Signal
by Signal · Encrypted messaging and calling run by a nonprofit
BenchRank score
Screenshots of Signal
Homepage
Overview
Signal is a messaging app for text, voice messages, photos, videos, GIFs and files, with voice and video calls, group chats and stickers. Messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted using the open source Signal Protocol, sent over the phone's data connection rather than SMS or MMS. It is run by a 501c3 nonprofit funded by grants and donations.
- Best for
- People and groups wanting encrypted messaging and calls across mobile and desktop.
- Pricing
- No prices are shown; the page states Signal is free for everyone, with development funded by grants and donations.
- Runs on
- iOSAndroidmacOSWindowsLinux
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- End-to-end encryption on every message and call by default
- No ads, trackers or affiliate marketing in the app
- Free text, voice messages, photos, video, GIFs and files
- Apps for Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Mac and Linux
Trade-offs
- Uses the phone's data connection, not SMS/MMS fallback
- Funded by grants and donations; no paid support tier shown
- No business, admin or compliance features described
- Support is a help centre and community, not named SLAs
How Signal markets itself
A structured read of the promise, proof and page design on Signal’s captured homepage.
Homepage capture
“Speak Freely”
- Angle: Security / trust-led
- Hero: Product screenshot
Pricing
Published plans and prices from Signal’s own pricing page.
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
MCP support
Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.
API quality
Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.
Documentation
Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.
Agent friendliness
How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.
Changelog
A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.
Marketing site structure
Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.
Page speed
How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.
Operational trust
Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.
Measured, but not part of the score
Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.
Openness
Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.
Maintenance
Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.
This doesn’t look right — report a problem with Signal’s score
Where this comes from
The Signal pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.
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Is this your product?
Claim Signal to manage its profile. Claiming lets you suggest edits to the descriptive fields — it never changes scores or rankings.