Signal: how much does the private messaging app now cost?

Signal has just published a comprehensive report on its cost structure. It turns out that running the platform requires spending several million dollars each year, which is of course reminiscent of the fact that anyone can make a donation – in the amount of their choice – to help the project. A non-profit, it had already received no less than fifty million dollars in funding from Brian Acton.

The co-founder of WhatsApp (then of Signal) notably worked at Yahoo!, but will leave his position at Meta following disagreements with management, particularly regarding the strategy for reselling personal data.

What are the major operating costs of Signal?

Among Signal's main expenses today, we find in particular the cost of servers worth nearly three million dollars for a period of twelve months (that's still almost a hundred timeslessthan at OpenAI). By also adding human resources and administrative costs to the total, the messaging platform ultimately estimates having to spend around nineteen million dollars per year.

Other amounts are of course included in the calculation, such as storage (more than a million dollars per year) or bandwidth (nearly three million dollars). Notwithstanding, these figures remain well below the staggering sums imposed by the WhatsApp model or that of Messenger. With, obviously, additional confidentiality, as Signal likes to point out in its press release.

Make a donation: several possibilities

To make a donation, simplygo to the Signal websiteand choose the desired amount. If the usual currencies are supported, donations in Bitcoin are also accepted – but not MobileCoin, although used for transactions within the app. It must be said that its value has fallen drastically since its beginnings.

There are other platforms for exchanging messages in a relatively secure way, although more or less depending on each offer, of course. We can cite here in particular the case ofTelegramor Wicker, although the latter is in the process of ceasing its activities aimed at the general public. This, after signing a major contract, intended to supply employees of institutions in the United States, and only this target. For the sake of security, we guess.