GroupMe Alternatives for Clubs, Teams and Class Chats

GroupMe still works. The free group chat app, owned by Microsoft since Skype bought it in 2011, shipped version 16.30 in an October 2026 update. It has 4.7 stars from 1.6M ratings on the US App Store. The update added session management and new sports layouts in the Discover and Campus tabs.

The reasons to look elsewhere are practical. GroupMe's SMS mode, which lets members join by plain text message, works only in the United States. Friends abroad and international students need the app. Its future is also less clear than it was: after Skype closed on May 5, 2025, Wikipedia notes that GroupMe moved into the Microsoft AI division, with Copilot integration planned. The picks below are all free to start and fit the groups GroupMe usually serves: clubs, teams, classes, churches and friend groups.

Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

WhatsApp

Most GroupMe groups exist because someone could not get everyone onto the same app. WhatsApp removes that problem in most countries, since your members probably have it already. WhatsApp's privacy page says personal chats and group messages are end-to-end encrypted, which GroupMe does not offer.

Groups hold up to 1,024 people, and Communities let an admin tie several groups together under one announcement channel, useful for a school with a group per class. Apps run on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web. Our WhatsApp alternatives page covers groups that want to avoid Meta.

Best for: Friend groups, families and international clubs where nobody wants to install a new app.

Pricing:

• Free
• No paid plan for personal use

Watch out for:

• A phone number is still required to register. Username reservations opened on June 29, 2026, but they roll out country by country.
• Meta shows ads in the Updates tab (Status and Channels) since its June 16, 2025 announcement. Personal chats and groups stay ad-free.

Official site: WhatsApp. Our listing: WhatsApp.

BAND

Built by NAVER, BAND treats each group as a small website. There is a chat, but also a shared calendar with RSVPs and event sign-up sheets, polls, to-do lists, photo albums and live streaming. It has 4.7 stars from about 74K ratings on the US App Store, and version 31.1.1 came out in November 2026.

For a youth soccer team or a church volunteer list, the calendar is the reason to move. In GroupMe a practice time gets buried under fifty messages. In BAND it sits on the calendar with a list of who said yes.

Best for: Coaches, team parents and club organisers who plan events, not only chat.

Pricing:

• Free, with ads
• Ad-free for 30 days: $1.99 (US App Store)
• 100GB storage: $16.99 for 6 months or $33.99 for a year

Watch out for:

• The free app shows ads, and removing them is a $1.99 purchase that lasts only 30 days.
• A 2020 App Store review says a group of about 1,000 members was deleted without explanation after a 7-day account freeze. Keep member contacts somewhere else too.

Official site: BAND.

Discord

Discord fixes GroupMe's single-thread problem. A server can have separate text channels for announcements, rides, homework and memes, plus always-open voice channels where people drop in. A campus club of 800 people stays readable because each topic has its own place.

It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, and bots can post reminders, roles and polls. Free accounts got a bigger upload limit, 20MB, in August 2026. The Nitro page lists Nitro Basic at $2.99 a month with 50MB uploads.

Best for: Large student clubs, gaming groups and online communities that need channels and voice rooms.

Pricing:

• Free
• Nitro Basic: $2.99 a month, 50MB uploads
• Nitro: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (US App Store), 1GB uploads

Watch out for:

• Every account now starts with teen settings, and adults may need a face scan or ID to reach age-restricted content, per Discord's February 2026 announcement.
• Text messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Only audio and video calls are, since September 2024.

Official site: Discord.

Telegram

Telegram groups hold up to 200,000 members, forty times GroupMe's cap. For one-way news there are channels with unlimited subscribers, and since July 2026 Communities tie groups, channels and bots together. The FAQ covers both.

Chats live in Telegram's cloud, so a new phone or a laptop shows the full history at once. That solves the GroupMe complaint, in a 2021 App Store review, about chats vanishing after a reinstall.

Best for: Fan groups, alumni networks and big announcement lists that outgrow 5,000 members.

Pricing:

• Free
• Telegram Premium: $4.99 a month, $35.99 a year or $1.19 for one week (US App Store)
• Premium prices vary by country

Watch out for:

• Groups use server-client encryption, not end-to-end. Only one-to-one Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted.
• The Terms of Service set a minimum age of 18 in the EU, UK and Australia, which rules it out for many school groups there.

Official site: Telegram. Our listing: Telegram.

Signal

For a group where privacy matters, such as a support circle, an organising committee or a family, Signal encrypts everything end to end and is run by a nonprofit with no ads. Private groups hold up to 1,000 members and people join through a link or QR code, per Signal's group chat guide. The server keeps no record of who is in a group.

Apps cover Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Mac and Linux. Free secure backups keep all text plus 45 days of media, and $1.99 a month covers full media backup up to 100GB.

Best for: Small and medium groups that want encrypted chat and no advertising.

Pricing:

• Free, funded by donations
• Secure backups: free for text and 45 days of media; $1.99 a month for up to 100GB

Watch out for:

• Every member needs a phone number to sign up. Usernames, added in February 2024, only hide your number from people who have not saved it.
• No calendar, no polls tied to events and no SMS mode. It is a messenger, not a group organiser.

Official site: Signal. Our listing: Signal.

Slack

Student organisations and volunteer groups that run projects often outgrow chat and end up on Slack. Work happens in named channels, threads keep side conversations out of the main feed, and up to 10 apps such as Google Drive or a calendar connect on the free plan.

The free plan is the catch. The pricing page says messages are saved and searchable for 90 days, and huddles are one-to-one only. Pro costs $7.25 per user a month billed yearly, which adds up quickly for a 200-person club.

Best for: Hackathon teams, student government and nonprofits that organise work in channels.

Pricing:

• Free: 90 days of message history, 1:1 huddles, up to 10 apps
• Pro: $7.25 per user a month billed yearly, $8.75 monthly
• Business+: $15 per user a month billed yearly, $18 monthly

Watch out for:

• Per-user pricing makes paid plans expensive for big social groups, and the free plan hides messages older than 90 days.
• It is built for work. Members expect GroupMe-style memes and photos, and Slack feels formal for that.

Official site: Slack.

Microsoft Teams (free)

Microsoft already offers a second free group app. The free version of Teams for home includes group chat, Communities for groups and audiences, and video meetings, which GroupMe lacks. The Teams free page lists group calls of up to 60 minutes with up to 100 participants, and 5GB of cloud storage per user.

It is the replacement Microsoft gave Skype users in May 2025. If your group already uses a Microsoft account for school, members can sign in without creating anything new.

Best for: Study groups and committees that need a weekly video call next to the chat.

Pricing:

• Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes, up to 100 participants, 1:1 calls up to 30 hours, 5GB storage per user

Watch out for:

• Group calls end at 60 minutes on the free plan, so a long meeting needs a new link.
• Microsoft does not publish a group size limit for Teams Free, so test with your full member list before you move a big group.

Official site: Microsoft Teams (free).

How to choose

When to stay with GroupMe

Stay with GroupMe if your group is in the US and some members refuse to install anything. Its SMS mode lets them take part by plain text, and none of the picks above does that. Groups of up to 5,000 members are allowed by default, per GroupMe support, and the October 2026 update shows Microsoft is still investing in it, at least in the Campus tab.

Frequently asked questions