# Faction — we can’t read your messages.

[Faction Privacy First](/) [Open Faction](https://app.faction.chat) Company

# About Faction
Last updated: 2026-05-18

Faction is a privacy-first group-chat platform. Servers, channels, DMs, voice, and video — all end-to-end encrypted by default, with plugin channels as a first-class non-E2EE escape hatch that's clearly marked in the UI.

## Why

Group chat is the connective tissue of every community on the internet. The dominant platforms treat your conversations as inventory — to scan, to monetise, to hand over on request, to "train on", to use against you. Faction is the alternative for people who'd rather their community own its words.

"Privacy first" is not a mood. It is a constraint we accept in exchange for a guarantee: the server cannot read your messages. Every architectural decision either preserves that guarantee or is rejected. See the [whitepaper](/whitepaper) for how it actually works.

## What we ship

- End-to-end encrypted servers and channels. Group key agreement via MLS (RFC 9420).
- End-to-end encrypted direct messages. Signal Protocol — X3DH plus the Double Ratchet.
- End-to-end encrypted voice and video. SFrame frames keyed from the MLS group exporter.
- Password login that doesn't send the password. OPAQUE PAKE (RFC 9497), ristretto255 + TripleDH.
- A real cross-platform client. Tauri desktop on macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus a browser build that runs the same crypto crates compiled to WASM.
- A plugin model with an honest trust boundary. Plugin channels are explicitly non-E2EE and labelled — see whitepaper for the table.

## Who runs it

Faction Community, LLC is a North Carolina limited liability company. The product is built by a small founding team plus contributors via the public repository. Commercial questions go to [michael@faction.chat](mailto:michael@faction.chat).

## How we make money

Personal subscriptions (Initiate is free; Sentinel, Vanguard, and Founder are paid) and server tiers (Spark, Blaze, Inferno, Supernova). Billing goes through Stripe. The full breakdown is on the home page under [pricing](/#pricing).

What we explicitly do *not* do: ads, sponsored posts, data sales, "AI training" deals, third-party analytics. See [transparency](/transparency) for the verifiable version of that claim.

## License

Faction is source-available under [PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0](https://polyformproject.org/licenses/noncommercial/1.0.0/). You may use, modify, and redistribute Faction for any noncommercial purpose — personal use, research, education, hobby projects, charity, government. Commercial use requires a separate license; email [michael@faction.chat](mailto:michael@faction.chat).
Talk to us Press: [/press](/press).
Security: [/security](/security).
Everything else: [michael@faction.chat](mailto:michael@faction.chat).