Voice Chats
For those that prefer speaking to others using their voice instead of over text, these apps are incredibly convenient. The ability to hold voice calls over the Internet can oftentimes save a lot of money as opposed to traditional phone calls. In fact, many voice chat services are now free!
Some of the most popular free voice chat apps, such as Skype and WhatsApp, provide higher quality audio and the ability to call anyone in the world also using those services for free. It’s no wonder why Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) software has become so popular on PCs and smartphones!
- Telegram is a messaging app created by former VK creators with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free. It is like SMS, but more powerful.
- Free • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- HUAWEI AppGallery
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Apple Watch
- Linux Mobile
- Android Wear
- PortableApps.com
- FreeBSD
- Signal is a messaging app with an unexpected focus on privacy, combined with all the features expected from a modern IM app. Signal has received a lot of praise from all around the world for its security and privacy-respecting technologies.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Ubuntu Touch
- Element is a secure collaboration and messaging app based on the Matrix protocol. It’s decentralised to deliver digital sovereignty, and based on an open standard for easy connections and interoperability. It is end-to-end encrypted by default.
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Matrix.org
- Cloudron
- Whether you’re part of a school club, a gaming group, a worldwide art community, or just a handful of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to talk every day and hang out more often.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Electron / Atom Shell
- FreeBSD
- Playstation
- Jitsi (previously SIP Communicator) is an audio/video and chat communicator with full encryption that supports protocols such as SIP, XMPP/Jabber, ICQ/AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo!, GTalk/Hangouts extensions, as well as OTR, ZRTP, etc.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Go ahead, video chat with the whole team. In fact, invite everyone you know. Jitsi Meet is a fully encrypted, 100% open source video conferencing solution that you can use all day, every day, for free — with no account needed.
- Freemium • Open Source
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Apple Watch
- Skype is the most popular free voice-over IP and instant messaging service globally. It allows users to text, video and voice call over the internet. Users can also call landlines and mobiles at competitive rates using Skype credit, premium accounts and subscriptions.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Blackberry
- Chrome OS
- Windows S
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Android Wear
- PortableApps.com
- Matrix defines a set of open APIs for decentralised communication, suitable for securely publishing, persisting and subscribing to data over a global open federation of servers with no single point of control.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- WebRTC
- Python
- JavaScript
- Go (Programming Language)
- Cloudron
- Java
- Perl
- WhatsApp is an iPhone and Android messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS.
- Free • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Wear
- Wire is the most secure collaboration platform featuring messenger, voice, video, conference calls, file-sharing, and external collaboration –all protected by the most secure end-to-end-encryption.
- Free Personal • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- F-Droid
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Jami (formerly GNU Ring, SFLphone) positions itself as a potential free Skype replacement
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Mumble was the first and is the most successful and wide spread free and open source software for VoIP. It was the first VoIP software to provide low-latency audio suitable for gaming, and at the same time was a pioneer in high audio quality at the same time.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- iPhone
- BSD
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- PortableApps.com
- Cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, events, contact centers, VoIP cloud phones, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and on-site room systems.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- RetroShare is a open source cross-platform, private and secure decentralized communication system. It lets you to securely chat, share photos, videos, and more, using OpenPGP to authenticate peers and .
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- OpenSSL
- OpenPGP
- With Viber, everyone in the world can connect. Freely. More than 460 million Viber users text, make HD-quality phone and video calls, and send photo and video messages worldwide over WiFi or 3G - for free.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Windows S
- Android Tablet
- HUAWEI AppGallery
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Blackberry 10
- Apple Watch