Comparison

Hugin Messenger vs Wave

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hugin Messenger

Experience secure, decentralized communication with this peer-to-peer chat service. Connect with friends and communities through encrypted direct and group messages, all without central servers or personal data collection. Enjoy crystal-clear voice and video calls and a decentralized social feed.

Highlights
  • Peer-to-peer communication
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Voice and video calls
  • Decentralized social feed
  • Zero sign-up required
  • No personal data collection
Features
Read full description

Hugin Messenger is a privacy-focused, peer-to-peer chat service built for secure, decentralized communication. Connect with your friends and communities in group chats and direct messages — all without relying on central servers. *** Why Hugin? *** True Peer-to-Peer Communication - No servers. No middlemen. Your data never touches a third party. End-to-End Encryption by Default - Messages and calls are secured using modern encryption technologies. Crystal Clear Voice & Video Calls - Enjoy high-quality, low-latency calls with no compromise on privacy. Decentralized Social Feed - Discover new discussions and connect with others using the Hugin Feed — no algorithms, no tracking. Zero Sign-Up, Zero Tracking - No phone number. No email. No identity required. We don’t collect or store any personal data. Powered by a Global P2P Network - Built on top of a resilient, decentralized infrastructure — your messages flow directly between devices. Take back control of your conversations. - Download Hugin Messenger and experience private communication without compromise.

About

Wave

A privacy-focused messaging app offering end-to-end encrypted chats without requiring sign-ups or personal information. It utilizes a decentralized network for enhanced user control and supports both one-to-one and group conversations.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • No sign-up required
  • Decentralized network
  • One-to-one and group chats
  • Optional Bluesky integration
  • Ad-free and tracker-free
Features
Read full description

Wave is a privacy-first messaging app built for people who value security, simplicity, and control. Chat, call, and send photos and videos without signing up, sharing personal details, or trusting centralized servers. You can start messaging instantly. Wave uses end-to-end encryption, ensuring only you and the people you're chatting with can see your messages, calls, photos, and videos. Everything is encrypted on your device and decrypted only by recipients. Powered by XMTP, Wave is built on a decentralized messaging network, reducing reliance on central servers and giving users more control over their conversations. Wave supports fast one-to-one messaging and secure group conversations in a clean, minimal interface with no clutter or distractions. Send voice notes, photos, videos, and albums of up to 10 photos and videos. Reply to messages, react with emoji, and share GIFs and stickers, including ones made from your own photos. Make one-to-one voice and video calls with anyone you chat with. Answer from the Lock Screen, keep chatting while a call floats in a small window, add live filters to your video, and find past and missed calls in call history. Stay in control of every conversation. Set messages to disappear after 30 seconds up to 7 days, unsend any message you've sent, and pin, archive, or mute your chats. Choose how much your notifications show, block anyone, and get alerts about suspicious accounts. Give your groups admins, a description, and a custom photo. Pick your own profile photo and share your profile with a QR code or a link you can reset anytime. Chat Backup saves your chats to iCloud automatically, daily, weekly, or monthly, so you can restore them when you reinstall Wave or get a new iPhone. Your backup is encrypted before it leaves your device. You can optionally connect your Bluesky account to message people you already know, or simply use Wave on its own without linking any account. Wave is designed with privacy at its core, with end-to-end encrypted messages and calls, a privacy-first architecture, and no ads or trackers.

Screenshots

Hugin Messenger4 screens
Wave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Hugin Messenger at weekly against Wave's monthly. Hugin Messenger also leads on ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Hugin Messenger against 5.0 for Wave. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hugin Messenger ships an update weekly, Wave monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Hugin Messenger versus Wave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHugin MessengerWave
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB157 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperHarry ErikssonSimhadri Bogula

Customer experience

Hugin Messenger

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Wave

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Hugin Messenger

No in-app purchases

None

Wave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hugin Messenger free?
Hugin Messenger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wave free?
Wave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hugin Messenger or Wave?
Hugin Messenger and Wave are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Hugin Messenger or Wave have ads?
Neither Hugin Messenger nor Wave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hugin Messenger or Wave?
Hugin Messenger ships an update weekly, and Wave monthly. Most recently, Hugin Messenger was updated on October 21, 2026 and Wave on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons