When comparing Linphone vs Facebook Messenger, the Slant community recommends Linphone for most people. In the question“What are the best Skype alternatives?” Linphone is ranked 14th while Facebook Messenger is ranked 37th. The most important reason people chose Linphone is:
Free and Open Source.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro FOSS
Free and Open Source.
Pro Work well with FritzBox router
Pro Great SIP support
Basically every SIP provider supported.
Pro Simplistic and clean UI
Over the years, its UI has changed and improved by a lot.
Pro Chat head for quick access
Only for android platform though!
Cons
Con UI not very intuitive
Implementation of Contacts and missing calls are not very intuitive.
Splitted View (left Contacts, right Call-History) would be much better as current look&feel.
UI don't mind the "less clicks are better" philosophy. It looks a bit thrown together. Some Icons here, some there.. no navigation strategy are used (like known from webpages)
Con Limited to flatpack installs
Yet another container service to keep up with.
Con Doesn't ring on incoming calls
Even if the Audio-File exists and can be played in the Settings-Dialog, it doesn't ring for an incoming call. Worked some time ago, currently not.
Con No Plugins available to add external Address-Books for contacts
would be nice to be able to add NextCloud, GoogleContacts or other Cloud-Services, or just an local Address-Book (like Thunderbird)
Con Up-to-date version in 2020 can only be compiled from source
There is either an outdated version in Ubuntu repos, official flatpak install has been broken for over 6 months, so you're left with compiling from source.
Con Owned by Facebook
Con Cluttered user interface
Messenger has so many features accessible from one page that it is often difficult to find what you're looking for.
Con End-to-end encryption only in "Secret" conversations
If you want e2e encryption, you need to start a secret conversation.
Con Not very customizable
With so many features in one app, it's very possible you might not be a fan of at least one of them. Too bad you can't disable anything in settings.