Signal is free for everyone, anywhere in the world. But developing and maintaining an app is, of course, not free. So how does Signal get its funding? What is Signal’s revenue model?
First of all, it’s important to know that unlike many other popular apps, Signal is not focused on making a profit.
Signal is a non-profit organization
Signal’s parent organization is the Signal Foundation, a non-profit organization.
The mission of the Signal Foundation is to develop open-source privacy technology that protects free expression and enables secure global communication.
Although Signal is not profit-driven, it still has costs and needs funding to operate. These costs include app development, servers, bandwidth, staff salaries, and services from third parties.
Signal’s ‘revenue model’
Signal is primarily funded by voluntary donations from its users.
While most of us are used to free apps without ever having to pay, more and more people are choosing to donate to Signal. That’s because Signal is one of the few messaging apps truly built for its users—not for data, and not for profit. And with increasing data breaches and scandals involving other apps and organizations, the importance of the privacy and security that Signal offers is becoming more apparent. This has made people more willing to support Signal with donations.
These donations help Signal cover its costs and continue working toward its mission of providing free, secure communication to everyone around the world.
In addition, Signal is exploring the introduction of both a free and a paid version for a future backup feature. Both versions will include all text messages, but the free version will only back up recent media, while the paid version will store all your media. In this way, Signal aims to cover additional costs without showing ads, keeping the app affordable and secure for everyone.
Since there is often confusion about how Signal earns money, it’s worth emphasizing that the app contains no ads, no trackers, and no data collection.
No ads
For many large tech companies, personalized ads are the main source of income. Signal, on the other hand, exists for you and is built to provide private communication—not to show you ads or make money off you. That’s why the app contains no advertisements at all.
No trackers or data collection
Your data on Signal is protected and end-to-end encrypted. The app contains no trackers that allow third parties to monitor your activity. Signal doesn’t know anything about you and will never (and can never) collect your data.
Donating to Signal
Would you like to support Signal’s mission to provide free, private, and highly secure communication worldwide? Donate via the donation page on Signal.org or from within the app under Settings => Donate to Signal. Every contribution helps!
Want to know more about the Signal Foundation?
Visit the Signal Foundation’s website:
Donate now!
Do you also want that people around the world are able to communicate freely, securely, and privately—at no cost?
Then visit Signal’s donation page or donate directly through the app via Settings => Donate to Signal.
