What Olvid actually does
Olvid makes an unusually specific promise for a messaging app: not just that your messages are encrypted, but that even Olvid's own servers can't tell who is talking to whom, because the metadata itself is encrypted end-to-end alongside the content.
The core product
Olvid is built by Olvid SAS, a company headquartered in Paris, France, first released in 2019. Most encrypted messengers protect message content but still let a central server see the metadata around it — who's messaging whom, when, and who belongs to which group. Olvid's architecture is built to deny even itself that visibility: contact identities and group membership are encrypted end-to-end too, so its servers hold nothing usable even if they were fully compromised.
It also doesn't ask for a phone number, email address, or any other personal identifier to create an account — contacts are added instead by scanning a QR code or exchanging an invite link, which sets up a secure channel directly between two devices. The client apps run on:
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
plus an Olvid Web client that pairs with an Android phone, and the clients themselves are open source.
What's new or notable
The clearest evidence that Olvid's metadata-free design isn't just marketing language is that it has cleared an independent bar few consumer messengers even attempt: two CSPN security certifications from ANSSI, France's national cybersecurity agency, one for the desktop clients and a later one covering the mobile apps. That certification has translated into real institutional trust — Olvid is used internally by units of the French national police for secure communication.
On the product side, the free tier covers unlimited one-to-one and group messaging, file attachments, ephemeral messages, and receiving calls with no restriction; what's gated is making outbound calls yourself and syncing the same account across multiple devices, both free for a one-month trial and then behind a small monthly in-app purchase. Separate Business and Enterprise tiers exist for organizations that want centralized deployment and device management.
Who should use Olvid
Great fit if…
- You want a server that can't identify who you're talking to, even if compromised — Olvid's end-to-end encrypted metadata is the core of its design, not an add-on.
- You want independent proof behind the security claims — the two ANSSI CSPN certifications are a genuine, hard-to-fake bar that most consumer messengers haven't cleared.
- You don't want to give up a phone number or email to sign up — Olvid doesn't collect either; contacts are verified by QR code or invite link instead.
- You mostly message rather than call, or you're fine using a single device — the free tier's unlimited messaging covers that use case completely.
Skip it if…
- You want to place outbound calls or sync several devices for free long-term — both are free for one month only, then require a paid subscription.
- You want your contact list to build itself the way an address-book-scanning app does — verifying every contact by QR code or link is more deliberate and takes more upfront effort.
- You need the entire stack, including the server, to be independently auditable — the server software that relays traffic is not open source, even though the client apps are, so the no-metadata claim can't be fully verified end to end by outsiders.
Pricing in detail
Olvid's free tier is genuinely capable for everyday messaging; the paywall sits specifically at outbound calling and multi-device sync, with separate plans for organizations.
| Plan | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | Unlimited one-to-one and group messaging, file attachments, ephemeral messages, message unsend/edit and remote deletion, multiple profiles, Olvid Web access, and receiving audio/video calls, on Android, iPhone/iPad, Windows, macOS, and Linux. |
| Individual | €4.99 per user/month (after a 1-month free trial), billed via App Store or Google Play | Everything in Free, plus making outbound audio/video calls yourself and syncing your account across multiple devices. |
| Business | €9.90 per user/month, billed annually via the Olvid Store | Everything in Individual, plus license management and partial mobile device management (MDM) support for organizational deployment. |
| Enterprise | €9.90 per user/month (billed annually) plus a €4,990/year flat fee | Everything in Business, plus a Management Console with single sign-on, automated user/group management, instant access revocation, complete MDM deployment, and optional bots and AI integrations. |
Where it falls short
- Outbound calling isn't free after the first month — incoming calls stay free indefinitely, but placing a call yourself requires the paid subscription once the trial period ends.
- Multi-device sync has the same one-month limit — using Olvid across a phone and a computer at the same time, for more than a month, means paying.
- Building a contact list takes more deliberate effort — verifying every contact by QR code or invite link is slower than an app that scans your phone's address book automatically.
- The server software isn't open source — the clients are, which is a real transparency win, but the relay infrastructure that actually handles encrypted traffic has to be trusted rather than independently audited by outsiders.
Privacy & data
Olvid's privacy design goes further than most competitors on this list by encrypting metadata — who's messaging whom, group membership, even user identity — end-to-end alongside message content, so the company's own servers are built to hold nothing usable even in a worst-case compromise. That claim isn't just self-reported: it's backed by two CSPN security certifications from ANSSI, France's national cybersecurity agency, which is a meaningfully higher bar than marketing copy, and it's part of why French national police units use Olvid internally for secure communication.
No phone number, email, or other personal identifier is required to create an account. The one honest caveat is architectural rather than a broken promise: while the client apps are open source and can be independently inspected, the server software that relays encrypted traffic between users is proprietary, so the no-metadata claim can be verified on the endpoints but rests partly on trust when it comes to Olvid's own operational infrastructure.
How we checked this
This entry is based on Olvid's own site and pricing pages at olvid.io, last checked on 2026-09-04, including its published Free, Individual, Business, and Enterprise tiers and its stated ANSSI CSPN certifications. We did not independently verify the certifications with ANSSI directly or conduct hands-on penetration testing; those claims are reported as Olvid publishes them.