Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Mattermost VS Signal

Compare Mattermost VS Signal and see what are their differences

Mattermost logo Mattermost

Mattermost is an open source alternative to Slack.

Signal logo Signal

Fast, simple & secure messaging. Privacy that fits in your pocket.
  • Mattermost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Signal Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-20

Mattermost features and specs

  • Open Source
    Mattermost is open-source, which allows organizations to customize and extend the platform to fit their specific needs. This also means that the community can contribute to the development and improvement of the software.
  • Security
    Being self-hosted or hosted in a private cloud, Mattermost offers strong security controls, making it suitable for industries with stringent compliance requirements.
  • Flexibility
    Mattermost supports a wide range of plugins and integrations with other tools and services, providing a high degree of flexibility in customization.
  • Team Collaboration
    The platform provides comprehensive team collaboration features, including direct messages, group chats, and file sharing, which streamline communication and project management.
  • Scalability
    Mattermost is designed to handle large-scale deployments, making it suitable for enterprises with significant user bases.

Possible disadvantages of Mattermost

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up Mattermost can be complex and may require considerable time and technical expertise, particularly for self-hosted deployments.
  • Cost
    While the basic version is free, advanced features and enterprise-grade support come at a cost which can be expensive for smaller organizations.
  • Maintenance
    Self-hosting Mattermost requires ongoing maintenance, including updates and security patches, which can be resource-intensive.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may experience a learning curve due to the platform's comprehensive set of features and customization options.
  • Mobile Experience
    The mobile app, while functional, is often considered less polished and feature-rich compared to the desktop version, which might affect user experience on the go.

Signal features and specs

  • End-to-End Encryption
    Signal uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that only the sender and the recipient can read the messages. This makes it highly secure against eavesdropping.
  • Open Source
    Signal's code is open source, allowing anyone to inspect, audit, and improve it. This transparency helps to build trust and ensure the security of the platform.
  • User Privacy
    Signal is designed to collect minimal data from its users. It does not store metadata about contacts, messages, or user activity, thereby prioritizing user privacy.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Signal is available on a variety of platforms including iOS, Android, and desktop, making it accessible to a broad range of users.
  • Multi-purpose Usage
    Beyond just text messaging, Signal supports voice and video calls, as well as file sharing, making it a versatile communication tool.

Possible disadvantages of Signal

  • Limited User Base
    Compared to more popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Signal has a smaller user base, which may limit its utility as a communication tool.
  • Dependence on Phone Number
    Signal requires users to register with a phone number, which can be a privacy concern for some people who prefer not to share their number.
  • Backup Limitations
    Signal does not offer cloud backups for messages, which means users have to rely on local backups that can be more cumbersome to manage.
  • User Interface
    Some users find Signal's user interface to be less polished and user-friendly compared to other mainstream messaging apps.
  • Notification Issues
    There have been reports of unreliable notifications that can result in missed messages or calls, potentially impacting the user experience.

Analysis of Mattermost

Overall verdict

  • Mattermost is a strong choice for teams and organizations looking for a secure, customizable, and self-hosted collaboration tool. While it may require more setup than some cloud-based alternatives, the customization and control it offers can be a significant benefit.

Why this product is good

  • Mattermost is considered a good platform for its open-source nature, which provides flexibility and control over data, making it a popular choice for organizations with specific security and compliance needs. It offers robust features for team collaboration, including messaging, file sharing, and integrations with other services. The ability to customize and extend the platform to fit unique organizational workflows is another advantage.

Recommended for

    Mattermost is recommended for organizations that prioritize data privacy and security, need extensive customization options, or are looking to integrate a collaboration tool into existing systems. It is also suitable for teams in regulated industries requiring on-premises solutions.

Analysis of Signal

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Signal is generally considered a good messaging app.

Why this product is good

  • Signal is known for its strong emphasis on privacy and security. It uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that only the communicating users can read the messages. The app is open-source, which allows for external audits of its code, providing transparency. It does not collect metadata or user data beyond what is necessary for the operation of the service.

Recommended for

  • Privacy-conscious individuals who prioritize secure communication.
  • Journalists and activists who require confidential communications.
  • Users who prefer open-source software.
  • Anyone seeking a simple and user-friendly secure messaging app.

Mattermost videos

Mattermost - An Open Source, Self Hosted, Slack Chat Alternative

More videos:

  • Review - Demo of Mattermost Basics | Features end users love
  • Review - Getting Started with Mattermost

Signal videos

Why We Should All Be Using Signal Messenger

More videos:

  • Review - WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal: Which is the BEST?!
  • Review - THE SIGNAL: explained

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Mattermost and Signal)
Communication
25 25%
75% 75
Group Chat & Notifications
Team Collaboration
100 100%
0% 0
Messaging
13 13%
87% 87

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Mattermost and Signal

Mattermost Reviews

7 best Mattermost alternatives for secure business messaging
Mattermost uses monolithic architecture, which is tightly coupled and complex to understand. It restricts the scalability of the collaboration tool, which is a limitation for growing businesses. In that case, businesses explore Mattermost alternatives that support scalability.
Source: www.rocket.chat
12 Best Self-hosted Chat Platforms For Team Communication
Below is a curated list of the 12 best self-hosted messaging apps like MirrorFly, Mattermost, Zulio, Nextcloud, and Rocket.chat that offer unique collaboration features and lets you take full control of your data.
10 Best Telegram Alternatives in 2024
Mattermost is the most widely used Social platforms for any companies specially IT sectors, and it serves as one of the top Telegram alternatives. Provides easy-to-setup interface with fast performance. This app is designed for file sharing, searching options and also to allow user internal chat facility. Mattermost is the alternative for telegram and microsoft teams apps.
Top 5 Voice Messaging Apps To Keep Teams Connected
Some business conversations are private and cannot be discussed on third-party servers. If you are looking for a secure app to use for your conversations, consider using Mattermost. The app is open-source where you will need to have it downloaded and installed on the servers of your company. This is one of the video messaging apps that are self-hosted. With this app, you can...
Why we switched to Mattermost
Just dialing that down a notch – both our Mattermost clients (usually browsers) and Mattermost servers are now invisible to the Internet and invisible to any network. If a user session is properly identified (dive deeper here if strong identification (no, IP addresses don’t count!) is important to you), authenticated and authorized then it can open a Zero trust application...
Source: netfoundry.io

Signal Reviews

7 best Mattermost alternatives for secure business messaging
Signal offers a secure instant messaging platform for businesses and others concerned about privacy. On Signal, business teams communicate one-on-one or in groups through text, voice, or video calls. The software is open-source and the server, mobile, and desktop client is published through AGPL v3.0 restrictive license. All data and messages are end-to-end encrypted.
Source: www.rocket.chat
20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Signal is not a broadcasting app (although it does have a stories feature), nor is it a community-building app. It's a simple messaging Telegram alternative for those wanting to chat with friends.
10 Best Secure Messaging Apps to Keep Your Conversation Private
In our comparison between Signal vs Telegram vs WhatsApp, we found that Signal is the most secure messaging app out there. Signal uses the gold standard, open-source Signal Protocol to implement end-to-end encryption. And it implements E2E encryption on all forms of communication on Signal– be it voice/video calls, chat messages, media, or audio clips.
Source: beebom.com
10 Best Telegram Alternatives in 2024
Signal is an alternative Telegram app which was first developed in the year 2014 by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, Signal was launched after whatsapp and after its launch various organizations shifted their work to Signal from Whatsapp due to its highly secured and safe features than any other app.
Top 10 Apps like Telegram for Android and IOs [2023]
Signal is a messaging program that offers all the features you would anticipate from a modern instant messaging app, with a heavy focus on privacy. Signal is one of the safest messaging apps on the market thanks to its open-source architecture, end-to-end encryption, and commitment to never accumulating user data. If you're seeking secure apps like Telegram, Signal's...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Signal should be more popular than Mattermost. It has been mentiond 184 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Mattermost mentions (69)

  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Indie hackers also leverage collaboration tools like Nextcloud for file sharing and team projects, and Mattermost or Rocket.Chat as self-hosted alternatives to Slack. These tools empower remote teams and foster efficient communication across diverse development projects. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Communication tools such as Mattermost and Rocket.Chat support team collaboration. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Indie Hacking Success Stories with Open Source Licenses
    Mattermost: For teams seeking a secure, self-hosted communication solution, Mattermost stands as a beacon of open source excellence. With a foundation built on the MIT License, Mattermost caters to organizations that prioritize data security and customization. Its growth not only reflects a need for privacy in digital communication but also showcases how open source frameworks support tailored solutions. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Campsite/Campsite: The Campsite Monorepo
    Is there an 'open source Slack' type thing anywhere? This is the closest I've found- https://mattermost.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • A Surprise from Mattermost!
    Turned out it was a gift from Mattermost! It was a custom-made mug with a special thank you message at the back, which was really cool! - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

Signal mentions (184)

  • Magic of software; what makes a good engineer also makes a good engineering org
    This is the Moxie that created Signal.[0] I'm pointing this out because people are acting like he's a bit naive. But Moxie has built a very successful company, without the need for VCs, and the tech is used by many big tech companies. Several use the signal protocol. It's a successful nonprofit building open source software. If your focus is to make large amounts of money, maybe his isn't the best advice. But if... - Source: Hacker News / 15 days ago
  • Rely less on Third-Party Services
    Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messenger,. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to Make a Product Secure: A Developer's Perspective
    Signal: This messaging app is built with end-to-end encryption at its core. It’s open-source, allowing experts worldwide to audit its security protocols. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • 3G Cell Service Has a HUGE Security Flaw. 🫢
    Well, the best thing you can do right now is stop using cell service (particularly 3G networks) whenever possible. For texting and phone calls, use an encrypted internet based service, like Signal or WhatsApp. Use authenticator apps or passkeys for two-factor authentication instead of your phone number. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code
    Just so you know: https://grapheneos.org/ and https://signal.org/ do exist! - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Mattermost and Signal, you can also consider the following products

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

Telegram - Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free.

Rocket.Chat - Rocket.Chat is a Web Chat Server, developed in JavaScript, using the Meteor fullstack framework.

Element.io - Secure messaging app with strong end-to-end encryption, advanced group chat privacy settings, secure video calls for teams, encrypted communication using Matrix open network. Riot.im is now Element.

WhatsApp - WhatsApp Messenger: More than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere.

Skype - Stay in touch with your family and friends for free on Skype. Download Skype today to chat and call on desktop and mobile.