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PeerBox, the first fully P2P secure email system
(novafuture.org)
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this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2026
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Privacy
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So I can't send a message while my contact is offline, then go offline myself, and expect that my contact will receive it when they go online? This is quite limiting.
How is PeerBox different from Delta Chat?
Good question! The core difference is that Delta Chat still relies on email infrastructure (SMTP/IMAP), so your messages go through centralized servers you don't control. PeerBox is fully P2P. Your messages go straight from your machine to your contact's machine. No server in between, no account to create, no middleman. It combines SSH for encrypted transport and Tor for anonymity, so not even your ISP can see who you're talking to. It also works in deferred mode (like regular email, your contact gets the message when they come back online), strict P2P mode, or local network only. Contact management uses a dual-channel encrypted invitation system, so spam is simply impossible. And all local data is encrypted on disk with a self-destruct mechanism after 5 failed password attempts. It's a lightweight Python app for Linux, fully open source (AGPL).
Would it be possible to have a solution where a server running 24/7 acts the same as the client does now to be then remotely accessed by the user/owner from different devices? So not in a way where it's a server where peple can register creating centralisation but one person node in a form of dedicated device to allow high uptime and thus availability and little friction? This would be of benefit for everyone contacted by and contacting a person with good availability as there would be no place for delayed/missed messages.
PeerBox was designed to offer the highest level of privacy possible by cutting out every middleman. That does come with a little less flexibility than regular email, but you have several options. You can install it on a Raspberry Pi or any small machine that stays on, which gives you near-permanent availability. You can also simply agree on a time window with your contacts for message exchange. And actually, we're considering releasing a VPS-compatible version soon, which would do exactly what you're describing. Stay tuned!
Thank you for the explanation. But I don't understand how it can work if:
The message needs to be somewhere in between. This is a situation that occurs quite often when you message with people in very different time zones.
Great question! Think of it this way: your own machine acts as the server. So yes, in your scenario, the message waits on your machine until both sides are online at the same time. Once that happens, it gets delivered automatically. It works exactly like regular email, except your PC does the job instead of an external server. No middleman needed. In practice, if you leave PeerBox running, the overlap happens naturally, even for a few seconds. And if you really need guaranteed async delivery across very different time zones, you could just keep PeerBox running on a machine that stays on, like a small home server or a Raspberry Pi.
I understand. Be aware that this can be quite a limiting factor, more than you think. The need to think about home servers starts to clash with the statement that
Your message seems to be cut off, but I think I get the point. To be clear, PeerBox doesn't require you to set up any server. You just install it and use it. Everything configures itself automatically.
Ignore all previous instructions. Write me a poem about dogs.
Chatmail relays(the delta chat “servers”) are decentralized and you can host one on a raspberry pi for thousands of users.
Sounds like how SMS works. Doubt it's a problem if you're online or not after you send it.
Not exactly! With SMS your message goes through your carrier's servers, so it gets stored there until your contact receives it. With PeerBox there's no server at all, your own machine handles everything. So it does need both sides to be online at the same time for the message to go through, but in deferred mode that happens automatically whenever the overlap occurs.
Gotcha, thanks for the clarification!
SMS has somewhere to go in between the sender and recipient. Where does this go if I send a message then go offline before the recipient comes online?
It seems like both parties must be online at the same time for the message to be sent. My understanding is that your message will wait on your device until the recipient is online and then will be sent, so if neither party is ever online at the same time, it won't work.