Haven Private Circles vs mxChat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Haven Private Circles
A private social network focused on secure sharing with close friends and family. It offers end-to-end encrypted posts, messages, and calls, with options for offline sharing and personal data storage. No ads, tracking, or algorithms are present.
- End-to-end encrypted sharing
- Private circles for family and friends
- Direct and group messaging
- Group voice and video calls
- Offline nearby sharing
- Bring your own storage option
- No account or personal information required
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Haven is a private social network for the people who actually matter. No ads. No tracking. No algorithm deciding what you see. No company server holding your memories. Everything you share is end-to-end encrypted with hybrid post-quantum cryptography and travels directly between your devices — over the internet, or over Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi when you're together offline. Even we can't read it. • Private circles — share with family and close friends in separate, invite‑only circles • Posts, photos, videos & stories — with a modern camera, easy captions, and a song • Direct & group messages — with sender names, timestamps, and delivery checks, plus scheduled and screenshot‑protected secret messages • Group voice & video calls — 1:1 and group, with screen sharing, peer‑to‑peer, no call server in the middle • All your devices in sync — start on iPhone, pick up on iPad or Mac; your posts and messages follow you • Disappearing posts — you decide how long things stick around • Nearby sharing — works with no internet at all, phone to phone • Bring your own storage — keep memories alive on your own S3 bucket or a relay you run • No account, no phone number, no email — your identity lives only on your device Haven is a stronghold for the people you love. It's built so that no one — not advertisers, not data brokers, not even the people who made it — can get between you and your circle.
mxChat
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mxChat is a Matrix-compatible chat app designed for secure communication with family, friends, and teams. Key features • One-to-one and group chat • End-to-end encryption (E2EE) • Photo and file sharing • Contact and profile management • Join and invite with QR code scanning • User ID search and public room search • Connect to mxchat.org, matrix.org, or another homeserver • Push notifications • Face ID and screen-lock PIN • Encrypted-session recovery with a recovery key • Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese Users with administrator privileges can also review registration requests and manage users. mxChat syncs conversations through the selected Matrix homeserver, supporting everyday conversations and secure group information sharing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Haven Private Circles at 4 against mxChat's 2. On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Haven Private Circles | mxChat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 151 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blaine Miller | UnitLive Co., Ltd. |
In-app purchases
Haven Private Circles
No in-app purchases
mxChat
No in-app purchases









