Rainbow vs Wire (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Rainbow grades higher than Wire: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Rainbow grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Wire grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Wire
End-to-end encrypted messaging and calls for organizations
Free plan · from €7.45/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Rainbow if
- Fits if your company already runs Alcatel-Lucent phones and wants chat on top
- Works for organisations that need to choose where their data sits
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price on the page, as none is published
- Not for you if you are one person or a very small team, since it targets organisations
- Too light on detail for licences, because it is unclear which features come with which one
- Watch out: no trial or free plan is listed
Pick Wire if
- Fits if your messages, calls and files all have to be end-to-end encrypted
- Works for government bodies or regulated firms that need chat on their own servers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want your chat wired into other tools, as no integrations or public API are on record
- Tight if you're staying free, with 5 team members and no conference calls beyond 2 participants
- Not for you if a well-rated phone app matters, going by its 3.07 from 920 App Store ratings
- Watch out: browser calling works only in Chrome, and the Linux app is an experimental community build
- Pricey if you budget in dollars or pass 100 people, as prices are in euros only and bigger teams need an Enterprise quote
How we grade them
| 2.2GPARainbowFair | 2.0GPAWireFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price on the pages read, so it sits in the middle. It is sold through the vendor. | CWire for SMB is €7.45 a person a month paid annually, €8.94 monthly, which is about what team chat costs, and single sign-on and SCIM are in from that first paid plan. Prices are published in euros only, and NGOs can apply for 40% off. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial are listed anywhere on the pages read. | CWire for Free stops at 5 people, and the harder limit is that it cannot start a conference call with more than 2 participants. You do get the essentials on every platform and up to 8 devices. Past five of you, it's the paid plan, as there's no trial listed. |
| Features | BChat, meetings, telephony, AI services, a Teams connector and developer APIs. The pages do not say which features come with which licence. | CEverything is end-to-end encrypted on the MLS protocol, messages, calls and files alike, with conferences up to 150, Wire Drive for documents, guests joining from a browser and on-premises or hybrid deployment. The listing's own note: calling in a browser works only in Chrome. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A platform sold to organisations means a deployment to set up. | D3.07 from 920 App Store ratings, which is poor by any reading: nearly as many reviewers left one star as five. The Linux desktop app is an experimental community build, and browser calling is Chrome-only, so somebody is sorting out what people run it on. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps, APIs and SDKs, and a Microsoft Teams connector. | BWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, up to 8 devices each, and federation so separate Wire backends talk to each other. But there are no integrations on record at all and no public API listed, so it doesn't join up with the rest of your tools. |
| Best for | firms wanting chat, meetings and business phone in one | end-to-end encrypted chat and calls for organisations |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Rainbow and Wire. How we grade
Where they differ
- Wire is open source, self-hostable and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Wire also covers file sharing.
In commonWebmacOSWindowsiOSAndroidTeam chatVideo calls
At a glance
| Rainbow | Wire | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | €7.45 per person / month, paid annually |
| Free plan | None | Wire for Free: teams of up to 5 people with collaboration essentials on all platforms and up to 8 devices. It cannot start conference calls with more than 2 participants. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise | Wire Swiss GmbH |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | wire.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Rainbow
- No prices are published on the pages read; pricing is unverified and likely sold through Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.
- The vendor describes an a la carte service, so which features come with which licence is not stated on the pages read.
- Rainbow is aimed at organizations, not individuals or very small teams.
Wire
- Prices are listed in euros only.
- Wire for Free stops at 5 team members and cannot start a conference call with more than 2 participants.
- The SMB plan covers teams of up to 100 people; larger organizations need a custom Enterprise quote.
- The Linux desktop app is a community-supported experimental build, and browser calling works only in Chrome.
Key features
Rainbow
- Chat and collaboration
- Enterprise messaging and collaboration sit in the same app as business telephony and meetings.
- AI services
- The vendor lists transcription, summaries, real-time translation and an AI reception agent as included in the licence.
- Flexible deployment
- Runs as public cloud, on top of an existing PBX or as a private cloud, for 5 to 100,000 users according to the vendor.
- Data location and certifications
- The vendor lists 15 data centres worldwide and certifications including ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA and C5.
- Microsoft Teams connector
- A telephony connector pairs Rainbow with Microsoft Teams, and APIs and SDKs support custom integrations.
- Apps for each platform
- The vendor's pages list a web application plus apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.
Wire
- Encrypted messaging
- Group and 1:1 conversations with search, reactions, sketches, audio and video messages and self-deleting messages, all end-to-end encrypted with MLS.
- Calls and conferences
- Audio and video conferencing for up to 150 participants on web, desktop and mobile, with screen sharing and moderation tools such as muting participants.
- Wire Drive
- Integrated file management and online document collaboration, with files kept inside conversations tied to verified group membership.
- Guests and externals
- Externals are team members with limited access rights, while guests can join a conversation from a web browser without an account.
- Cloud, on-premises or hybrid
- Wire can be deployed in its cloud, on your own infrastructure or both, and federation lets separate Wire backends interact as if they were one.
- SSO, SCIM and admin controls
- Paid plans add SAML-based single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, administrative controls and feature configurations such as restricting file sharing.
Plans
Rainbow
Pricing could not be confirmed. See openrainbow.com.
Wire
Wire for Free€0
For small teams of up to 5 people: collaboration essentials on all platforms and up to 8 devices.
Wire for SMB€7.45
per person / month, paid annually (€8.94 paid monthly)
Teams of up to 100 people. Video conferences with up to 150 participants, SSO and SCIM, administrative controls, and external and guest roles.
Wire for EnterpriseCustom
More than 100 people. Federation with Wire Cloud, ID Shield, full deployment support, data sovereignty and multi-tenancy.
Ways to pay less
Rainbow
No public discounts listed.
Wire
- Annual discount
About 17% less with annual payment
Wire for SMB costs €7.45 per person / month with annual payment against €8.94 with monthly payment.
- Nonprofit
40% discount for NGOs
Wire's pricing FAQ says it offers NGOs a 40% discount, applied for by contacting the company.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Rainbow or Wire?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Rainbow has no price we could confirm, and Wire starts at €7.45 per person / month, paid annually.
Which has a free plan, Rainbow or Wire?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wire has a free plan. Rainbow does not.
Which platforms do Rainbow and Wire run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wire lists a Linux app. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.