Signal spends tens of millions of dollars every year to provide its messenger service. Infrastructure alone costs about $14 million a year, with SMS registration fees as the largest item at $6 million, and Signal estimates it will need about $50 million a year by 2025. The post contrasts this with the multi-billion-dollar corporations whose business models directly contravene Signal’s privacy mission. The article aims to provide transparency into the costs of providing a privacy-preserving alternative to mainstream messaging apps. netzpolitik.org reports that user donations covered 25% of costs in the reporting period, so Signal still leans on large donors such as WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. It can be seen as a call to action to support the cause. Turns out not being the product comes with an invoice.
