available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web.
- Allows large file sharing and unlimited cloud storage for chats and media.
- Supports bots, custom themes, and advanced features like folders and multi‑account support.
- Headquartered in Dubai with distributed data centers worldwide.
What users complain about
Signal
- Some users and organisations find phone‑number‑based registration limiting or privacy‑sensitive despite Signal’s design.
- Signal’s user base (roughly tens of millions of monthly users) is smaller than major messaging competitors, which can limit network effects.
- Certain governments have intermittently blocked or throttled Signal, causing connectivity problems in those regions.
Telegram
- Some security researchers note that Telegram’s default chats use server‑side encryption rather than end‑to‑end encryption by default.
- There have been concerns and regulatory scrutiny in some countries about its use for disinformation or illegal content due to large public channels.
- Users on some platforms report occasional delays in notification delivery or connectivity issues in regions where Telegram is throttled or blocked.
About each company
| Founded | 2014 (Signal protocol and app evolved from TextSecure/RedPhone; the Signal Foundation was created in 2018). | 2013. |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area, United States (Signal Foundation; incorporated in the US). | Dubai, United Arab Emirates. |
| Users | Estimated 40–70 million monthly users according to media reports. | Over 1 billion downloads and more than 1 billion active users claimed as of 2021–2024. |
| Store rating | High‑4‑star rating on Google Play according to app descriptions; exact rating and review count vary across regions. | Telegram is listed among top‑downloaded apps with over 1 billion downloads and high‑4‑star rating in Google Play descriptions. |
| Minimum purchase | $0 (donation‑supported, no subscription required). | $0 (free core service); optional premium subscription varies by region. |
If neither of them fits
Both of the services above bill per minute or cannot dial a phone at all. If what you need is to call an ordinary number and pay only for the seconds you talk, that is what we publish — and the same nine fields are in the table above, in the first row, marked as ours.
Rates from $0.03 a minute across 41 destinations, billed per second with no connection fee and credit that does not expire.
What Telvio does and does not doSources and dates
Every value on this page is quoted from the provider's own published material, gathered in a structured research pass on 2026-03-18. Where a provider published no answer, the page says so rather than estimating. Nothing here is a review: call quality, reliability and support are not assessed, because they cannot be established from published material.
Bottom line
Signal encrypts every conversation end to end by default and is published by a donation-funded non-profit. Telegram encrypts ordinary chats only in transit to its servers, with end-to-end as an opt-in mode, and its voice calls are encrypted.
Telegram's advantage is scale — very large groups and broadcast channels that Signal does not attempt. Signal's advantage is that there is nothing to trade off.
Both are app-to-app only. Reaching a telephone number needs a service that dials one.
Frequently asked questions
Can Signal call a landline or mobile number?
No. Signal reaches only other installs of itself, so it cannot call a landline or a mobile belonging to somebody who has not installed it.
Can Telegram call a landline or mobile number?
No. Telegram reaches only other installs of itself, so it cannot call a landline or a mobile belonging to somebody who has not installed it.
Does Signal charge a connection fee?
No separate connection fee is published for Signal, so the cost of a call is the per-minute rate applied to the billed time.
Does Telegram charge a connection fee?
No separate connection fee is published for Telegram, so the cost of a call is the per-minute rate applied to the billed time.
Does unused credit expire on Signal or Telegram?
Credit on Signal does not expire according to its published terms. Credit on Telegram does not expire according to its published terms. Expiry costs most when you top up in large amounts and call infrequently.
Which is cheaper for short calls, Signal or Telegram?
Neither publishes per-country rates in a form that allows a like-for-like table, so the comparison rests on billing terms. Signal bills app to app only, Telegram bills app to app only. On calls of under a minute the billing unit and any per-call fee change the total more than the headline rate does.
Do Signal and Telegram require an account?
Signal: Account required. Telegram: Account required. Every service in this comparison set except one requires you to identify yourself before you can call.
Which devices do Signal and Telegram run on?
Signal runs on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux. Telegram runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. These are the platforms each provider publishes.
