Velta
Project
Delta Chat vs Velta vs ArcaneChat
All three speak the same protocol and interoperate fully — they are clients on one network, not competing platforms. The difference is platforms and product focus.
| Delta Chat | Velta | ArcaneChat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The reference messenger on the Delta Chat protocol | Cross-platform client rebuilt as one web app | Android fork of Delta Chat, tuned for speed and low data use |
| Platforms | Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Android, browser PWA | Android |
| End-to-end encryption | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chatmail relays (no phone number) | Yes | Yes | Yes — designed around chatmail |
| Use with your own e-mail server | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs in the browser (no install) | No | Yes — WebAssembly core, state persists across reloads | No |
| One shared codebase for all platforms | No — native app per platform | Yes — HTML/CSS/JS frontend + Tauri 2 | No |
| Webxdc mini-apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Relay visibility & diagnostics UI | Basic connectivity view | Per-chat relay chips, live status, transport-level diagnostics, send-relay pin | Basic connectivity view |
| Self-hostable web client | No | Yes — static site, any web server | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 and similar | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
In short: pick Delta Chat for iOS or the reference experience, Velta to use one messenger across desktop, Android and the browser, ArcaneChat for a lightweight Android-only client.