Wire is an encrypted messaging platform headquartered in Berlin since 2017 (originally Zug, Switzerland). End-to-end encrypted by default for messages, voice, video, and conferencing. Open-source clients on GitHub. Used in enterprise (Wire Pro, Wire Enterprise) and as a free consumer product (Wire Personal, deprecated for new signups in 2023, still functional for existing accounts).
What it means in practice
Wire occupies a specific niche between Signal (consumer-grade, phone-number anchored) and Microsoft Teams (enterprise-grade, no privacy claim). The cryptographic protocol is Proteus (a Wire fork of the Signal Protocol’s Olm/Megolm precursor), audited by Kudelski Security and others. The differentiator is account model: Wire accounts can be created with email rather than phone number, supports multiple devices natively (no primary-device dependency like Signal), and offers federation between organizations. The trade-offs: smaller user base than Signal (so the “the source already uses it” argument fails), and the for-profit ownership structure adds a category of risk Signal’s nonprofit avoids.
Who uses it, and against whom
Adopted by: European government agencies (German Bundeswehr piloted Wire for some categories), legal teams handling cross-border privileged communications, NGO consortiums needing federated cross-org messaging, and consumer users who want phone-number-free encrypted messaging. Adversaries: same as Signal (commercial spyware on endpoint, social engineering, account takeover via email-recovery weaknesses), with the additional consideration that Wire’s smaller user base makes it more visible in network metadata (connecting to wire.com from a hostile jurisdiction is a different signal than connecting to whatsapp.com).
What you can change today
If your operation requires email-based accounts (no phone number), Wire is the strongest free option in that category. Sign up at wire.com with a Proton or Tutanota email, install on every device, enable disappearing messages per conversation, verify safety codes with priority contacts. For enterprise use, the paid Wire Pro tier ($5/user/month) adds organization controls, custom data residency, and cross-org federation. For consumer-grade messaging where phone-number-tied accounts are acceptable, Signal remains the default; Wire is the answer when phone numbers are not.