Elchi is Uzbek for “envoy”.
Private messages,
carried sealed.
An end-to-end encrypted messenger with no phone number, no accounts, and no server that can read you. Your identity is a key that lives on your device — and nowhere else.
macOS & Android today · iOS, Windows & Linux coming
Everything a messenger should do.
Nothing a messenger shouldn’t.
End-to-end encryption
Every message is encrypted with the Double Ratchet (vodozemac) before it leaves your device. Keys rotate constantly; past messages stay safe even if a key leaks later.
Peer-to-peer first
When you’re both online, messages go directly between your devices over encrypted QUIC — no server in the middle at all.
Offline delivery, sealed
When a friend is offline, your message waits as a sealed envelope on our relay, which sees only the recipient’s key and ciphertext — never the content, never the sender. Delivered mail is deleted.
Calls, voice, video & files
Voice and video calls, voice messages, video messages, photos, and large files — all end-to-end encrypted, verified on arrival.
Verify who you talk to
Compare fingerprints or scan a QR code in person. Trust levels put you in control of what you share with whom — including your profile photo.
Your identity is portable
A recovery phrase restores your identity on a new device. Lose your phone, not your self. Local data is encrypted at rest with SQLCipher.
How it works
Create your identity
Elchi generates a key pair on your device and gives you a recovery phrase. No registration, no phone number, no email.
Connect with a code
Share a connect code or QR with a friend. Review each other’s fingerprint — that check is between you two, not us.
Talk, anywhere
Online, your devices talk directly. Offline, sealed envelopes wait on the relay and are deleted the moment they’re delivered.
Download Elchi
Install from a store, or download directly from us and verify the checksum — the way a private messenger should ship.
iOS
App Store — sooniOS installs only through the App Store
no direct download, by Apple’s rules
Windows
Not yet availabledirect download
planned
Linux
Not yet availabledirect download
planned
Installing the APK directly: allow “install from unknown sources” for your browser, then open the file. Updates are announced here and in-app.
Questions people ask
What data do you collect about me?
None. There are no accounts, so there is nothing to register. The relay stores sealed ciphertext addressed to a key, deletes it on delivery, and expires anything undelivered. We run no analytics, no crash trackers, no ad SDKs. Details: privacy policy.
What if I lose my phone?
Your recovery phrase restores your identity on a new device. Without it, nobody — including us — can recover your identity or messages. Write it down and keep it safe.
Why offer a direct APK instead of only app stores?
Store listings are coming, but a private messenger shouldn’t depend on any single gatekeeper to reach you. Direct downloads with published checksums let you verify exactly what you’re installing.
Where are my messages stored?
On your device, encrypted at rest with SQLCipher. The key never leaves your device. Deleting the app’s data removes the key, which makes the stored data unrecoverable.
Has Elchi been audited?
An independent third-party security audit is planned before the 1.0 release, and its results will be published here. Until then, Elchi is in open testing — we’d rather tell you that plainly than pretend otherwise.
Who is behind Elchi?
Elchi is built independently in Uzbekistan by Sherzod Maxmudov. “Elchi” means envoy — someone trusted to carry your words faithfully. That is the entire job description of this app.
We built Elchi so that trusting us is unnecessary. The math does the trusting.