HushHush has no accounts. It never asks for a phone number, an email address or a sign-up, because there is no server to hold them. Two people pair once, in person, by scanning a QR code, and from then on they encrypt messages for each other on their own phones. The encrypted text can be pasted into any app. The app that carries it may still require a number: SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram do; Matrix and email do not.
Which messengers still need a phone number
Most of the apps people use for private messages are built around a phone number. WhatsApp's privacy policy says you must provide your mobile phone number to create an account, and that without it you cannot use the service. Telegram's privacy policy says the same of its accounts, and its FAQ goes further: the phone number is the only way Telegram has to identify a user. You can hide your number from other Telegram users, but Telegram itself holds it.
Signal is the interesting case. Its privacy policy, as read on 7 October 2026, still says an account is registered with a phone number. Since February 2024, Signal usernames let you hide that number from the people you talk to, but the post announcing them says a number is still needed to sign up. In September 2026 Signal began testing a paid sign-up with no number in its Android beta: a one-time fee of about three US dollars, Google Play payments, and an account ID and key that Signal cannot recover if you lose them. Existing accounts cannot drop their number yet, and it is not on iPhone today.
Matrix is the exception among the big networks. Element, the best-known Matrix app, answers "Can I register with a phone number?" on its help page with a flat no, and says an email address is optional unless the server you join insists on one. So you need a username on a Matrix server, but no number. Email needs an address, not a number. And SMS is your phone number: there is nothing to sign up for because the number is the identity.
| What | WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal today | With HushHush |
|---|---|---|
| Your phone number, to sign up | Required | Never asked |
| An account on a server | Yes | No. There is no server of ours |
| Your number shown to contacts | Can be hidden on Signal and Telegram | No number exists |
| The words you type | Depends on the app and the chat type | Ciphertext only |
| Who you message, and when | Yes | Still yes, in the carrying app |
Why a number matters
A phone number is the easiest handle anyone has on you. It rarely changes, it sits in other people's address books, and in many countries a SIM is sold against an identity document. An app that requires one holds a durable link between an account and a person. That is fine for most people most of the time. It is not fine for a journalist whose source will not hand over a number, for someone who has changed theirs to get away from a person, or for a lawyer who would rather not put a client in any directory.
HushHush takes a different route. There is no directory, because there is nothing to look people up in. You meet, you scan, and the two phones now share what they need. Nobody else, including us, has a record that the pairing happened.
How HushHush helps
HushHush encrypts the text on your phone before it goes into whatever app you use to send it. That app, whether SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack or email, carries only ciphertext, and the other person decrypts it in their HushHush. Both people need the app, and they pair once, in person. Nothing about that pairing involves a phone number, an email address, a sign-up form or a server of ours, because none of those exist.
Pair once, in person
Open HushHush, add a contact, and scan the QR code on the other phone. No account, no phone number, no server.
Type it in HushHush
Write the message and tap send. It is encrypted on your phone and copied as ciphertext.
Paste it into the app you already use
That app carries the ciphertext. Your contact pastes it into HushHush to read it. Or connect Matrix or email, which need no phone number, or Telegram inside HushHush, and it is sent and decrypted automatically.
What HushHush does not do. It does not get you into WhatsApp, Telegram or SMS without a number; their sign-up rules are theirs. It does not hide who you talk to or when: the carrying app still sees the ciphertext, its length and the time it was sent. Both people need HushHush. It protects text, not the carrying app's own calls or other features. And it is not anonymity: HushHush traffic can be recognised as HushHush traffic. Only the content is protected.
Frequently asked questions
Which messaging apps do not require a phone number?
Can I use WhatsApp without a phone number?
Can you use Signal without a phone number?
Is there a messaging app with no sign-up at all?
Does HushHush make me anonymous?
Encrypt it before the carrying app sees it.
HushHush is on the App Store and Google Play. Pair in person, then send in any app.
Related
Sources
- WhatsApp Privacy Policy, WhatsApp, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Telegram Privacy Policy, Telegram, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Telegram FAQ, Telegram, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Signal Terms & Privacy Policy, Signal, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames, Signal blog, 20 February 2024, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Beta feedback for the upcoming Android 8.28 release, Signal community forum (posted by Signal staff), 16 September 2026, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Element help and support, Element, accessed 7 October 2026.