privacy

Signal all the way. From a security and usability perspective, you can't really go wrong with it.

Signal is large enough to have its own network effect now 🙁

First I've heard of Wire, but on the surface it looks pretty promising.

Personally I finally got most of my friends on Signal, so it will be a whole before I can get anyone to move to something else.

I'm familiar with Wire, and long story short, if you're already comfortable with Signal then there's no reason to switch over.

I was going to say that its benefits include allowing you to use it from a desktop first, but it seems they have pivoted towards businesses now, and it's not so clear how to make a personal account (or if you can).

Edit: looking for personal accounts on their Help page reveals instructions for deleting it or turning it into a Team account. Not promising.

SimpleX

Threema is also an option.