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 Tox.

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. Messenger for Desktop is a wrapper for the official client messenger.com. Therefore it works like a regular browser which can only navigate to the messenger.com web app. MFD doesn't touch your messages, account or personal data. All that is handled securely by Facebook.

    84 Messenger for Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Bundleware

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
  2. 0xchat icon
     4 likes

    0xchat is a secure chat app built on the Nostr protocol. It prioritizes security, featuring private key login, encrypted private chats and contacts, encrypted group chats.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Mac
    • BSD
     
  3. Tencent QQ icon
     27 likes

    QQ is a widely used Chinese instant messaging service developed by Tencent, offering chat, voice, and video communication. It integrates social networking features like groups, forums, and customizable avatars to enhance user interaction.

    53 Tencent QQ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    • Facebook
     
  4. GroupMe icon
     22 likes

    Group messaging platform owned by Microsoft. It's absolutely free, whether you're talking to a group of friends, or texting with one person. Best of all, it works on nearly every phone, via push or SMS. With GroupMe, it's easy to reach anyone, anytime, anywhere.

    43 GroupMe alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Android Wear
     
  5. Speek! icon
     12 likes

    Speek! is the first messenger that is anonymous and censorship-resistant by design. Speek! messenger encrypts all messages and is secure, private and decentralized.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
     
  6. VeilidChat icon
     4 likes

    VeilidChat is a 1-to-1, person-to-person text only chat application which serves as a technology demonstration for the Veilid application development framework. All communication is end to end encrypted, authenticated, private routed, and peer-to-peer. It's currently in early beta.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
     
  7. Zalo icon
     1 like

    Zalo is a Vietnamese instant messaging multi-platform service developed by VNG Corporation.

    25 Zalo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Mac
    • Online
     
  8. Kontalk is a secure instant messenger, allowing you to send and receive text, image and voice messages (other file types coming soon) to and from other Kontalk users completely free of charge.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
     
  9.  2 likes

    A fork of Signal for Android with proprietary Google binary blobs removed. Uses OpenStreetMap for maps and a websocket server connection, instead of Google Maps and Firebase Cloud Messaging.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid
     
  10. Valour icon
     7 likes

    Valour is an open-source, privacy focused alternative to platforms like Discord or Slack, developed by a small team of volunteers. The app has been in development for over three years and is currently in it's alpha stages of testing.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Online
     
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