Apps Like Kik With Usernames and Public Groups

Kik still works. MediaLab owns it, the Google Play listing was last updated on September 23, 2026, and you still sign up with a username instead of a phone number. The audience is what changed. Kik's Terms of Service, updated February 5, 2025, say you must be at least 18, and the US App Store now rates it 18+.

So two groups are searching for apps like Kik. Adults who want username chat, interest groups or something like Kik Live, and younger users who are no longer allowed on it. Australia's eSafety Commissioner warns that some Kik groups labelled fashion or nature are used to advertise sexual services. Every pick below is a mainstream app with a published age rule, and anonymous stranger-chat apps are left out on purpose.

The list favours apps where you share a handle instead of a number, and apps with groups you can find and join. For broadcast channels see our Telegram alternatives, for privacy-first messengers see Signal alternatives, and for calls on weak connections see imo alternatives.

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

Quick comparison

Discord

Discord is the closest thing to Kik for people who stayed for the groups. Accounts run on a username, and the desktop sign-up asks for an email address, a username, a password and a date of birth, as an IONOS walkthrough shows. Communities live in servers with text channels and voice rooms. A server with at least 1,000 members that is at least 8 weeks old can apply for Server Discovery, Discord's built-in directory of public servers.

The minimum age is 13 in the US, 16 in Germany and Ireland, and 14 or 15 in a few other countries. Apps cover Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, plus PlayStation, Xbox and Meta Quest, per the download page. The paid Nitro plan lists HD video streaming and 1 GB uploads among its perks.

Best for: Former Kik users who joined for interest groups and want voice chat and moderation tools in the same app.

Pricing:

• Free account for chat, servers and voice
• Nitro Basic: $2.99 per month, 50 MB uploads
• Nitro: $9.99 per month, 1 GB uploads and HD video streaming
• The Nitro page says prices vary by country and lists no yearly price

Watch out for:

• Text messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Discord's September 2024 post on its DAVE protocol covers audio and video calls only.
• Age checks are in flux. Discord announced teen-by-default settings on February 9, 2026, then delayed the global age-assurance rollout to the second half of 2026.

Official site: Discord.

Telegram

Public groups on Telegram can reach 200,000 members, far beyond anything Kik offered. An optional @username lets people find you without your number, and by default your number is visible only to people who already have it in their contacts, per the Telegram FAQ. Usernames take letters, numbers and underscores and ignore case.

Channel owners can host live streams with an unlimited number of viewers, which is the nearest match to Kik Live here. Every official app is open source under GPL, from Android and iOS to Telegram Desktop and two web clients, as the apps page lists. Users in the EU, the UK and Australia must be 18 to sign up under the terms, and the US App Store rates it 13+. More options built around channels are on our Telegram alternatives page.

Best for: Anyone who wants large, searchable public groups and live streams with no viewer limit.

Pricing:

• Free for messaging, groups, channels and calls
• Telegram Premium: $4.99 per month or $35.99 per year on the US App Store
• Buying through @PremiumBot costs less than the app stores, and prices vary by region, per the Premium FAQ

Watch out for:

• Every account needs a mobile number. The FAQ says Telegram accounts can only be connected to a phone number.
• Groups are cloud chats with server-client encryption. Only one-to-one Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted, per the same FAQ.

Official site: Telegram. Our listing: Telegram.

Snapchat

Snapchat keeps the part of Kik where you hand someone a username and start talking. Snap's Terms, effective September 21, 2026, set the minimum age at 13, or higher where local law requires it, and say Snap may ask for age verification. Snapchat for Web adds chat and calls in a desktop browser.

Parents get a dashboard here. Family Center shows who a teen is chatting with, lists their friends and how they may know them, and lets a parent report accounts. It does not show the content of private chats. For a parent replacing Kik for a 13 to 17 year old, that oversight is the main reason to choose it.

Best for: Teens and families who want username chat with friends they know, plus parental visibility.

Pricing:

• Free
• Snapchat+: $4.99 per month on the US App Store
• Other in-app items include Memories Storage at $1.99 and Snapstreak Restore from $0.49

Watch out for:

• Chats delete by default. Snap's March 2024 newsroom post added an option to keep a conversation, set one chat at a time, but deletion stays the default.
• There are no public interest groups to browse, so it does not replace Kik's group discovery.

Official site: Snapchat. Our listing: Snapchat.

Element

Element runs on Matrix, an open network where your ID looks like @name:matrix.org. Registration asks for a username and password, and adding an email is optional, per Element support. The email only matters for password resets and for letting existing contacts find you.

Public rooms show up in a directory you can search by topic, sorted by member count, as Matrix.org explains. The matrix.org list is curated by the Foundation's Room Directory Working Group, which screens what gets listed. Element is open source under AGPL and runs on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and the web, and the US App Store rates Element X 16+.

Best for: Adults who want public interest rooms and open source code, with no phone number attached.

Pricing:

• Free apps for personal use
• Community edition: free, self-hosted, up to 100 users
• Enterprise: per seat per month, no public price, contact sales

Watch out for:

• Your Matrix ID cannot be changed later, per Element support, so choose the name with care.
• The directory shows only rooms published on your own server. A matrix.org account sees only matrix.org's list, per Matrix.org.

Official site: Element.

Signal

Usernames arrived on Signal in February 2024. You share a handle, a link or a QR code, and your number stays hidden from anyone who does not already have it saved. A Signal username must end in two or more digits, and there is no searchable directory, so people need your exact handle.

Groups hold up to 1,000 members and are joined by link or QR code, with optional admin approval, per Signal support. The service keeps no record of group names or members. The terms set the minimum age at 13. Other privacy-first picks are on our Signal alternatives page.

Best for: People who want Kik's no-number feel for private chats with friends, with strong encryption.

Pricing:

• Free, per the US App Store
• Secure Backups paid tier: $1.99 per month for up to 100 GB
• Free backups keep text and the last 45 days of media

Watch out for:

• A phone number is still required to sign up, per Signal's usernames post.
• The desktop app works only after Signal is installed on a phone, per the download page.

Official site: Signal. Our listing: Signal.

Threema

Threema is the one pick that asks for neither a phone number nor an email address, as its home page states. Each user gets a randomly generated Threema ID on first launch. You add contacts by ID, by scanning a QR code or through a threema.id link.

You pay once. The FAQ says there are no recurring fees and no paid extras, and the code is open source. Groups hold up to 256 members, and consumer group calls take 16 people. The FAQ sets no age limit. EU users under 16 need parental consent only if they link a phone number or email.

Best for: Anyone who wants Kik's no-number sign-up and will pay a few dollars to keep it that way.

Pricing:

• $6.99 one-time on the US App Store
• No subscription and no paid extras, per the FAQ
• Android users can also buy a licence in the Threema Shop

Watch out for:

• Moving from Android to iOS, or the other way, means buying the app again, per the FAQ.
• No public groups or directory, so you need someone's ID before you can chat.

Official site: Threema. Our listing: Threema.

LINE

For readers in Japan, Taiwan or Thailand, LINE's OpenChat is the most Kik-like group feature on this list. You join interest rooms under a name and icon separate from your main profile, and LY Corporation reports about 20 million monthly OpenChat users in Thailand alone, as of December 2025.

Sign-up depends on where you live. Phone verification applies in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and everywhere else LINE dropped phone sign-up in version 13.11.0 in favour of Apple or Google login, per the help center. The US App Store rates LINE 13+.

Best for: Users in Japan, Taiwan or Thailand who want open interest rooms inside a mainstream messenger.

Pricing:

• Free
• LINE Coin packs from $2.39 for 120 coins on the US App Store

Watch out for:

• OpenChat is only available in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, per LINE help, so most US and European users get no public rooms.
• OpenChat rooms were capped at 5,000 members when the feature launched in 2019, far below Telegram's 200,000.

Official site: LINE. Our listing: LINE.

How to choose

When to stay with Kik

Stay on Kik if you are over 18, your groups already live there and Kik Live is the main draw. No app here combines no-phone sign-up, public groups and live streams with paid gifts in one place, and removing ads costs $2.99 or $32.99 a year on the US App Store. If a teenager is using it, though, staying is not an option: the terms no longer allow anyone under 18.

Frequently asked questions