Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Cwtch

Cwtch (/k?t?/ - a Welsh word roughly translating to โ€œa hug that creates a safe placeโ€) is a decentralized, privacy-preserving, multi-party messaging protocol that can be used to build metadata resistant applications.

Cwtch

Cwtch Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether Cwtch is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • Cwtch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-13

Features & Specs

  1. Privacy-focused

    Cwtch is designed with privacy in mind, ensuring that user communications are end-to-end encrypted and metadata is minimized, which greatly reduces the chances of surveillance.

  2. Decentralized

    Cwtch operates on a decentralized infrastructure, which means there is no single point of failure or control, enhancing resilience against censorship and centralized control.

  3. Open Source

    Being open source, Cwtch allows users to examine and verify the security and functionality of the software, fostering transparency and community involvement.

  4. Metadata-resistant

    Cwtch minimizes metadata generation during communications, which helps in protecting user anonymity and privacy by not leaving digital traces that can be exploited.

  5. Community-driven

    As a project with community input and contributions, Cwtch benefits from diverse ideas and improvements, leading to a platform that reflects user needs and priorities.

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Videos

Tiny Rebel Cwtch box to glass ๐Ÿป

beer kit review of Tiny Rebel Cwtch and Stonewall homebrew ales

Cwtch beer review

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about Cwtch and what they use it for.
  • Delta Chat is a decentralized and secure messenger app
    Theoretically, Cwtch[1] would afford you this obfuscation assuming Tor is secure and your adversary isn't nation-state level. Similarly, using SimpleX private message routing via .onion message relays and the fact that the system has no identifiers can also afford you that obfuscation. [1] https://docs.cwtch.im/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Ricochet: Peer-to-peer instant messaging system built on Tor hidden services
    I guess something like Cwtch would be an actively maintained equivalent. https://docs.cwtch.im/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Is Telegram an encrypted messaging app?
    Since Signal offers only narrow by-policy metadata privacy (unless you're on burner hardware), I'd ask them if they wanted metadata privacy, and if so, I'd point them to the direction of Cwtch https://cwtch.im/. I wouldn't recommend TFC unless endpoint compromise was part of their threat model. It's complicated and nuanced in the deep end of the pool. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Essays: NSA Surveillance: A Guide to Staying Secure โ€“ Schneier on Security
    Your missing Tor, and metadata reducing messaging like https://cwtch.im/ Also Mullvad Browser is a worthy addition given that its basically Tor Browser with the VPN instead of Tor-gateway. Same excellent metadata reduction tweaks, and you don't have to configure anything. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Is Telegram an encrypted messaging app?
    This snake oil is spreading like [Herpes] Simplex . Again, the company lies about queues (a programming technique) being a privacy feature. The application can not get rid of the metadata of server knowing which IPs are conversing, unless the clients explicitly connect to the service via Tor. The server must always know from which connection to which connection it routes packets. It's not a network hub, it's a... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Is Telegram an encrypted messaging app?
    4sci35xrhp2d45gbm3qpta7ogfedonuw2mucmc36jxemucd7fmgzj3ad.onion (not a real one), and you'd register to it via IM client. Now you can't connect to the domain without Tor, so misconfiguring can't really hurt. So that covers name and IP. We'll assume the content was already end-to-end encypted so that leaks no data. Next, we want to hide the social graph, and that requires getting rid of the server. After all, a... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Is Telegram an encrypted messaging app?
    Some other options https://cwtch.im/ (has better UX and security than Briar). - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Torโ€™s shadowy reputation will only end if we all use it
    Yeah. Also there's Ricochet [1] and its continuation Ricochet Refresh [2], but these only do 1:1 messaging AFAIK. Ricochet was a big inspiration for my project Quiet.[3] Cwtch [4] also deserves a mention, though it depends on ephemeral servers and isn't fully p2p. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricochet_(software) 2. https://www.ricochetrefresh.net/ 3. https://tryquiet.org/ 4. https://cwtch.im/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • So there's no online messaging service that's private, anonymous and secure?
    I like session (does not require phone number) but don't know anyone that uses it. Same for cwtch.im, but that is a bit more specific use case since its tor based. Source: over 2 years ago
  • The law that will destroy privacy on the internet.
    It's called CWTCH. It's fairly limited but offers great anonymity. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What are some great privacy/security features to look for in a messenger app
    Metadata protection (basically, defaults to Tor. E.g. Briar and Cwtch) so that only you can the recipient know when you communicate, how much etc. Source: over 2 years ago
  • AllArk now offers completely private delivery via Session Messenger :)
    Cool, I was wondering if https://cwtch.im/ was part of your research? Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Signal is secure, as proven by hackers
    Signal alternatives that are open source and cross-platform (at least Android and iOS compatibility): - [Jami](https://jami.net/) - [Berty](https://berty.tech/) - [Cwtch](https://cwtch.im/) - [SimpleX Chat](https://simplex.chat/) - [Status](https://status.im/). - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • fediverse WhatsApp/telegram alternative
    Https://cwtch.im is looking pretty promising also. Source: about 3 years ago
  • r/PiratedGames got bannedโ€ฆ
    Move off centralized platforms entirely and start using something like this https://cwtch.im. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Does Brave protect against fingerprint better than Tor?
    That's why we split the terminology into content-privacy and metadata-privacy. These aren't made up terms, E.g. https://cwtch.im/ front page says the following. Source: about 3 years ago
  • New Upcoming Telegram Premium Features
    I've also heard good things about https://cwtch.im/. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Why is Pidgin still being used, considering well documented security issues?
    Don't use Ricochet, use Cwtch or Briar or Matrix. I would recommend Session but it's not possible to do that until Lokinet is fully audited by someone other than the developers, or until they implement Tor by default in another fork because I can't possibly trust Lokinet over it. I also don't recommend Signal because it requires a phone number and I definitely don't recommend WhatsApp. Please stop using WhatsApp... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Now that Mallory will be in our comms, how do we prepare?
    After reading this[0] I can't help but wonder how Alice talking to Bob will now be compromised by a third actor: Mallory[1]. From the Wikipedia article on Alice & Bob: > Mallory: A malicious attacker. Associated with Trudy, an intruder. Unlike the passive Eve, Mallory is an active attacker (often used in man-in-the-middle attacks), who can modify messages, substitute messages, or replay old messages. The... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • This is how we win back the Internet | Privacy, Security, Surveillance Podcast | The Hated One w/ Closed Ntwrk
    This is the homepage and this is where all the Cwtch related repos are located. Source: over 3 years ago
  • SimpleX Chat - the first chat platform that is 100% private by design - it has no access to your connections graph - now as mobile apps!
    If you're comparing systems, I'd also look at Cwtch: https://cwtch.im/ They use tor exclusively and your chats are all real time, direct messages via tor. So I guess each identity you create also makes a new .onion address. Looks like no offline messages, but most of the IM systems in the 90s lacked offline message delivery and we did OK. Source: over 3 years ago

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Is Cwtch good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss Cwtch here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.