Messenger Alternatives

Messenger is described as 'Offers group video calls, voice calls, and instant messaging with photo sharing, real-time notifications, and location mapping for seamless connectivity' and is a very popular instant messenger in the social & communications category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Messenger for a variety of platforms, including Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and iPad apps. The best Messenger alternative is Signal, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Messenger are Telegram, Element, Pidgin and WhatsApp.

filter to find the best alternatives

Messenger alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Video Calling Apps or Group Chat Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows Phone, EU, Open Source, Kindle Fire, Linux, Group Chat and Symbian S60. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Messenger.
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Messenger alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. WeChat icon
     109 likes

    WeChat is a complete mobile communication and private social networking app. Free, cross-platform, and full-featured, WeChat is the best way to keep in touch with everyone you care about.

    149 WeChat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Blackberry
    • Android Tablet
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
  2. LINE icon
     108 likes

    LINE is transforming the way people communicate, closing the distance between family, friends, and loved ones for free.

    145 LINE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Google Chrome
     
  3. Encrypted video meetings with unlimited participants, screen sharing, recording with secure storage, no data sale or registration, chat, reactions, calendar and background features, hosted entirely in Switzerland on renewable energy and compliant with strict privacy laws.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • F-Droid
     
  4. Movim icon
     53 likes

    Decentralized social and blog platform based on XMPP, enabling self-hosting, cross-network chat, video calls, and group collaboration. Users control and migrate their data, communicate across various networks, and access services from any node while preserving privacy and open-source principles.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
  5. Nextcloud Talk icon
     33 likes

    Self-hosted communication platform with secure audio, video, chat, web conferencing, screensharing, advanced encryption, and metadata privacy, running on user-controlled servers, supporting web and mobile apps, and eliminating third-party data exposure.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Nextcloud
    • F-Droid
    • Flatpak
    • Chocolatey
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Homebrew
     
  6. Empathy icon
     157 likes

    Empathy is a messaging program which supports text, voice, video chat, and file transfers over many different protocols. You can tell it about your accounts on all those services and do all your chatting within one application.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  7. Snikket icon
     10 likes

    Snikket is an ambitious project to build a new kind of XMPP-based messaging platform.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Docker
     
  8. Snapchat icon
     96 likes

    A playful and interactive multimedia messaging app offering ephemeral photo and video sharing. Control view time, get alerts for screenshots, and engage with friends through gamified interactions and video calls.

    127 Snapchat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Windows
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
     
  9. ChatSecure icon
     70 likes

    ChatSecure is a free and open source messaging app that features OTR encryption over XMPP. You can connect to your existing accounts on Facebook or Google, create new accounts on public XMPP servers(including via Tor), or even connect to your own server for extra security.

    114 ChatSecure alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
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