In this article, we give you the best WeChat alternatives for Android and iOS. WeChat is by far the most popular messaging app in China, according to the numbers. Even though the messaging app is not as popular in other parts of the world, it has a strong presence in a number of them. WeChat is a good chat app owned by Tencent, one of Asia’s most prominent companies by market cap.
It also has cool minigames, a way to explore interesting articles, and a quick way to pay with your phone. But, just like other Chinese apps, it doesn’t do well regarding security and privacy. In a new report by CitizenLabs, it was found that WeChat web also monitors the content of users who are not from China. This is a big worry, and if it makes you feel bad, here are the 10 best alternatives to WeChat you can use in 2021.
Best WeChat alternatives and apps for Android and iOS that are similar to WeChat
Finding a good replacement for an app like WeChat that works well for everyone can be hard. So, wemake put together a list of messaging apps that work well with Tencent’s service and do better in various ways.
Also, we’ve made apps that are great at certain things, like group video calls, secure messaging, or keeping up with the news. So, regardless of your top priority, it shouldn’t be hard to find an app that can meet your needs. Now that you know that, it’s time to explore the best iPhone and Android apps like WeChat!
1. WhatsApp
Does WhatsApp need to be introduced or explained why it is at the top of this list? The app, which Facebook owns, is the most popular messaging app in the world. It has more than 2 billion users in 180 countries. The most recent numbers show that over 2 billion voice and video calls are made daily on WhatsApp. These numbers show how big of a role the messaging app plays. So, if you’re looking for an alternative to WeChat that has similar features and is more popular, there’s no better choice than WhatsApp.
Just like WeChat, WhatsApp lets you communicate images, videos, multimedia, and voice messages to talk to other people. So, no matter what kind of way is most straightforward for you to stay in touch with your friends and family, the app will let you talk without any problems. On the other hand, WhatsApp is more reliable for video and voice calls because it can work well even with a slow internet connection.
Regarding group video calls, WhatsApp lets up to 8 people join, while WeChat lets 9 people join. Most of the time, this number may be more than enough. You can also use WhatsApp Web wechat to stay in touch with your buddies while working on your computer. One of my favorite features about this app is the Status feature, which lets users set an image or video as their status for 24 hours. Not to mention the ability to delete a message sent by accident, which saves us from a lot of embarrassment. In short, WhatsApp is a great replacement for WeChat. If you want to use it, you should read our article on WhatsApp tips to make the most of it.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
2. Telegram
Even though it doesn’t have as many users as WhatsApp or as many features as WeChat, Telegram is probably one of the most secure messaging apps. Not for nothing do many people compare this messaging app to Apple’s well-known Messages app. This is mostly because of how well it protects personal messages. For extra security, the app encrypts all of your data, including chats and media, with 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secures key exchange.
Not only does the app protect your data very well, but it also makes messaging easier than WeChat. It runs faster than WeChat, which is often criticized for being slow because the user interface is less crowded. What makes it unique is the possibility of creating a group chat with up to 200, 000 people. WeChat, on the other hand, only lets 500 people join a group chat. Telegram has a lot more tricks up its sleeve. Please read the linked article to find out all of them.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
3. Viber
Viber, which has more than a billion users, seems to be a good replacement for WeChat in terms of its flexibility and popularity. The app can be used on multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is run by the Japanese multinational company Rakuten. So, it doesn’t matter what platform you’re on. You can use the app to talk to your loved ones. With the app’s support for multimedia, you can talk to your friends in many different ways, such as through text, stickers, GIFs, images, and videos.
Depending on what you need, you can make a group chat with up to 250 people to stay in touch with everyone you care about. Aside from group chats, it’s better than WeChat for video/audio calling because it works well even with a slow internet connection. Just like Snapchat, it also lets you send a disappearing message, but you get the flexibility to set the self-destruct timer. But what has always attracted me about Viber more than anything else is creating a Viber community with unlimited members. It’s great to stay in the loop with people who think like you.
Install: iOS and Android (Free, offers in-app purchases)s)
4. iMessage
Apple’s trusted privacy policy and the fact that iMessage works well with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac make it easy to send and receive messages with iMessage. The app is a lot of fun because it has many cool features, such as Animoji, Memoji, and messaging effects. Add to that a huge iMessage App Store where users can wechat download and install games and apps for iMessage, as well as Apple Pay, the most secure mobile payment system, and it stands out as a great alternative to WeChat app.
Using pretty smooth gestures to manage messages is one of my favorite things about Apple’s Messages app. This makes it easy to handle messages. Also, the ability to hide alerts from people who keep sending annoying messages has always been one of my top choices. As you already know, iMessage’s only flaw is that it’s made to play only with Apple products (the so-called walled garden). But if you could live in this small but very is wechat safe ecosystem, you would love every single blue bubble.
5. Messenger
If you want to find the most feature-rich replacement for WeChat, I suggest you give Messenger much thought. The fact that it works with Facebook is probably the best thing about this messaging app. Considering how many people use Facebook (about 2 billion), most of your friends and family may already be on it. So, it’s easy to stay in touch with them.
The app lets you communicate in different ways. Text, voice, audio, and video calls are all possible. With the latest update, Messenger now lets you start a video call with up to 50 people, which is a lot more than profile tencent china WeChat, which only lets you call 9 people at once. Not only that, but Messenger also has a pretty quick and comparatively secure way to pay. I also like that Facebook is working on making the Messenger app less cluttered, which makes it one of the best WeChat alternatives on the market.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
6. Snapchat
Snapchat has been a great social networking app for a long time. And if you want to add a lot of fun to your social networking, this one could be the way to go. You’re right about that! When it comes to making communication fun, Snapchat is a lot better than china tencent WeChat. The app has a smart camera that lets you quickly take and share photos with your friends. And because there are so many beautiful filters to choose from, you can give your photos the look you want based on certain themes.
Not only that, but Snapchat also has a lot of cool lenses and fun effects. When you want your photos to grab people’s attention quickly, these lenses and effects can help. Like WeChat pc, Snapchat lets you catch up with breaking news, original shows, and stories from your community. Compared to WeChat, I have found that Snapchat’s news and stories are better organized and more reliable. Not to mention, I love how snap map makes it easier to see where friends are hanging out and where they are. Having the ability to play games with buddies has also gotten my attention. Well, these are just the tricks you can do on Snapchat’s surface. It has a lot more to offer.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
7. Skype
There are a lot of video-calling apps on the market, but very few can match Skype’s features. If you want high-quality video, I’d recommend you try Skype. In addition to letting you communicate through video and audio calls, the app enables you to chat using instant messages. Compared to WeChat, Skype has a cleaner user interface. It’s better optimized and works well on iPhone, Android, Mac, and wechat for Windows, among other platforms.
Subscriptions start at $2.99 per month in the US, but this can vary depending on where you live.
Skype has a vast library of GIFs so that you can send many kinds of GIFs. You can also add comments to images and share fun emoticons. It also lets you call landlines and send SMS messages anywhere in the world for a comparatively low price. If you want to talk to people who don’t use Skype or aren’t wechat online, you’ll need Skype Credit or a Skype subscription. Please remember that Skype subscriptions start at $2.99 per month in the US, but prices may differ in other countries.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
8. Signal
If the recent report on WeChat opened your eyes, and you no longer trust big companies with your private messages, you should install Signal. Signal is a secure messaging platform that is used by journalists all over the world. Signal, the company that runs the service, can’t even read your messages because the service is so secure. The app uses its open-source Signal Protocol to secure your messages. Your private messages are in good hands, so that’s not a surprise.
Talking about the features, you get a beautiful user interface and all the chat features you would expect from an excellent messaging app. You can send text messages, attach photos and files, make groups, and make voice and video calls. There are no ads, and the service doesn’t keep track of what you do with it. The company is run by a group that doesn’t make money, and you can use it for free forever. If you want a secure messaging platform, this one is the best. It’s the most secure WeChat alternative you can use.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
9. KiK
KiK is just as good as any other messaging because it is a fun way to talk to apps. It can beat some of its more well-known competitors in several ways. First, you don’t have to go through a long process to sign up for the app. Since it supports multimedia like WeChat, you can choose how you want to chat with it.
Like most competitors, KiK lets you create a chat group with your buddies to stay in touch. But unlike most of its times, it lets you chat with one person in a group. This is great when you don’t want to bother everyone in the group with irrelevant messages. Also, Kik has a lot of funny memes that you can use to show how you feel in a funny way. If you want a WeChat alternative that has memes, KiK could be a much better choice. Not only that, but it also has some interesting games to keep your mind from getting too bored.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
10. LINE
Line is one of the most popular social networking apps, with more than 600 million users worldwide. So, for more than one reason, it deserves to be called a good alternative to WeChat. First, it has all the tools you need to communicate in different ways, such as through voice, video, and messages. Second, it lets you stay in touch with friends by making group calls with up to 200 people.
And third, the app probably has the most stickers of any app. Not only are there a variety of them, but there are also many different numbers. So, you can send other stickers to your friend based on your mood or a certain theme to keep the mood of the messaging going. Another feature that makes it a better alternative to WeChat is that you can make international calls to phones and landlines for low ability. Line should be your first choice if you often need to make friends who live abroad and want to do so in a way that doesn’t communicate with the bank.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
11. Twitter
I was hoping you could wait a minute before you start to wonder why I’m including Twitter in this list. WeChat isn’t just a messaging app; it’s also a platform where users can catch a wide variety of articles. Because of this, it’s a good idea to suggest a platform that does something similar. And Twitter is the best way to do this by a long shot. So, if you’re looking for an app like WeChat that lets you talk about different things and keeps you up to date on what’s going on in the world, you should try the micro-blogging app.
The Direct Messaging feature of Twitter lets you talk to people through text messages and pictures, as well as keep up with what’s going on in the world. Even though its messaging tool is pretty simple, it is much more secure and well-designed than what is WeChat. In short, Twitter is a better alternative to WeChat if you want to find news and share your thoughts with friends and followers.
Install: iOS and Android (Free)
Pick the Best Alternatives to WeChat for iPhone and Android
So, these apps with high ratings can compete with WeChat. There are quite a few apps that are more popular and have a wider range of features than Tencent’s. By the way, which of the above apps are you going to use instead? We’d love to hear about your choice in the comments below. Also, tell us a little bit about the apps that should be in this mention.