Use case
A chat that's off the record because there's no record
The phrase has always been an agreement between two people, not a setting. FadeChats makes the medium match it: no account, a link that works once, and a room for two that expires on its own.
Go off the record
Go off the record"Off the record" is a promise about the record
The phrase comes from journalism, where it means something precise: a source tells a reporter something on the condition that it isn't printed with their name on it. It works because two people agreed to it, and holds because one of them keeps their word. There has never been a button for it.
Which is why typing "this is off the record" into a Slack thread accomplishes almost nothing. An employer can export a workspace, direct messages included, without telling anyone in it. WhatsApp and iMessage are better, but both back up by default and the thread still sits on the other person's phone. The sentence is a sticky note on a permanent file.
The fix isn't a stronger promise. It's a medium that can't take notes. FadeChats opens a room for two in the browser: no account, an invite link that admits one person once, and messages that travel straight from your browser to theirs. When you stop talking the room expires, and no copy exists anywhere to go looking for.
Where an off-the-record conversation usually leaks
| Work Slack or Teams | WhatsApp or iMessage | FadeChats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can pull it up months later | Any workspace admin, via export | Anyone holding either phone, or its backup | Nobody — no copy exists to pull |
| Cloud backup | Yes, kept as long as company policy says | Usually on, often without you choosing it | Nothing is written down, so nothing is backed up |
| Attached to your identity | Your work account and legal name | Your phone number | No account, no phone number, no profile |
| Lifespan after you stop typing | Indefinite, and searchable | Until someone deletes it on every device | About 10 minutes, then the room is gone |
| The other person screenshotting | Possible | Possible | Possible — no tool anywhere prevents this |
Typical defaults as of August 2026; workspace and backup settings vary by organisation.
Taking one conversation off the record
- Open the room
It exists the moment the page loads. No install, no email, no password — the browser you already have is the entire client.
- Send the one-time link
Tap Invite and pass it along. It admits exactly one person, exactly once, and expires in about 10 minutes if nobody uses it.
- Say it, then let the room close
Text, images, GIFs and stickers go browser to browser. The room stays alive while you talk and fades shortly after you stop. Close the tab and you're done — there's nothing to delete.
What this covers, and what it plainly doesn't
- It is not OTR, the protocol
"Off-the-Record Messaging" is also an encryption protocol from 2004, used with XMPP clients like Pidgin and known for deniable authentication. FadeChats does not implement OTR — it uses the encryption built into the WebRTC data channel — and makes no deniability claim. If you need OTR proper, an XMPP client with the plugin is the right tool.
- It can't stop the person you're talking to
No software can. A screenshot, a second phone pointed at the screen, or an ordinary memory defeats every disappearing chat ever built, this one included. Copying and text selection are blocked inside the chat, which stops the lazy version and nothing beyond it. Off the record always depended on the other person.
- It hides what you said, not that you showed up
Your network can see that a browser connected to fadechats.app, the same as any site. And the invite link lives wherever you sent it — dropping it in a work email leaves a timestamped trace in a system your employer controls, even though not one word of the conversation is stored.
- It is not a Signal replacement for high-risk work
If you're a source facing a state-level adversary, use Signal with verified safety numbers and advice from someone who does this professionally. This is built for the enormous middle: the salary question, the medical worry, the candid read on a colleague that shouldn't become a document.
The honest recommendation
Keep your usual messenger for the conversations you want to keep. But when one specific exchange shouldn't outlive the day, don't annotate a permanent record with a promise — move it somewhere that has no record to annotate.
The record you never agreed to
Everything above is about the record you agree to make. There is one you never agreed to: the profile data brokers assembled from public records and purchases and put on a people-search page, where it sits whether or not you ever say another word online. No private conversation reaches it.
Disclosure: the link below is an affiliate link. If you subscribe through it, FadeChats earns a commission at no extra cost to you. FadeChats itself stays free, ad-free and account-free — this is what pays for the writing.
Optery searches hundreds of those sites for your profile, files the removals and re-scans monthly, since brokers re-list anyone whose record they can still sell. The free tier returns an exposure report with screenshots, so you see what is published before paying anything. Coverage is built for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
See your broker profile
Frequently asked questions
What does "off the record" actually mean?
It started as a journalism term: a source shares something on the condition that it isn't published with their name attached. It has always been an agreement between two people rather than a technical state — which is why saying it inside an app that keeps an exportable copy accomplishes little.
Is off the record messaging the same as OTR?
No. OTR is an encryption protocol from 2004 for XMPP clients, known for deniable authentication. FadeChats uses WebRTC's browser-to-browser encryption and claims no deniability. Most people searching the phrase mean the everyday sense, not the protocol.
Can an off the record chat be recovered or handed over later?
There's nothing to hand over: no server copy, no account, no history file — the conversation lives only in two open browser tabs, and once the room expires it is gone on both sides. The exception is anything the other person captured deliberately, which no tool can prevent.
Do I need an account, an app, or a phone number?
None of the three. Open the page in any browser and share the one-time invite link. It's free, with no ads and no premium tier.
Can one of us be on a phone and the other on a laptop?
Yes — it's a website, so any two modern browsers work. It is strictly two participants, though: no group version, no audio or video.