Keylane vs Obliv
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Keylane
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Keylane is a privacy-first messenger for the people who matter most. Every message, voice memo, photo, file, and call is protected with end-to-end encryption โ and Keylane goes further than most, using post-quantum cryptography designed to stay secure even against future quantum computers. Built for genuine one-to-one conversations. No groups, no feeds, no algorithms โ just private, direct communication. WHY KEYLANE โข End-to-end encrypted by default. Messages and calls are encrypted on your device and can only be read by you and the person you're talking to. Not by us, not by anyone. โข Post-quantum protection. Keylane uses a quantum-resistant key exchange (ML-KEM-768) and a quantum-resistant double-ratchet protocol, giving you forward secrecy and protection against "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks. โข Your keys never leave your device. Your private keys are generated on-device and encrypted at rest with a key derived from your PIN. We never receive them. โข Metadata privacy. A sealed-sender design means our servers can't see who is messaging whom โ only that a message needs delivering. โข Unlock with Face ID or Touch ID. Convenient biometric unlock, backed by the same PIN-derived encryption โ no security shortcuts. โข Secure calling. Encrypted one-to-one voice and video calls, integrated with the native iOS call experience. โข Rich, private media. Share photos, videos, files, and voice memos โ all encrypted, with per-file quality options and in-app image annotation before you send. โข No phone number required. Add a contact by scanning their QR code. No address-book upload, no discovery by phone number. โข No ads. No tracking. No profiling. Keylane's business is privacy, not your data. HOW IT WORKS When you create an account, Keylane generates your cryptographic identity locally. Only your public keys are registered with the server. Everything sensitive โ your profile, your private keys, your local files โ is encrypted on your device. To connect with someone, you exchange an invite (for example, by scanning a QR code). From that point on, every exchange runs over a quantum-resistant double-ratchet session that provides forward secrecy: even if a key were ever compromised, past messages stay protected. DESIGNED FOR CONTROL โข Block a contact and their ability to reach you is revoked immediately, at the server. โข You choose who can contact you โ there's no open directory. Keylane is for anyone who believes private conversations should stay private: journalists, professionals handling sensitive information, and anyone who simply prefers that their messages remain their own. Private by design. Quantum-safe by default. See https://keylane.app for more information.
Obliv
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Obliv is a messenger for people who want their conversations to actually disappear. No phone number. No email. No backups. No recovery. Just a six-digit PIN you memorise, and messages that vanish from our servers the moment your device acknowledges them. End-to-end encrypted on your device before anything leaves it. The server is zero-knowledge โ it cannot read, index, or recover what you send. Features โข Text, photo, video, voice notes, and files โข Encrypted audio and video calls with native iOS call integration โข Private group chats with automatic key rotation when membership changes โข Contact exchange by QR code or short ID โ no directory, no lookups, no phone book โข Panic wipe after repeated wrong PIN attempts. No recovery. No exceptions. โข Screenshot and screen-recording protection on sensitive screens โข No analytics. No crash reporting. No advertising. No third-party tracking. โข PIN-only unlock. No biometrics. No device-key storage. Threat model Obliv is designed for people who expect their devices to be seized, inspected, or lost. Your identity lives on-device, encrypted with a key derived from your PIN using a slow, brute-force-resistant function. Biometrics are deliberately unsupported โ no one can unlock Obliv by holding your phone up to your face. If you forget your PIN, the identity is gone. This is the point. What we store On our servers: public keys so peers can find you, transient encrypted envelopes that are deleted the moment your device acknowledges them, and opaque push tokens for wake-up notifications. Nothing else. No message content, no contact lists, no conversation history, no behavioural data. Limitations Obliv is intentionally single-device. Multi-device support widens the attack surface and is not supported. If you reset your phone or reinstall Obliv, you start over. Obliv is independent. Not affiliated with Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, or any other messenger.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Obliv at 16.0 against Keylane's 18.2. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Keylane ships an update every 2 weeks, Obliv every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Keylane | Obliv |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks โ better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad โ better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 | 16.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Livotov Labs Ltd. | Okidooki AG |
In-app purchases
Keylane
No in-app purchases
Obliv
No in-app purchases









