WhatsApp is one of the biggest messaging apps on the planet, but if you ever want to jump ship (and leave parent company Meta behind forever), you’ll need somewhere else to go. That’s where the best WhatsApp alternatives come in, offering a different messaging platform.
It’s not as easy as getting rid of your Facebook account or your Meta Quest headphones. At least not now, although WhatsApp has already confirmed that it will add support for third-party messaging apps. While the details are still unknown, it means you may not have to convince everyone you know to jump ship with you for much longer.
The best WhatsApp alternatives offer end-to-end encryption, making it much more secure than SMS text messages and has many of the same features and security as WhatsApp itself. Here are our favorite WhatsApp alternatives that you can download right now.
Sign
Signal is one of the most obvious options for those who care more about privacy and security. The messaging service has the backing of people like Elon Musk and Edward Snowden, the latter being crediting his safety-conscious approach for him still being alive.
Not only is Signal completely free, but it also supports text messaging and voice, video, and group calls. Messages can also be set to self-destruct. Here is our tutorial on how to use Signal.
WhatsApp also uses Signal’s open source end-to-end encryption protocol, so you get the security of WhatsApp without Facebook’s involvement. The Signal app also periodically performs security audits of its software and manages to combine that security with an easy-to-use interface that even your technophobic uncle could handle.
Signal is owned and operated by a nonprofit foundation headed by cryptography expert and self-described anarchist Moxie Marlinspike and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, who left Facebook in 2017 after a public dispute over the future of WhatsApp.
Telegram
If you prefer to have something similar to WhatsApp and linked to your phone number, Telegram is an option for you. That said, experts have noted that Telegram services Aren’t they so safe?and its end-to-end encryption is not configured by default. So it’s worth keeping in mind.
That said, Telegram still offers the option to share files, set messages to self-destruct, and chat in groups of up to 200,000 users. You can also sync messages across all your devices and it costs absolutely nothing to use.
Download Telegram: Android, iOS
Apple iMessage
If you’re an iPhone or Mac user, then the simplest option is sometimes the best, and iMessage is the ideal alternative to WhatsApp – as long as you communicate with other iPhone users, of course.
iMessage will let you send messages to all phone numbers whether they use iMessage or not, but texting to Android devices relies on outdated SMS thanks to Apple’s refusal to support RCS. So your Apple-based messages are secure, but everything else isn’t.
Still, Apple has a proven track record of not bowing to governments’ demands to add backdoors to its encryption. So your messages stay safe (unless someone can read your iCloud backups).
iMessage is as feature-rich as other popular messaging apps, with support for images, GIFs, videos, and group calling. In some countries, iMessage users can even send money to each other using Apple Pay.
Voice and video calling are not included in iMessage, and you’ll have to do it in the FaceTime app, and FaceTime only works with Apple devices. It’s unclear why iMessage and FaceTime haven’t been combined into a single communications app, but they are. At least it is already installed on all iPhones and most Macs.
Google Messages
Google Messages is Google’s answer to iMessage and is usually available on modern Android phones out of the box. If you can’t find it, you can download Google Messages from Google Play.
Designed to replace your existing SMS app and integrated with all Google services, Google Messages is essentially iMessage, but for Android. It is possible to use the service on Windows and Apple devices, but not as a standalone application. Instead, it links an Android device to a web browser tab, much like WhatsApp’s Linked Devices feature. Which is not ideal if you are using an iPhone.
End-to-end encryption is automatic when you message someone else with Google Messages, and you can send all your regular images and files just like you would with something like WhatsApp. The obvious downside is that it only works for phones that support RCS, anything that doesn’t (including iPhones) has to resort to the old insecure methods.
What Messages doesn’t have is voice and video calling, since everything is handled by Google Duo. That’s right: just as iMessage and FaceTime are still separate for some reason, so are Messages and Duo, although the latter’s app is not restricted to Android devices.
The good news is that Duo is likely already installed on your Android phone, and if it isn’t, you can download it for free from Google Play. iPhone users can get Duo in the Apple App Store.
Download Google Messages: Android
Download Google Duo: AndroidiOS
tresma
Threema is an application dedicated to complete privacy, with the option to use the application with complete anonymity. You can connect it to your email or phone number, in case you want people to be able to find you, but unlike many apps, this is not required.
Naturally, it also allows you to send text, voice, image and video messages, all of which are encrypted. You can also create group chats, send files, and even set up surveys to more easily collect feedback from all your contacts. Plus, it has a built-in secure browser and, like WhatsApp, everything is stored on your phone instead of on a random server that anyone can access.
Threema itself is based in Switzerland, a country known for its strict privacy laws, but it hasn’t really been successful in other countries. The lack of name recognition and the $3 price tag can make it difficult to convince others to migrate with you.
Wire
Another option coming from Switzerland and its strong privacy laws, Wire is another encrypted messenger with the usual variety of messaging options. It lets you chat via voice, text, and video, while also supporting things like GIFS, file sharing, and all the other things you love about WhatsApp.
Unlike WhatsApp, it can sync between devices and supports multiple accounts for those times when you need to keep your communications separate.
Wire uses its own open source encryption protocol called Proteous, but it is based on the Signal protocol used by both Signal and WhatsApp and undergoes regular security audits to keep it safe.
Wire is free for mobile and desktop users, although there is a paid tier designed for businesses.
viber
Viber, owned by Japanese e-tailer Rakuten, is a service that started as a VoIP app and gradually grew to include text messaging, voice calling, group messaging, fully synchronized mobile and desktop apps, and more. Everything tied to your phone number.
Like other services on this list, it’s also end-to-end encrypted but features unique features including AR-powered selfie lenses (in partnership with Snapchat), group video calling, and ‘Communities’ features which is basically a social network. It allows people from all over the world to discuss specific topics of interest.
Viber is free to use, although you can subscribe to ‘Viber Out’, a service that allows you to make unlimited international calls to phones that do not have Viber installed. It’s 6 dollars a month.
Download Viber: Android | iOS
Other options
While the above options are some of the best alternatives to WhatsApp, there are still other options available to you. Particularly notable are the The best encrypted messaging applications.They offer many of the same features.
Whether you opt for something a little less high profile, like Wickr Me, or something with a real price tag attached like the $10 a month Silent Phone. If you want to get rid of WhatsApp, but are still hooked on the Facebook ecosystem, you can even use Facebook Messenger. The communication opportunities are endless, you just need to find the right option for you.
Why would you want to leave WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is almost ubiquitous in many regions of the world. It is an important tool for business and personal communication, and its brand recognition and popularity make it the preferred choice for many people. Particularly for cross-platform communication, where you can’t simply rely on iMessage from Google Messages.
However, recent events have begun to affect WhatsApp’s relationship with parent company Facebook. The same Facebook that appears almost constantly in the news for some major controversy or another. Controversy over WhatsApp’s privacy policy, which many understood to mean WhatsApp would begin sharing more information with Facebook, with rumors that message content could also be accessible.
WhatsApp denied these claims and insisted that not only were messages secure and inaccessible thanks to end-to-end encryption, but the privacy policy only meant Facebook could access data on how you interact with businesses on the platform. But he stressed how close the two companies really are.
Similarly, the recent global Facebook outage caused the social media giant’s systems to crash around the world and affected all Facebook-owned services, including WhatsApp. The outage lasted for several hours and anyone relying on WhatsApp (or Facebook) to communicate was completely isolated.
It’s incidents like these that can make you want to leave WhatsApp forever. Or at least look for an alternative in case the application becomes inaccessible again.
