WhatsApp Alternatives for Private Chats, Calls and Groups

WhatsApp has not shut down. The apps still run on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web, and the privacy page says personal messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted. The changes are around the edges. Meta announced ads in the Updates tab on June 16, 2025, and a December 2025 report from Techweez says the ads in Status and Channels cannot be switched off. The Meta AI assistant is built in too. WhatsApp and Germany's federal data protection office told tünews in June 2026 that it generally cannot be turned off, though a chat privacy setting stops people from pulling it into a conversation.

Readers in Russia have a harder problem. The Kremlin said on February 12, 2026 that WhatsApp was fully blocked and told people to use MAX, a state-owned app that critics say could be used to track users. MAX is not on this list.

The eight picks below cover what WhatsApp does for most people: family groups, voice and video calls and quick messages. Prices shown are for the US. For a deeper privacy shortlist, see our Signal alternatives. For channels and very large groups, see the Telegram alternatives. If you want to chat by username instead of phone number, the Kik alternatives page covers that.

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

Quick comparison

Signal

Most people who leave WhatsApp try Signal first. It encrypts chats, calls and groups by default, like WhatsApp, but it is built by an independent nonprofit that shows no ads and runs no trackers. Private groups hold up to 1,000 members. People join by link or QR code, and Signal's servers keep no record of who is in a group.

Backups used to be its weak spot. Since September 2025 Signal has offered secure backups: all text and the last 45 days of media for free, or full media history up to 100 GB for $1.99 a month. Plan to leave your WhatsApp history behind, so save the chats you care about with WhatsApp's own export before you go.

Best for: Moving close friends and family to an encrypted app that no advertising company owns.

Pricing:

• Free, funded by donations
• Secure backups: free tier with all text (up to 100 MiB) and 45 days of media; paid tier $1.99/month for up to 100 GB

Watch out for:

• You still need a phone number to sign up. Usernames, added in February 2024, only hide your number from people who have not saved it.
• The Windows, Mac and Linux apps only work after Signal is installed on a phone.

Official site: Signal. Our listing: Signal.

Telegram

Telegram is the easiest place to take your old chats. A January 2021 update added an import from WhatsApp: open a chat, tap Export Chat and pick Telegram in the share menu. Messages, videos and documents arrive with their original timestamps, and every Telegram member of that chat can see them.

Everything lives in Telegram's cloud. Chats sync to each phone, tablet and computer you sign in on, imported media does not eat phone storage, and groups reach 200,000 members. The official apps are open source under the GPL.

Best for: Bringing years of WhatsApp chats and media along, and joining large public groups.

Pricing:

• Free
• Telegram Premium on the US App Store: $4.99/month, $35.99/year or $1.19 for one week
• Premium prices vary by country

Watch out for:

• Regular chats and groups use server-client encryption. Only Secret Chats, which are one-to-one and tied to one device, are end-to-end encrypted.
• The Terms of Service set a minimum age of 18 in the EU, UK and Australia, which leaves out teenage family members there.

Official site: Telegram. Our listing: Telegram.

Google Messages (RCS)

Plenty of people joined WhatsApp only because texting between iPhone and Android was broken. That gap closed this year. On May 11, 2026 Google began rolling out end-to-end encrypted RCS between Google Messages and iPhones on iOS 26.5, in beta. RCS chats between two Android phones in Google Messages were already encrypted.

Nobody installs anything or creates an account. The app uses your phone number, and a lock icon marks an encrypted chat. Google says encryption is on by default and reaches new and existing conversations over time, so some chats will not show the lock yet.

Best for: Dropping a separate chat app and texting from the phone's built-in app.

Pricing:

• Free; no account or subscription

Watch out for:

• The iPhone side needs iOS 26.5 and a carrier on Apple's supported list, and cross-platform encryption is still labelled beta.
• Google Messages is an Android app. iPhone owners stay in Apple's Messages, so a mixed family ends up in two different apps with different features.

Official site: Google Messages (RCS).

Viber

Viber feels closest to WhatsApp day to day, with one extra that matters to families spread across countries. Viber Out calls ordinary landline and mobile numbers. The help center lists a World Unlimited plan for 60 countries, single-country plans and prepaid World Credit. Rates show in USD or EUR depending on your number's region, and calls are billed by the whole minute.

Owned by Rakuten, Viber encrypts one-to-one and group chats end to end by default. The desktop app runs on Windows, macOS and Linux but needs an active account on your phone. Our Viber alternatives page compares it with other calling apps.

Best for: Calling relatives' landlines and mobiles abroad from the same app you chat in.

Pricing:

• Free to chat and call other Viber users
• Viber Out on the US App Store: USA plan $1.99/month, worldwide plan $5.99/month, credit packs $0.99 to $9.99
• Viber Plus (ad-free) listed at $3.79 in select countries only

Watch out for:

• The App Store listing says the app contains advertising. Viber Plus removes ads but is only sold in some countries.
• Plain groups stop at 250 members. Bigger crowds have to move to a Community or Channel.

Official site: Viber. Our listing: Viber.

Threema

Threema is for people who want out of phone-number messaging altogether. You get a random Threema ID and can use the app without giving a number or an email address. Groups take up to 256 members, and group calls in the private app take 16 people.

You pay once, and there are no ads to fund. The pricing page lists the private app at 6.00 CHF, EUR or USD one-time, depending on store and country; the US App Store charges $6.99 for it. Headquarters and servers stay in Switzerland after Comitis Capital took over ownership at the start of 2026.

Best for: Leaving phone numbers behind and paying once for a Swiss app with no ads.

Pricing:

• Threema: 6.00 CHF/EUR/USD one-time, depends on store and country ($6.99 on the US App Store)
• Threema Work: Core 3.00 and Professional 5.00 CHF/EUR/USD per user per month, billed yearly

Watch out for:

• Licences cannot move between stores, so going from iPhone to Android means buying again.
• One Threema ID cannot run on two phones at the same time.

Official site: Threema. Our listing: Threema.

LINE

In Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, LINE holds the place WhatsApp holds in Europe or Latin America. If your relatives or business contacts live there, they are probably on it already. LY Corporation said in December 2025 that OpenChat alone had about 20 million monthly users in Thailand.

Signing up outside those markets works differently from WhatsApp. Since version 13.11.0, new accounts in most countries use an Apple or Google login instead of a phone number. Only Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand still register by phone. The app is free, and LINE sells stickers and themes through LINE Coin.

Best for: Staying in touch with people in Japan, Taiwan or Thailand.

Pricing:

• Free
• LINE Coin on the US App Store: 120 coins $2.39, 130 coins $2.59

Watch out for:

• OpenChat, LINE's open group rooms, is only available in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.
• Users in the EEA must be at least 16 to create an account.

Official site: LINE. Our listing: LINE.

Olvid

Built in France, Olvid asks for nothing at sign-up: no phone number, no email and no name. It never reads your address book and has no user directory. ANSSI, the French cybersecurity agency, certified it under CSPN in 2021, and a November 2023 circular told French government members to use it.

Apps cover iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and macOS. Having no directory cuts both ways. Strangers and spammers cannot find you by number, but every family member has to be added on purpose, so moving a group of twenty takes longer than on WhatsApp.

Best for: Chatting with zero personal data handed over at sign-up.

Pricing:

• Free version
• US App Store in-app purchases: Individual $4.49 or $44.90, Family $5.99 or $59.90

Watch out for:

• A January 2024 App Store review complains that video calling is a paid feature. Olvid's developer says on Google Play that receiving calls is free.
• The client apps are AGPL open source, but the server is proprietary.

Official site: Olvid.

Delta Chat

Delta Chat takes a different road from every other pick. It began as a messenger built on email and now runs on chatmail relays that, per its FAQ, ask for no private data and no phone number. A profile is created instantly, and the same profile can run on several devices after you scan a QR code.

App and server are free and open source. There is no venture capital; public grants from NLnet, NGI and the Open Technology Fund, plus donations, pay the bills. Chats can host small webxdc apps for games or shared lists, and one-to-one voice and video calls work on iOS, desktop and Android 8 or newer.

Best for: A free, grant-funded messenger with no phone number and no company holding your account.

Pricing:

• Free and open source; no paid tier, donations welcome

Watch out for:

• Forward secrecy is not supported yet. The FAQ says it comes with Autocrypt v2, scheduled for 2026.
• The FAQ advises against groups of more than 150 members, and there is no web client.

Official site: Delta Chat.

How to choose

When to stay with WhatsApp

Stay if your family, school or building group lives on WhatsApp and nobody else will move. The core still holds up: personal chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and Meta says the ads stay in the Updates tab, away from personal chats. In groups you cannot leave, turning on the chat privacy setting keeps Meta AI out of the conversation. A common middle path is to move close contacts to Signal and keep WhatsApp only for the big groups.

Frequently asked questions