Wire review

Wire is an end-to-end encrypted collaboration platform for team messaging, calls, meetings, and file sharing. It also supports document collaboration, according to the published product information. The pitch is not just private chats: Wire combines encryption with administrative controls, SAML-based single sign-on, SCIM support, and deployment options for organizations with security or compliance needs.

The plans range from a free tier for small teams to custom-priced enterprise and on-premises options. The listed free plan covers up to five people and eight devices, with encrypted messaging, calls, and file sharing. Wire for SMB adds video conferences for up to 150 participants, SSO, and SCIM. Organizations with more than 100 people are directed to Enterprise, where federation, ID Shield, private cloud, and on-premises deployment are listed.

Wire puts several collaboration tools under one security model: encrypted messaging, calls, meetings, file sharing, and document collaboration. For teams that need to manage access rather than simply give everyone an app, the published feature list also names granular admin controls, SAML-based single sign-on, and SCIM.

The free tier offers a way to start without a subscription, though it is limited to five people and eight devices. For a larger team, Wire for SMB is listed at €7.45 per person per month with annual payment, or €8.94 with monthly payment. That plan supports up to 100 people, video conferences with up to 150 participants, SSO, and SCIM.

Wire also lists private cloud and on-premises deployment for Enterprise, as well as a separate On-Premises option. That gives organizations with deployment requirements a route to discuss, rather than assuming every team must use the same hosted setup. NGOs receive a listed 40% discount.

The main buying drawback is price visibility beyond SMB. Wire lists Enterprise for organizations with more than 100 people, but its price is custom and not published. The On-Premises plan also requires contacting sales, and the published pricing gives no figure. Partner pricing is custom, too. That makes it hard to compare larger deployments on cost before talking to sales.

The free tier is narrow for a growing organization: it stops at five people and eight devices. SMB raises the team cap to 100 people, but teams above that need Enterprise. Group size is capped at 500 on Free and 2,000 on SMB and Enterprise; those are separate from SMB’s 150-person video conference limit.

Support can add another unknown. Premium, Premium+, and Platinum list first-reply targets of 16 business hours, four business hours, and 24/7, respectively, but their prices are not published. We’d ask for a full quote covering deployment and support before treating Wire as a predictable-cost switch.

Wire has a free plan for teams of up to five people, with up to eight devices and encrypted messaging, calls, and file sharing. Its group-size cap is 500 people. For teams that need more seats or SSO and SCIM, Wire for SMB costs €7.45 per person per month with annual payment, or €8.94 with monthly payment. That plan covers up to 100 people and video conferences of up to 150 participants, and raises the maximum group size to 2,000.

That’s the key tier jump: a free plan capped at five people, then per-person billing for up to 100. Organizations with more than 100 people move to Enterprise, whose price is custom and not published. On-premises deployment is also a custom-priced option. Premium, Premium+ and Platinum support are optional, but their prices are not published; their listed response coverage ranges from a first reply within 16 business hours to 24/7 for Platinum. NGOs receive a 40% discount. Check the billing term before comparing quotes: monthly payment costs more per person than annual payment.

The published information describes Wire’s messaging, calls, file sharing and document collaboration, but does not specify migration tools, import steps or data-export formats. That leaves an important switching question unanswered: whether existing message history and files can move with you. Confirm what can be exported and imported, and test the process with representative data before committing. The source also does not state whether features or exports differ by plan.

For teams moving to Wire, check seat limits before rollout: Free covers up to five people, SMB up to 100, and larger organizations need custom Enterprise pricing. SSO and SCIM are listed for SMB; Enterprise adds federation and ID Shield, with private-cloud and on-premises deployment options. For teams leaving Wire, get written answers on data retention and export before ending a subscription. Those details are not published on the vendor's site. It contains no Reddit reports about migration problems or reasons users leave, so we can’t responsibly attribute a common cause to customers.