Signal-Desktop VS axolotl

Compare Signal-Desktop vs axolotl and see what are their differences.

Signal-Desktop

A private messenger for Windows, macOS, and Linux. (by signalapp)

axolotl

A Signal compatible cross plattform client written in Go, Rust and Vuejs (by nanu-c)
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Signal-Desktop axolotl
322 21
13,999 315
0.7% -
9.9 9.2
8 days ago 7 days ago
TypeScript Rust
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 GNU General Public License v3.0 only
The number of mentions indicates the total number of mentions that we've tracked plus the number of user suggested alternatives.
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.

Signal-Desktop

Posts with mentions or reviews of Signal-Desktop. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2023-11-16.

axolotl

Posts with mentions or reviews of axolotl. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2023-03-22.
  • Is anyone really using this?
    3 projects | /r/pinephone | 22 Mar 2023
    While searching around a bit more I found another unofficial Signal client for arm64 Linux optimized for mobile called Axolotl. The github page makes it look promising, but once installed I couldn't log in successfully. I intend to put more effort in there. Axolotl appears to be the most promising looking option for Signal on mobile Linux - assuming it works..
  • Axolotl.chat - First cross-platform Signal client
    1 project | /r/CKsTechNews | 1 Jun 2022
  • Axolotl: First cross-plattform Signal client
    3 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 31 May 2022
    > Only a small thing, but due to Signals strict phone-desktop pairing mechanism, when registering Axolotl, both phone and regular Desktop wont work anymore.

    > Also, you cant use Axolotl on Desktop together with Signal mobile.

    > After deleting the Axolotl registration I had to wait a while to be able to register on Signal again, I didnt loose any backups and my codes didnt change.

    > Nonetheless a warning should be displayed at the beginning, that users wanting to use regular mobile (iOS, Android) and Desktop (Windows, macOS, Flatpak or Snap), they should use a second phone number for testing.

    https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl/issues/811

  • Why Not Signal?
    5 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 31 Mar 2022
    >Signal also notably isn't self-hostable: there's no way to run your own signal server, and control your data. Marlinspike ruthlessly shuts down anyone attempting to build alternate clients or servers that could communicate with the main one.

    That is perfectly wrong. As a maintainer of https://axolotl.chat, a third-party signal client initially built for Ubuntu Touch but which runs on almost everything now, I can tell you that our client is speaking without any problems to the official Signal servers, and also that the code of the server is available and is running fine, we used it to test our code.

  • Stories Are Coming to Signal
    6 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 8 Jan 2022
    Wouldn't Signal Desktop be a way to make backups?

    I moved my home directory to a new computer and Signal Desktop started like if something changed. Sure you lose your messages on your phone, but you can still access them on your computer if needed.

    On a rooted Android phone, you could use oandbackup to backup Signal. If you care about these things, maybe consider using a rooted Android phone?

    I agree with you on the centralized platform aspect and the use of phone number (which is both a blessing (this makes it easy for new users to join) and a curse). I also agree with you on Element's UX, but it's getting better and most people can use it fine. I have a few groups on both apps.

    I personally prefer Element, which seems more open than Signal and which I can actually use correctly on the PinePhone. Axolotl [1] still needs some work.

    [1] https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl

  • Signal experiences on any of the Linux-based phones
    1 project | /r/signal | 18 Oct 2021
  • PureOS - a pure Linux phone experience
    1 project | /r/linux | 30 Aug 2021
    I think the best option to communicate through Signal will be Axolotl. Because the original desktop client of Signal might work as well but it's not optimized for touch input.
  • I just bought a PinePhone
    1 project | /r/PINE64official | 28 May 2021
    If you go to the git repo for Axolotl (https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl), you will see links to the deb among other formats.
  • starting a native adaptive Linux client for Signal
    4 projects | /r/PINE64official | 11 Apr 2021
    21 projects | /r/linux | 11 Apr 2021
    Ah well then I applaud you. :) Perhaps some ideas could come from past efforts like Axolotl, which I've had working in a basic way in the past.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Signal-Desktop and axolotl you can also consider the following projects:

signal-cli - signal-cli provides an unofficial commandline, JSON-RPC and dbus interface for the Signal messenger.

session-desktop - Session Desktop - Onion routing based messenger

libsignal - Home to the Signal Protocol as well as other cryptographic primitives which make Signal possible.

AppImageLauncher - Helper application for Linux distributions serving as a kind of "entry point" for running and integrating AppImages

GrapheneOS-Knowledge - This is a short description of some of the knowledge I've collected on GrapheneOS and some common questions I've been asked and my answers to them.

webclient - Angular webclient (with Linux, macOS and Windows desktop clients) for CTemplar's encrypted email service.

signald

telegram-bot-api - Telegram Bot API server

nheko - Desktop client for Matrix using Qt and C++20.

Electron - :electron: Build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

org.signal.Signal