Chat & connect — free messaging apps
Every app below is free to use and available on Android, iPhone and the web. Pick one your friends already use, or the one whose privacy suits you best.
Private & secure
- Signal — free and end-to-end encrypted by default, run by a non-profit. No ads, no tracking. The safest pick.
- WhatsApp — free, end-to-end encrypted, and the app most people already have.
- Google Messages — free RCS chat for Android, encrypted between Messages users.
Big & feature-packed
- Telegram — fast and free, with large group chats and channels (turn on Secret Chats for end-to-end encryption).
- Messenger — free chat and calls, handy if your friends are on Facebook.
- Discord — free voice, video and text, great for friend groups (see Communities).
Open & independent
- Element on the open Matrix network — free, encrypted and not owned by any single company.
- Mastodon — free, open social posting without ads or algorithms.
Voice & video calls
- Jitsi Meet — free, open-source video meetings with no account or install needed; just share a link.
- Google Meet and Zoom — free group video calls (the free tiers have time and size limits).
- On Apple devices, FaceTime and iMessage are free and built in — and most of the messaging apps above do voice and video calls too.
Not sure which to pick? The best chat app is simply the one
the people you want to reach already use — start there. Beginning fresh and care about privacy?
Choose Signal.
All free and legal. This page isn't affiliated with any of these services — the links just go to their official sites.