Qunai

is a decentralized privacy network — combines messaging, calls and VPN — prohibits targeted ads, analytics and tracking — anonymizes your entire device's traffic — is built for the quantum era — reduces latency with smarter routing

Overview

Anonymous communications — Post-Quantum security — Reduces latency with smarter routing — No one knows what you do on the internet — Security for all your devices — Private and anonymous data transmission — Secures communications of your entire device — Prohibits targeted ads, analytics and tracking

Our Mission and what Qunai is

Qunai is a cross-platform Messenger and VPN app with the goal of making your activity on the internet truly private by utilizing an anonymizing distributed network

Completely private and anonymized data transmission

Qunai secures your data from unauthorized access and makes targeted advertising and analytics practically impossible - meaning no one knows who you are, when you do what on the internet or with whom

Nobody, not even the developers of Qunai, let alone big tech companies, can access or sell your data without an explicit action from you - the power over your data is only in your hands

Fiberglass-like internet connection speeds everywhere, nonstop

Qunai implements an extremely efficient method of data transmission that accelerates and stabilizes your internet connection and additionally prevents ISP throttling

Supercomputer-resistant security

Qunai automagically end-to-end encrypts all your data transmission in a completely secure and unreadable manner and truly anonymizes it at the same time

(This is in contrast to most other services that only promise end-to-end encryption and anonymization but implement something entirely different)

Features

encrypted Messenger — high-speed VPN — anonymizing distributed network

Network

Data transmission with Qunai

The entire app utilizes the anonymizing Qunai Network

All data transmission inside the app is realized by our self-designed QDP (Qunai Datagram Protocol) and QTP (Qunai Transmission Protocol) protocols, which extend the functionality of the most used transmission protocols worldwide, UDP and TCP

They not only add anonymization but also diminish the weak points of their predecessors

QDP and QTP also implement our extension of Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), Perpetual Perfect Forward Secrecy (PPFS)

This makes it impossible to spy on your chats, messages, contacts, images or eavesdrop on your calls, unlike other apps where this is easily possible

Coming soon: Qunai on your entire device with Qunai VPN Gateway

Activate Qunai on your entire system - this means that all data transmissions of your entire device are sent with Qunai and thus optimally protected and anonymized

This adds the security, privacy and anonymity of Qunai to all your services

You can also choose your country of origin from the Internet’s point of view - this way you can access protected content from Netflix, Burning Series, Disney+ and more

... and even more is planned

Chats

Why use multiple messengers when you can have them all in one - Qunai Seamless Messaging

With Qunai Seamless Messaging you can import your phone contacts and message them even if they do not have Qunai

Soon it will be possible to use contacts and chats from other messengers as well

Bye-Bye Phishing and Spam

By utilizing self-renewing anonymous ContactIDs instead of public phone numbers or email addresses, you decide who can message or call you

We wish your current spammers the best of luck in trying to find out your self-renewing anonymous ContactID

Have you ever seen a movie set in the future where the protagonist has to deal with phishing or spam? — UGH, that's so 2023

Messages and Calls

Unrestrictive by default

Combine voice messages with images, text and references or send multiple videos, images and audios together in one message - for more creative freedom in messaging

Never again will you see: "Attachment(s) too large, you can only send a max of <small number like 5 or so> MB"

The supported attachment size is {{MAX_ATTACHMENT_SIZE}}MB for each individual message - so you can send around {{MAX_ATTACHMENT_SIZE}} images or videos per message

Coming soon: Voice and Video Calls

Anonymous voice and video calls - Qunai security and privacy in all your calls

Coming soon: Send to an offline contact

As your privacy is one of our main concerns, it is currently only possible to receive messages when both communication partners are online

This way your data is not stored on just any extraneous server, as with other services but remains with you until you are both online

We currently recommend to stay online to be able to receive messages as soon as they are sent - soon this will not be necessary anymore

Personalization

Decide how your App looks

Personalize the look and feel of your app for you and all your contacts

Custom naming

Choose the name you want your contacts to see you by - because you are anonymous, you can use your real name without worry, and you will never receive the annoying "This name is already taken" alert

Name your contacts however you want, independent of how they have named themselves

Storage and Authentication

Local Qunai In-App Storage

Unlike all other common apps, Qunai autonomously encrypts all of your data in the app using your Qunai AccessKey - no need to rely on your device to store your data securely and inaccessibly, Qunai takes care of that for you

Only for attachments you decide: Encrypted Qunai In-App Storage or your device's file system

This is the reason we do not require a complicated GDPR because Qunai has no business with your data

Secure automatic and manual unlocking with Qunai AccessKey

Unlocking works automagically via your device's "Secure Hardware Storage" or by typing your PIN (manual), both utilizing your Qunai AccessKey

(Qunai spares you from having to manually enter your AccessKey and thereby practice typing for half an hour)

Coming soon: Automate your logins with Qunai Remote-Sign-In without losing security

Qunai can automagically and anonymously authenticate you with all services that support Qunai Remote-Sign-In no matter on which platform

And if you ever run out of magic, you will receive a notification with which you will be able to replenish it — easy, right?

Did you really think we would be using concepts from the past century like passwords, email or SMS in the future?

... and even more is planned

Automation

Coming soon: Qunai API for developers

Integrate Qunai, including all additional modules, into your software to enhance it with ultimate privacy, security and speed and simultaneously utilize our multi-platform libraries

Focus on your area of expertise, while we cover the rest

Coming soon: Qunai CLI for tech experts

Use and control Qunai from the command line — who needs a UI anyway (hint: we do)

Coming soon: Qunai Messaging API for developers

Integrate Qunai Messaging API in your software and benefit from automated messaging, calls and more

Knowledge Hub

Who Qunai is for

Qunai is built for people who value privacy, security, and control over their digital communication. It is designed for users who want an alternative to identity-based and centralized communication platforms.

Solutions to your problems

Why phone numbers and email are a privacy problem

Most messaging platforms use a phone number or email address as your identity. While convenient, these identifiers are closely tied to your real-world identity and often remain the same for years.

Once linked to any online account, they become a permanent identifier that can be used to build contact graphs, correlate activity across services, and reveal relationships between people—even when message contents are encrypted.

Qunai does not require a phone number or email address. Instead, every account is identified by an anonymizing ID, allowing communication without exposing personal contact information.

How Qunai protects your privacy - short version

What data is stored and why

Qunai is designed to collect as little information as possible.

For paid subscriptions, we are legally required to retain certain payment records for accounting and tax purposes.

To provide our services, we also store the anonymizing ID associated with your account together with information about your active subscriptions or purchased services.

We do not require a phone number or email address to create an account and everything else is stored exclusively on your device.

How the anonymizing ID works

Each account has a public/private cryptographic key pair generated on your device. The public key serves as your anonymizing ID and is not tied to a phone number, device identifier, or email address.

Can Qunai read my messages

No. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be read by Qunai. Our communication protocols are also designed to substantially minimize the metadata that can reveal when or between whom communication occurs.

How account recovery works

Qunai continuously maintains a local backup that can also be exported manually. If the app is reinstalled on the same device, or the backup is imported onto another device, your account state can be restored.

What metadata can Qunai see

Qunai uses standard Internet communication protocols, which means some network-level metadata is still visible, such as source IP address, packet timing, and packet size.

Qunai vs Others

Qunai vs Whatsapp & Others and Nord VPN & Others - Why centralized services have severe limitations
Main purpose

Most mentioned competitors provide either a centralized messaging service or a centralized network tunnel, while Qunai is designed as a privacy-focused distributed network.

Trust model

Centralized services require users to trust the provider's infrastructure and policies. Qunai is designed around a zero-trust approach that minimizes the information any individual party can access.

Architecture

Qunai uses a distributed network architecture while all mentioned competitors are centralized services - Centralized services rely on provider-controlled infrastructure to route communication. This creates a central point where connection metadata and service activity can potentially be observed. Qunai's architecture distributes this responsibility across the network, significantly reducing the information available to any single party.

Anonymous identity

Among the mentioned services, Qunai is the only one designed around a cryptographic identity that is not inherently tied to a phone number, email address, or other personal identifier.

End-to-end encryption

Qunai integrates end-to-end encryption directly into its communication architecture. It uses a Double-Ratchet-based design and extends traditional perfect forward secrecy with an additional mechanism we call perpetual perfect forward secrecy.

Metadata and business model

Our business model is based on subscriptions and donations whereas the main business model of Whatsapp is their metadata ecosystem. Telegram and Discord offer subscriptions and extra services. The difference to Qunai is that the other services may always collect your data, no matter if you purchase or not. The architecture of Qunai substantially limits the metadata we could collect even if we wanted to - no need for a no-log policy when you cannot log anything.

This comparison may change over time, please refer to each provider's documentation for the latest technical details

Qunai vs Tor
Main purpose

Both provide a private distributed network.

Trust model

Tor generally does generally have a zero-trust model but its centralized management system inhibits this, whereas Qunai actually implements zero-trust during routing.

Architecture

Both Qunai and Tor use distributed network architectures designed to reduce reliance on centralized intermediaries. Tor focuses primarily on anonymous traffic routing through a volunteer-operated relay network, while Qunai is designed as a privacy-focused network infrastructure with additional communition capabilities.

Anonymous identity

Both allow users to communicate without relying on traditional personal identifiers. Qunai provides a cryptographic identity that is not inherently tied to traditional identifiers such as phone numbers or email addresses.

End-to-end encryption

Tor encrypts traffic between users and Tor relays, while applications using Tor are responsible for their own end-to-end encryption. Qunai integrates end-to-end encryption directly into its communication architecture. Only Qunai exends the Double-Ratchet/Signal Protocol.

metadata and business model

Tor is free while Qunai is a paid service.

This comparison may change over time, please refer to each provider's documentation for the latest technical details

Answers to your concerns

Why you should use Qunai even if your friends are not there

Unlike traditional messengers, Qunai does not require both users to already have an account before communication can begin. With Qunai Seamless Messaging, you can communicate with people outside the Qunai network while keeping your privacy-focused communication model.

Why Qunai is trustworthy

Qunai open source

As a newly launched startup, we're currently focusing our resources on product development. We intend to open-source components of Qunai as the project matures and we establish a sustainable user base.

Qunai cryptography audit

This audit is currently in progress.

Qunai annual penetration test

This penetration test is scheduled for fall 2026.

Qunai technical security whitepaper

The Qunai technical security whitepaper is currently in development and is expected to be published in fall 2026.

Qunai NIS2 and GDPR compliance

Qunai is designed to comply with applicable GDPR requirements and relevant NIS2 security principles. We have internally reviewed our systems and processes to align with these requirements and will continue improving our compliance as the project grows.

Monetary questions

Is there a free version of Qunai?

Yes. In the future, users will have the option to participate in Qunai's infrastructure and use the service without subscription costs.

Currently, to be able to offer our services without the option of selling your data, you can use Qunai for a small fee - we do not want to fund Qunai by monetizing user data.

How can Qunai be so inexpensive?

We believe that everyone should be able to afford privacy - nobody should be forced to sell their data to be able to use services.

This is why we keep our prices as low as possible.

Does Qunai slow down my Internet?

Qunai is designed to minimize performance impact. Depending on network conditions, your connection may remain similar, improve, or occasionally become slightly slower.

Guides

How to optimally use Qunai

Qunai Messenger

Because your privacy is one of our main concerns it is currently only possible to receive messages when both communication partners are online - this way your data will not be stored on any extraneous server, in contrast to other services.

We recommend to stay online to be able to receive messages as soon as they are sent - soon this will obviously not be necessary anymore.

In addition we recommend to only accept chat invites from people you know - for this the option "auto‑accept" under "Invites" can be deactivated.

Coming soon: Qunai VPN Gateway

You should always keep Qunai VPN Gateway active, to ensure your data is secure at all times.

It is especially important to utilize Qunai during activities that require privacy, e.g. chatting, phone calls, online browsing, online banking and social media.

During online activities that are public - like Gaming or Streaming - you should use Qunai only if it makes your Internet faster and/or more stable.

With Qunai VPN Gateway active you can even connect to all WiFi networks without worry, even if they are known to be malicious or insecure.

Founders - about us

Hi, we are Qunai

We are a small team of tech enthusiasts based in Austria. We mostly have a software engineering, networking and cybersecurity backgrounds but some of us also come from different backgrounds. What we do have in common though is the belief that privacy should be accessible to everyone.

Why Qunai was built

During our studies of computer science and networking, we came to understand an important limitation of today's Internet. While technologies such as TLS have made communication confidential by encrypting data in transit, they do not eliminate one of the Internet's fundamental characteristics: communication requires identity. Devices and services must know where information comes from and where it should be delivered, creating metadata that can reveal who is communicating with whom.

Over the years, this metadata has become extremely valuable. It powers advertising, analytics, profiling, and many of the online services people use every day.

We built Qunai to challenge this assumption. Instead of treating identity as a requirement for secure communication, Qunai is designed to minimize the amount of identifying information needed while combining end-to-end encryption with a distributed network architecture.

Our mission is to make private communication accessible to everyone—not only those with advanced technical knowledge or large budgets, but anyone who believes privacy should be the default.