Ricochet Refresh

What Ricochet Refresh is

Ricochet Refresh is a free, open-source instant messenger designed for private and anonymous communication on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It connects users directly through Tor circuits. When launched, it creates a Tor Onion Services v3 hidden service on the user's computer, and that service address acts as the user's identity. To begin a conversation, users add another person's hidden-service address to their contacts. The maker says messages are end-to-end encrypted by default and describes the service as resistant to metadata collection, so others should not know who users contact or what they say. Secure file transfer is included. No account registration is needed, and account data remains on the user's computer rather than on hosted servers, according to the maker. The project began in 2014, and its source code is available for inspection and development. The maker says updates arrive roughly monthly when upstream dependencies publish security updates. Timing attacks could theoretically expose an anonymous user's identity, though not message contents; the maker cannot guarantee privacy or anonymity and advises users to assess their risks.