Olvid

What Is Olvid?

In November 2023, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne issued a circular that made international headlines. Every government minister and senior official was ordered to delete WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram from their work devices and replace them with an app most people had never heard of: Olvid. The transition deadline was December 2023. France, a country not known for impulsive technology decisions, had decided that Signal — widely considered the gold standard for encrypted messaging — was not secure enough for official government communications.

The reason was not encryption quality. Signal's protocol is excellent. The reason was architecture. Signal requires a phone number to register, maintains a central user directory, and operates from US jurisdiction under a nonprofit governed by American law. Olvid requires no phone number, no email address, and no personal data whatsoever to create an account. It maintains no central directory of users. The cryptographic protocols were designed from scratch by Thomas Baigneres and Matthieu Finiasz, both holding PhDs in cryptography, and the application became the first messenger in the world to receive ANSSI first-level security certification (CSPN) in 2021.

Olvid SAS was founded in Paris in 2019 — though Baigneres and Finiasz began the cryptographic research years earlier. The company has raised EUR 2 million in seed funding from investors including BNP Paribas and operates from Paris with a small team focused entirely on secure communications. The app is available on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. The core messaging functionality is free. Paid plans add voice calls, video calls, and multi-device support.

Key Features

ANSSI CSPN Security Certification

Olvid holds the Certification de Securite de Premier Niveau from ANSSI, France's national cybersecurity agency. This makes it the first — and as of 2026, still the only — messaging application to receive this certification. ANSSI evaluates the cryptographic implementation, the protocol design, and the application's resistance to known attack vectors.

The certification is not self-declared. ANSSI's evaluation process involves independent auditors examining source code, testing for vulnerabilities, and verifying that the cryptographic claims hold under adversarial conditions. Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Threema have not received this certification. For organisations operating under French government security requirements or EU regulatory frameworks that reference ANSSI standards, Olvid's certification is not merely a differentiator — it is a compliance requirement.

No Phone Number, No Central Directory

Most messaging apps require a phone number to register. This creates a central directory linking phone numbers to accounts — a honeypot for intelligence agencies, hackers, and data brokers. Signal's directory is encrypted, but it exists. WhatsApp shares phone-number-linked metadata with Meta. Telegram stores phone numbers in plaintext on its servers.

Olvid eliminates the directory entirely. Registration requires no phone number, no email address, and no personal information. Users establish contacts by scanning QR codes in person or exchanging cryptographic invitation links. Each contact relationship is verified through a mutual authentication protocol — there is no trust-on-first-use vulnerability. The server does not know who is communicating with whom.

This architecture makes mass surveillance fundamentally impossible. An attacker who compromises Olvid's servers gains no user list, no contact graph, and no message content. The trade-off is onboarding friction: adding a new contact requires an explicit exchange rather than a phone book scan. For government officials, enterprise teams, and security-conscious professionals, this trade-off is acceptable. For casual consumers expecting WhatsApp's seamless experience, it is a barrier.

Custom Cryptographic Protocols

Rather than adopting Signal Protocol or another existing library, Olvid's founders designed their own cryptographic stack from the ground up. The protocols handle key exchange, message encryption, group messaging, and contact verification without relying on any central server for key distribution.

The decision to build custom protocols is controversial in the security community — the conventional wisdom favours well-tested, widely reviewed protocols like Signal's. Olvid's counter-argument is that their protocol was specifically designed for a decentralised architecture without any central directory, something Signal Protocol was not built for. The source code is open on GitHub, allowing independent review. ANSSI's certification provides additional validation that the implementation meets French government security standards.

Government-Grade Deployment

Olvid's Enterprise tier supports deployment through Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems, SSO integration with Active Directory, and a Management Console for user administration. Government agencies and large organisations can provision Olvid accounts at scale without requiring users to manage their own setup.

The French government's adoption validated this deployment model at national scale. Ministers, cabinet staff, and senior civil servants migrated to Olvid within weeks of the December 2023 mandate. The practical lesson: Olvid can handle institutional deployment, not just individual adoption.

Pricing

Olvid's pricing reflects its dual identity as a free public messaging app and a paid enterprise security tool.

Free includes encrypted text messaging, file sharing (documents, photos, videos), and voice messages on a single device. The free tier is fully functional for text-based secure communication.

Business at EUR 4.99/user/month adds encrypted audio and video calls, multi-device support, and licence key deployment for teams of 10 or more. This tier unlocks the features that make Olvid a viable communications platform rather than just a text messenger.

Enterprise pricing is custom and includes SSO integration, MDM deployment, a Management Console for user administration, and dedicated support. This tier is designed for government agencies and large organisations that need centralised management without compromising Olvid's decentralised security model.

The free tier is generous for text communication. The EUR 4.99/user/month Business tier is affordable compared to enterprise messaging platforms like Wire (EUR 5.83/user/month) or Wickr (acquired by AWS, pricing varies). The key question is whether your organisation needs voice and video calls — without the paid tier, Olvid cannot replace a full communications platform.

EU Compliance & Privacy

Olvid SAS is headquartered in Paris, France — an EU member state. All data processing occurs within EU jurisdiction under GDPR. But Olvid's privacy model goes far beyond geographic compliance.

The application collects no personal data at registration. No phone number, no email, no name. The server stores only encrypted message payloads and cannot identify the sender, recipient, or content. Metadata collection is reduced to the minimum required for message routing, and even this metadata reveals less than any competing platform because there is no central directory linking identities.

ANSSI CSPN certification confirms that the cryptographic implementation meets French government security standards. For organisations subject to French government security directives, EU NIS2 requirements, or sector-specific regulations in defence, finance, or healthcare, Olvid's certification is directly relevant compliance documentation.

Open-source client code on GitHub enables independent audit. The cryptographic protocols are documented in published academic papers by Baigneres and Finiasz.

Who It's Best For

Government agencies and officials operating under French or EU security mandates where ANSSI certification is required or strongly preferred.

Legal professionals handling privileged communications who need verifiable encryption that does not depend on phone numbers or central directories.

Defence contractors and intelligence-adjacent organisations that require messaging platforms meeting national security certification standards.

Security researchers and privacy maximalists who understand the trade-offs and value architectural minimalism — no metadata, no directory, no personal data — above convenience.

The Verdict

Olvid is not for everyone. The onboarding requires deliberate effort. The user base is tiny compared to Signal. Voice and video calls cost money. The interface is functional rather than polished. But Olvid achieves something no other messaging app can claim: government-certified security with zero personal data collection, validated by the same agency responsible for French national cybersecurity. The French government did not mandate Olvid because it was popular or convenient. It mandated Olvid because its cryptographers examined the architecture and concluded it was the most secure option available. For organisations where messaging security is a genuine operational requirement rather than a marketing checkbox, that endorsement carries weight that no app store rating can match.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did France mandate Olvid for government use?

In November 2023, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne ordered all ministers and senior officials to replace WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram with Olvid. The mandate cited Olvid's ANSSI security certification, its decentralised architecture with no central user directory, and its French jurisdiction. The transition was required by December 2023.

Does Olvid require a phone number?

No. Olvid requires no phone number, email address, or personal information to register. Contacts are established through QR code scanning or invitation link exchange. This eliminates the central user directory that exists in Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

How does Olvid compare to Signal?

Signal has a vastly larger user base, more features, and smoother onboarding via phone numbers. Olvid has ANSSI government certification, no personal data requirement, decentralised architecture, and French EU jurisdiction. Signal is US-based. For regulatory compliance and government use, Olvid's certification is a significant differentiator.

Is Olvid open source?

Yes. Client applications are open source on GitHub. The cryptographic engine was designed by co-founders Thomas Baigneres and Matthieu Finiasz, both holding PhDs in cryptography. ANSSI independently evaluated the implementation.

Are voice and video calls free?

No. The free tier includes text messaging, file sharing, and voice messages. Audio and video calls require the Business plan at EUR 4.99/user/month. Multi-device support is also restricted to paid plans.