Moving from Element to AChat
Chat for organisations, with a free Community edition and Enterprise and Sovereign options priced by seat or deployment. Choose Element if you're running chat for an organisation and want your own deployment. Choose AChat if it's for you and the people you keep up with, and you want to start in a browser with nothing to set up.
Last checked 2026-11-07. The full comparison is on AChat and Element.
How to move across
- Sign in to AChat and pick a username. It asks for no phone number.
- Tell the people you talk to on Element your username, or send them your link or QR code (personal chats and contacts).
- Save your recovery key somewhere only you can reach (devices and recovery). It's what brings your history back if you lose every device.
- Keep Element open until the people you need have moved. AChat doesn't import chats from other apps.
How they differ
| Feature | AChat | Element |
|---|---|---|
| Sign up without a phone number | Yes | Yes (their page) |
| End-to-end encryption on personal chats | Yes | Not stated on the pages we checked |
| History comes back on a new device | Partly | Not stated on the pages we checked |
AChat has no voice or video calls. Your encrypted history comes back only with another linked device or your recovery key. Lose both, and nobody can restore it, including us.
What they charge
| Plan | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | their page |
| Enterprise | Not stated | their page |
AChat's plans are on the pricing page.
Check it yourself: Element website.