The Best Free Chat Apps in 2024

Finding a good, free chatting app isn’t as hard as it used to be. There’s tons of them available nowadays, so many, in fact, that picking the right one has become a more important decision. 

Since chatting apps usually are closed off from each other, you’ll usually need a few of them to communicate with everyone you want. For your convenience, we’ve listed all of the best free chat apps, putting forth some of their best features.

Top 10 Best Free Chat Apps

1. WhatsApp 

Undoubtedly, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app thanks to its robust search tool, ability to monitor data consumption statistics, powerful security features with end-to-end encryption, and comprehensive sharing features.

In addition, you can use WhatsApp to call your friends and relatives free of cost. You can also set customized backgrounds for your unique conversations and groups. Used by billions worldwide, this app also helps businesses provide customer support, e-commerce, and several other services via WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp is also popular because it’s also one of the few instant messaging apps that also uses your phone number. So, people don’t need to look for your nickname or username on the platform, they can find you by your phone number.

2. Telegram 

Telegram’s advantage comes from the fact that it offers a secure, free online connection with end-to-end encryption, devoid of surveillance from government agencies. 

Telegram supports a high-grade encryption technology to keep all of your conversations private. There’s also plenty of other privacy features in the app – you can hide your phone number, start secret chats, use automatically disappearing messages and much more.

It also comes bundled with a powerful video and photo editing tool, support for chat rooms of up to 200,000 members, bot integration, emojis, and the ability to schedule messages for the future. It’s also extremely lightweight and has a portable Windows app.  

Finally, Telegram also fully supports video and voice calls. All of these features make the chat app highly popular among privacy-minded users.

3. Discord

Discord is hands down one of the best messaging apps for large social media communities centered around a specific theme, be it video games, art, or science. In fact, Discord can be considered something beyond simple messaging apps due to how many features the application has.

With Discord, you can create highly customizable online servers using bots that play a specific role. It integrates with other external platforms like Reddit, Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Crunchyroll, Spotify, TikTok, GitHub, and YouTube. It’s the go-to option for gamers. 

Discord also has a paid Nitro feature that adds even more features to its already robust package. Nitro enhances the chat app experience by adding more emojis and a lot of other features.

Finally, Discord is available on nearly any platform possible. You can install it on PCs, mobile devices, tablets, and everything else.

4. Line

Line is a messaging app that’s popular in the Asia region. Rather than being a simple messaging app like Telegram, however, Line provides a huge host of features with chatting being only one part of the offering.

It’s closer to one of those “all-in-one” applications rather than a messaging app. You can listen to music, start voice and video calls, contact your doctor, read the news, and even pay for goods and services.

While Line hasn’t reached Europe and US with the same force, it’s still one of the more popular chat apps in the world.

5. WeChat 

WeChat is the messaging app of choice for users living in China and other neighboring nations. Besides free chatting, this app allows companies to launch paid blogs to provide consumers with different types of content. 

Additionally, adding other people nearby is a breeze with WeChat, and its file and screen sharing features are second to none. It includes support for mini apps for services to pre-register medical procedures, renew visas, or use credit cards.  

WeChat, however, is based in China, so some country-level restrictions may apply. Some users also have data privacy concerns related to the way WeChat processes information, so it’s best used by those that want a simple chat app and don’t have many qualms about privacy.

6. Signal 

Signal is the complete opposite of WeChat. The chat app is extremely protective about user data as it has highly advanced encryption, and on-screen message security. There’s plenty of other unique features that make Signal one of the best messaging apps for privacy-minded folk.

While the focus is privacy and security, there’s no lack of regular chat app features. You can create group chats, start voice and video calls, and much more.

So, if you want to send text messages to anyone while maintaining maximum privacy and security, Signal is the chat app for you.

7. Slack

Slack is an extensively used free chat app due to its productivity-focused features. It’s widely used for company-wide communication due to the numerous features the instant messaging app provides. 

It supports voice and video calls of excellent quality, private and public chat rooms, and allows the creation of organized workspaces for more work-oriented tasks. Finally, there’s lots of customization options as well – bots, emojis, app integration and more.

Slack does have a price, though. The free version limits group chats, restricts automation features, and app integrations. If you want to hit up someone with a video chat, however, the free Slack version will be more than enough.

8. Viber 

Viber is a direct competitor to WhatsApp and features many of its exact features, including end-to-end encryption, private group chats, voice and video calls, and other integrations. 

However, there are some key differences. Viber has a Viber Out feature that allows for VoIP communications with mobile and landlines worldwide. You can also play games with the Viber app. 

For most people, however, there won’t be much of a difference between the two apps. Both support group chats, unlimited text messages, and various calling features.

9. Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular chat apps. Partly due to the fact that it’s integrated directly into one of the most popular social networks in the world. But Facebook Messenger isn’t a bad chatting app by itself.

Facebook Messenger provides you with messaging, voice, and video chat features while also providing encryption for all users. Additionally, you can start secret conversations, auto-delete messages and unsend messages, and much more.

As such, Facebook Messenger is a good default app for most people. Since it’s tied to Facebook as well, finding your friends and family on the app won’t be hard.

10. Google Chat (Hangouts) 

This cloud-based communication platform allows for a private, one-on-one chat with groups of up to 150 members. Like many other entries on this list, it allows for image sharing, videos, emojis, and stickers. You can synchronize it with your Google account to benefit from extra features.

Google Chat, however, is definitely one of the less popular apps. Few people use it for messaging as the product is somewhat awkwardly implemented and there’s not a lot of buzz going around about the app.

Conclusion

Being able to chat with others around the world freely opens a massive opportunity for communication and understanding. With these apps, you can chat with others for free with absolute freedom, regardless of where they are.

Which app works best for you will depend on your needs. For example, Viber, Signal, and Telegram are excellent for secure chatting and high privacy. Slack works stupendously for business teams. Google Chat (Hangouts) is fantastic for team collaboration. Line has a lot of users in Japan, while WeChat is exceedingly popular in China. WhatsApp has enduring popularity worldwide and has the biggest user base. Be sure to choose one that works best for you.

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