Encrypted Instant Messenger

If you are currently using an Instant Messenger like LINE, Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, or plain SMS messages you should pick an alternative here.

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Complete Comparison

securechatguide.org - Guide to Choosing a Messenger.
securemessagingapps.com - Secure Messaging Apps Comparison.
thinkprivacy.io - Simple Secure Messaging Apps Comparison.

Worth Mentioning

Briar - An ultra-secure peer-to-peer instant messenger that connects to contacts via Direct Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Tor over the internet, keeping its users protected from surveillance and censorship.
RetroShare - An E2E encrypted instant messaging and voice/video call client. RetroShare supports both TOR and I2P.
XMPP - Federated instant messaging protocol with OMEMO, OTR, or OpenPGP end-to-end encryption:

Conversations (Android) - An open source Jabber/XMPP client for Android 4.4+ smartphones. OMEMO
Gajim (FreeBSD, Linux, Windows) - An open source fully featured XMPP client. OMEMO
Monal (iOS, MacOS) - An XMPP client in active development. OMEMO
Other OMEMO ready clients.

Kontalk - A community-driven instant messaging network. Supports end-to-end encryption. Both client-to-server and server-to-server channels are fully encrypted.
Keybase - Warning End-to-end encrypted messaging with social verification.
Status - Experimental A free and open-source, peer-to-peer, encrypted instant messanger with support for DAPPs.
Ricochet - Danger Experimental Ricochet uses the Tor network to reach your contacts without relying on messaging servers. It creates a hidden service, which is used to rendezvous with your contacts without revealing your location or IP address.

Related Information

Updating the Tor binary included with Ricochet

Currently there are no known vulnerabilities with Ricochet. The software is safe to use as long as you update the included Tor binary to the latest version.

Download the Tor Browser.
Run the Tor Browser installer or extract package for your platform. Windows (.exe), MacOSX (.dmg) and Linux (.tar.bz2).
Copy the Tor binary or create a symbolic link to it:

Windows: Copy the Tor binary included with the Tor Browser and overwrite the old one included with Ricochet.

Tor Browser binary: %HOMEPATH%\Desktop\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Tor\tor.exe
Ricochet's included binary: %HOMEPATH%\Desktop\Ricochet\tor.exe

MacOSX: Assuming you copied the Tor Browser.app and Ricochet.app from their respective .dmg install media to /Applications:
Create a symbolic link to the Tor binary in Terminal. Ricochet will continue to use the up to date version of the Tor binary when you update the Tor Browser Bundle.

rm ~/Applications/Ricochet.app/Contents/MacOS/tor ln -s ~/Applications/Tor\ Browser.app/Contents/Resources/TorBrowser/Tor/tor \ ~/Applications/Ricochet.app/Contents/MacOS/tor

Linux: Assuming you extracted the Tor Browser Bundle and Ricochet tarball to your home directory:

rm ~/ricochet/tor ln -s ~/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Tor/tor ~/ricochet/tor