Relay vs Competitors
With a hosted platform, your messages sit on the vendor's servers, in the vendor's country, under that country's law. That's a reasonable trade for many organizations. This page is for the ones it isn't a reasonable trade for.
The Apps Your Staff Already Use
Institutional messaging tends to default to one of these. What each does with your organization's data differs more than the feature lists suggest.
End-to-end encrypted
- Slack
- ~Telegram — Secret chats only
- Discord
- Relay — By default
Hosted in Algeria
- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay
Can run on your own servers
- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay — On-premise
Group channels encrypted too
- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay — At any size
Account data encrypted
- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay
Federates with another institution's server
- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay
Admin console your own team operates
- ~Slack — Paid plans
- Telegram
- ~WhatsApp — Business only
- ~Discord — Roles only
- Relay
Support in your timezone and language
- ~Slack — Another timezone
- Telegram
- Discord
- Relay — A team in Algiers
| Slack | Telegram | Discord | Relay | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted | ~Secret chats only | By default | |||
| Hosted in Algeria | |||||
| Can run on your own servers | On-premise | ||||
| Group channels encrypted too | At any size | ||||
| Account data encrypted | |||||
| Federates with another institution's server | |||||
| Admin console your own team operates | ~Paid plans | ~Business only | ~Roles only | ||
| Support in your timezone and language | ~Another timezone | A team in Algiers |
Where the Alternatives Leave You
Where your data sits
- Consumer messengers
- A vendor's servers, abroad
- International suites
- The vendor's datacenters, in regions they select
- Relay
- In Algeria — our cloud or yours
Which jurisdiction applies
- Consumer messengers
- The vendor's
- International suites
- The vendor's, alongside your contract
- Relay
- Algeria's
Who can read your group chats
- Consumer messengers
- Varies by app
- International suites
- The vendor, who holds the keys
- Relay
- Only the people in them
Reaching another institution
- Consumer messengers
- Personal accounts
- International suites
- Only if they buy the same product
- Relay
- Federation with servers you approved
Administration
- Consumer messengers
- None
- International suites
- The console they let you have
- Relay
- Yours, with nothing withheld
Support
- Consumer messengers
- None
- International suites
- A ticket queue, often in another timezone and language
- Relay
- A team in Algiers, in your timezone and language
If the price or the terms change
- Consumer messengers
- Accept it, or lose your history
- International suites
- Accept it, or migrate on their timetable
- Relay
- You can take the deployment on-premise
| Consumer messengers | International suites | Relay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where your data sits | A vendor's servers, abroad | The vendor's datacenters, in regions they select | In Algeria — our cloud or yours |
| Which jurisdiction applies | The vendor's | The vendor's, alongside your contract | Algeria's |
| Who can read your group chats | Varies by app | The vendor, who holds the keys | Only the people in them |
| Reaching another institution | Personal accounts | Only if they buy the same product | Federation with servers you approved |
| Administration | None | The console they let you have | Yours, with nothing withheld |
| Support | None | A ticket queue, often in another timezone and language | A team in Algiers, in your timezone and language |
| If the price or the terms change | Accept it, or lose your history | Accept it, or migrate on their timetable | You can take the deployment on-premise |
Questions to Ask Any Vendor
Ask them of us too. Our answer sits under each one.
Where, physically, are the servers — and which jurisdiction applies to them?
Ours: in Algeria — on our infrastructure, or in your own building if you would rather.
Can you read our group messages if you are legally required to?
Ours: no — we hold no keys, so there is nothing for us to hand over.
What happens to five years of history the day we stop paying?
Ours: nothing is locked. On-premise the servers are yours; on ours you can export the lot whenever you like.
Can we message another institution without them buying your product?
Ours: yes, through federation — their server connects to yours.
Who operates the admin console — us, or you?
Ours: you do. We are the vendor of the software, not the operator of your service.
Upgrade to Sovereign Security
Tell us how your organization communicates today and what you're not allowed to do with that data. We'll deploy a trial your team can actually use.
