We bring you a list with The main alternatives to WhatsApp In the event that you want to change your messaging application. Whether for privacy or not dealing with the arrival of WhatsApp ads, if you are thinking of looking for another app to communicate with your contacts, we will tell you the most important.
In fact, you should know that we are going to focus on the best known, and not simply tell you a ristra of random applications. Of course, there will also be a place for some less known, such as a decentralized or some of the European alternatives.
But if you consider that we have left any app that should be mentioned or taken into account, we invite you to tell us in the comments section. Thus, all readers of the article can also benefit from the knowledge of our xatakers.
RCS
The best alternative to WhatsApp is that You no longer need alternative apps Thanks to the RCS protocol, available on Android and iOS in the same application where you look at the SMS on your mobile. It is a protocol that has arrived to replace the SMS, and that allows interactive messages, such as photos and much more.
Best of all is that The RCS is totally freeyou don’t need to pay as in SMS. If we look at a comparison of RCS vs WhatsApp, we see that you have everything basic, such as extreme encryption, sending photos, voice or videos and more, you can even create groups.
The negative part is that you do not have all functions as video notes, or that in some countries it is not yet implemented. To know if you can write by RCS to a contact, open your native messages of messages and enter the chat you want. If RCS appears in the writing bar instead of SMS, it is because you will send a free message with this protocol.
Telegram
Telegram has been the great alternative to WhatsApp for years, so much that most of the new functions that take the copy of the finish line years later. It is more innovative, although It has less privacysince only private messages that deliberately abort with this mode have end -to -end encryption, and normal messages and groups only have it between user and server.
Therefore, your chats can be exposed on Telegram servers, and there have already been cases in which it gives the users of their users to the governments that are asked. However, it remains a solid alternative, and its integration with Grok does not help in terms of privacy. However, in terms of options and number of users it is the great alternative.
Signal


If what you are looking for is privacySignal is a messaging app that has made a name for that. It has end -to -end encryption, and user metadata is practically not saved. Therefore, it is even more private than WhatsApp, since the company that manages it knows less about you.
You do not have many content denunciation options, you can simply report advertising. Therefore, you can find all kinds of messages in it, and have total freedom to talk about any subject, with the good and the bad that this freedom implies. In addition, it has a user name system so as not to have to give your number.
Google Chat


If you have a Google account, you have the possibility of chatting with other users with Google accounts. All through Google Chat, Google’s internal messaging system. She is currently a little abandoned, but you can write to someone just having her Google account, her Gmail, so you don’t need to have her phone number.
Facebook Messenger


He Messenger de Facebook It is the messaging application with which Meta intends to compete with WhatsApp and Telegram. With it you can write to any user of the social network, although Meta wants that in the future it is also used on Instagram. In any case, Messenger is independent and has its own application, although it also works in the chat of the Facebook website.
It is a powerful alternative, Private with end -to -end encryptionand the one that does not lack options. The bad part of based on Facebook is that you need to know another person’s user account to write or have friendship with her, and the good is that you do not need to ask for phone numbers.


Instagram is one of the most important social networks in the world, and has its own messaging system. It is not as comfortable as a dedicated app, but the messages are encrypted, you can send photos, voice notes, gifs and whatever you want. A good alternative. Besides, You don’t need to give your phone numbersimply give your address to Instagram to share.
Session


Session is the application of a non -profit foundation, and an alternative Decentralized and open sourcewithout trackers and with a robust encryption from end to end. Only you and the person with whom you speak can see the messages, which on the other hand also end up disappearing.
It is more complex to use and you have control, being able to choose a topic for its aesthetics or manage your encryption keys. You don’t need phone numberThere are no data leaks, and seeks a different way to approach instant messaging, although being somewhat more complex to use.
iMessage


Within the iPhone and Mac messages app you can send and receive SMS, but you can also send Imessages, an interactive messages protocol just like WhatsApp. The problem is that You can only send them to other Apple usersalthough now that messages integrates the RCS it is no longer such a large limitation.
Three other European alternatives


Finally, if you are looking for more privacy and not depending on US companies, you can also change WhatsApp for European alternatives, such as forgetting, Threema or Skred. They are private applications with end -to -end encryption, you can share everything, even without size limits, and usually have free and payment versions.
Here, the negative part is the same as any other less known application: They are so little used that your contacts will not have them. Therefore, or convince everyone to get it down too or you will simply stay there, which is the problem of almost all alternatives.
In WorldOfSoftware Basics | 61 European alternatives to Google, X, Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Dropbox, Google Drive, WhatsApp and other popular services