Kids are increasingly interested in social media platforms that allow them to connect with friends and share content.
While Snapchat remains popular among teens, parents often seek safer alternatives with better monitoring features and age-appropriate content.
Here are 15 of the best Snapchat alternatives for kids that prioritize safety while still being fun and engaging.
Let’s find out more about these apps.
1. Zigazoo
Dubbed “TikTok for kids,” Zigazoo provides a creative platform where children can respond to daily challenges through short videos.
With robust parental controls and no direct messaging to strangers, it fosters creativity in a secure environment.
Zigazoo stands out by partnering with reputable organizations like National Geographic Kids and Penguin Random House to create educational challenges that make learning fun.
Children can create responses to prompts about science, literature, art, and current events, encouraging both critical thinking and creative expression.
The app’s interface is colorful and intuitive, making it easy for younger users to navigate while still appealing to older kids.
Parents particularly appreciate that all content is pre-screened by moderators before appearing on the platform, eliminating concerns about inappropriate material.
The community aspect encourages positive interactions, as kids can like and comment on each other’s videos in a supportive environment that teaches good digital citizenship from an early age.
Key Features:
- Designed for ages 6-15
- Parent-approved content
- Educational challenges
- Zero ads or in-app purchases
2. Momio
Momio provides a social platform specifically designed for tweens to safely connect with peers while learning the fundamentals of social media responsibility.
Developed in collaboration with child psychologists, Momio creates a graduated approach to social media literacy.
The platform combines elements of social networking with gamification, allowing children to create avatars, design virtual spaces, and interact with friends in moderated environments.
This blend of virtual world and social networking keeps children engaged while providing a safe space to practice digital communication skills.
What makes Momio stand out is its built-in educational framework that introduces children to concepts like digital footprints, information verification, and online reputation through interactive quests and challenges.
All public content is moderated before it appears, and the platform employs both AI and human moderators who specialize in understanding the nuances of children’s communication.
Parents receive weekly insights that not only show activity but offer conversation starters about digital citizenship based on their child’s specific platform interactions.
Key Features:
- Live moderation of all public content
- Digital literacy missions and quests
- Avatar customization and virtual spaces
- Parental insights and controls
3. Messenger Kids
Facebook’s Messenger Kids gives children a way to chat with friends and family while giving parents control over contacts and usage.
Messenger Kids has evolved significantly since its initial release, incorporating feedback from both child development experts and families.
The platform now includes structured interaction activities that parents and children can engage in together, even when physically apart.
Grandparents can read bedtime stories through the app’s integrated book feature, while parents traveling for work can play word games or complete digital puzzles with their children.
The app’s architecture ensures that parents must approve each contact through their own Facebook accounts, creating a closed network that prevents unwanted interactions.
Sleep mode features automatically disable the app during bedtime hours, preventing late-night usage.
What distinguishes Messenger Kids from similar platforms is its emphasis on strengthening family connections across distances while teaching children how to communicate effectively in digital spaces.
Recent updates have added educational content and creative projects that family members can collaborate on regardless of physical location.
Key Features:
- Parent-approved contacts only
- Fun filters and drawing tools
- Video chat capabilities
- No ads or in-app purchases
4. Kinzoo
Kinzoo is a private messenger that gives families a safe space to share photos, messages, and videos.
It was built from the ground up with a “family-first” philosophy that prioritizes meaningful connection over engagement metrics.
The platform serves as a private digital hub where family members of all ages can interact safely. What sets Kinzoo apart is its commitment to data privacy. Unlike many social platforms, it does not collect or sell user data, and all communications are protected with end-to-end encryption.
Beyond basic messaging, Kinzoo offers collaborative activities designed to strengthen family bonds.
The “Family Story” feature allows multiple family members to contribute to ongoing digital scrapbooks, while “Challenge Mode” encourages friendly competition through scavenger hunts and trivia games.
Parents appreciate that Kinzoo provides a graduated approach to digital independence, with features that grow with children as they mature.
Younger users have more restricted capabilities that expand as they demonstrate responsible usage, creating a platform that can adapt to a child’s development.
Key Features:
- End-to-end encryption
- Screen time management
- No data collection or advertising
- Educational games and activities
5. JusTalk Kids
This video chat app is designed with kids in mind, offering fun effects while maintaining safety.
JusTalk Kids transforms standard video calling into an interactive, engaging experience that appeals to children while maintaining the strict safety standards parents demand.
The platform specializes in making long-distance communication fun and meaningful, particularly valuable for keeping children connected with relatives or friends who live far away.
Video calls can be enhanced with games, drawing activities, and interactive effects that keep younger children engaged in conversations longer than traditional calling would.
The app’s technical infrastructure prioritizes call quality even on slower internet connections, making it accessible for families worldwide.
All calls are encrypted and never stored on external servers, providing privacy protection that parents value. The interface is deliberately simplified for younger users while still offering enough features to keep older children interested.
Many families report that JusTalk Kids has significantly improved how children maintain relationships with distant grandparents, helping to build stronger intergenerational bonds through regular, engaging communication.
Key Features:
- Parent-approved contacts
- Fun filters and doodle tools
- High-quality video calls
- No stranger contact
6. Clan
Clan focuses on connecting kids with real-life friends and family through moderated content sharing.
It takes an innovative approach to social media by emphasizing quality connections over quantity.
The platform is designed around the concept of “tribes”—small groups of close friends or family members who share content exclusively with each other.
This structure prevents the comparison and popularity contests that often plague traditional social networks while creating a more intimate and supportive space for self-expression.
What makes Clan particularly effective is its emphasis on translating real-world relationships into digital connections rather than encouraging online-only friendships.
The platform incorporates “moments” that automatically disappear after 48 hours, teaching children that digital sharing can be ephemeral and not everything needs to be permanently archived.
Parents appreciate the app’s thoughtful implementation of digital wellbeing features, including usage reminders and positive reinforcement for balanced screen time habits.
Key Features:
- Closed network system
- Content moderation
- Fun photo filters and stickers
- Timer-controlled content viewing
7. Kudos
Kudos emphasizes positive social interactions and compliments between friends in a safe environment.
It was developed in response to research showing the negative psychological impacts of traditional social media on children.
The platform is built entirely around positive reinforcement and constructive interaction. Rather than generic “likes,” users send specific compliments or “kudos” that recognize particular qualities or achievements, encouraging meaningful interaction over passive scrolling.
The app includes guided prompts that help children practice expressing gratitude, offering genuine compliments, and celebrating others’ successes—all critical social-emotional skills.
A particularly innovative feature is the “kindness calendar” that suggests daily acts of digital and real-world kindness.
Parents and educators have embraced Kudos for its ability to teach children that technology can be a tool for spreading positivity rather than comparison or criticism.
Regular “kindness challenges” encourage users to notice and affirm positive qualities in their friends, helping children develop empathy and thoughtfulness in their digital communications.
Key Features:
- Positivity-focused interactions
- Parent monitoring tools
- Limited screen time features
- No public profiles
8. Boop Kids
Boop Kids combines elements of social media and educational content in a kid-friendly package.
The app takes a holistic approach to children’s digital experience by seamlessly blending entertainment, education, and social connection.
The platform is organized around interest-based “worlds” that children can explore based on their passions—from space and science to art and literature.
This structure naturally groups children with similar interests, facilitating meaningful connections around shared passions rather than superficial interactions.
The platform’s standout feature is its adaptive learning system that observes a child’s interests and gradually introduces related educational content.
For example, a child showing interest in dinosaur content might receive increasingly sophisticated information about paleontology, earth science, and natural history.
Parents value that Boop Kids transforms passive screen time into active learning without children feeling like they’re being “educated.”
The social components are designed to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing, with features that allow children to create quizzes for friends or collaborate on creative projects related to their shared interests.
Key Features:
- Photo sharing with approval system
- Educational games and quizzes
- Time management tools
- Parent dashboard
9. Safechat
Safechat provides a messaging platform designed specifically to teach digital communication skills to children in a monitored environment.
Unlike other messaging platforms that simply restrict features for younger users, Safechat takes an educational approach to digital communication.
The platform is built around a progressive curriculum that gradually introduces children to more sophisticated communication tools as they demonstrate responsible usage and understanding of digital etiquette.
Beginning with simple picture messages and pre-written phrases, children gradually unlock the ability to send custom messages, photos, and eventually create group chats.
What makes Safechat particularly valuable for families is its emphasis on teaching rather than just restricting. The app includes interactive tutorials on topics like consent in photo sharing, recognizing concerning messages, and managing online relationships.
The platform’s “guided conversations” feature provides children with suggestions for navigating difficult social situations, from declining unwanted communication to resolving misunderstandings.
Parents report that Safechat has helped their children develop nuanced communication skills that transfer to both digital and face-to-face interactions.
Key Features:
- Progressive unlocking of features
- Interactive digital literacy lessons
- Parent visibility without intrusive monitoring
- Conversation guidance for challenging situations
10. ChatterPix Kids
ChatterPix Kids transforms photography into an interactive, storytelling experience by allowing children to make any image “talk” through simple animation.
Originally developed as an educational tool, ChatterPix Kids has evolved into a creative social platform that combines photography, voice recording, and animation in an intuitive package perfect for younger users.
The app’s core functionality, allowing children to add a mouth to any photo and record a voice to make it appear to talk, provides a perfect entry point to digital content creation for even the youngest users.
This simple premise opens up endless creative possibilities, from bringing artwork to life to creating talking pets, historical figures, or even inanimate objects.
What sets ChatterPix Kids apart is how it naturally encourages storytelling and oral language development while teaching basic digital media skills.
The platform has expanded to include a secure sharing environment where children can exchange their creations with parent-approved contacts through a moderated system. Its educational roots remain evident in its thoughtful implementation, rather than focusing on appearance-based filters, the platform emphasizes creative expression and storytelling.
Parents and educators particularly value how the app bridges traditional learning with digital skills, noting improvements in children’s narrative abilities, confidence in public speaking, and creative thinking after regular usage.
Key Features:
- Simple animation creation tools
- Voice recording capabilities
- Secure sharing with approved contacts
- Educational foundation with creative expression
Conclusion
When selecting a social media app for your child, consider factors like age-appropriateness, privacy features, parental controls, and content moderation.
Each of these alternatives to Snapchat offers unique features while prioritizing safety and appropriate content.
Remember that regardless of which platform you choose, ongoing conversations about digital citizenship and online safety remain essential.
Regularly review your child’s activities and adjust privacy settings as needed to ensure they’re having positive online experiences.
