Chatous is a popular random chat app. Simply download the app, enter your gender and birthdate, and start video chatting with random people.
However, Chatous has some pretty bad reviews on the Apple Play Store. Common gripes include:
- The app has too many bots
- There are too many creepy people on it
- Too many people are selling pics
In addition, not everyone likes the Chatous interface or the fact that it allows people to use it without verifying their email address or phone number. While that allows for more anonymity, it also makes room for scammers and bots to use the platform.
Fortunately, however, there are many amazing alternatives to Chatous you can try out as well. Whether you are looking for a Chatous alternative due to one of the reasons mentioned above, or you are simply ready for something new, this article is for you.
Today, I will be going over the 15 best Chatous alternatives for chatting with random new friends online. Let’s get into it!
Best Chatous Alternatives
1. Omegle
Omegle is one of the oldest random stranger chat sites out there. It was extremely popular back in the day, and there was even an entire YouTube genre where people would upload videos of themselves speaking with random people via video chat on Omegle.
The cool thing about Omegle is that you can send simple text messages in the chatbox while video chatting with strangers. That gives you a chance to send emoticons or even communicate with people who do not speak your language (by using Google Translate or another text translation tool).
You need to be at least 13 to use Omegle, but you also need to have your parent’s permission until you reach 18 years of age.
A cool thing about Omegle, making it a great alternative to Chatous for college students, is that there is a separate chat for verified college students. You will need to have a .edu or .ac email address to use this separate chat and verify your email address with Omegle.
That will help you avoid a lot of creeps and anyone else who is not your age. You will be able to find other college students who share similar struggles and with whom you will have more in common and more to talk about.
The downside of Omegle is that it doesn’t have a mobile app. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it on mobile devices — you just need to use it in your browser.
The regular Omegle site works pretty well on phones and tablets.
2. Kik
Kik is another popular app and a great alternative to Chatous for chatting with strangers, especially those who feel too shy to start video chats. It allows you to text chat with strangers using the Meet New People feature.
Just click on Meet New People to start a new chat with someone! Wait until the chat starts and send a message; you can exit the chat and start a new one with a new stranger at any time.
If you are worried about safety and privacy, you can always chat with a bot instead.
Kik’s bots make Kik a great alternative to Chatous for those who want to ask questions, learn new things, get tips, and chat without actually dealing with a stranger. You can discover new bots that can chat with you on any topic.
If you feel like chatting with a bot sounds strange, you can find official accounts from brands and start a chat with them instead.
You can also chat with your friends on Kik. You can either add them by username or scan their QR code to open a chat with them.
You can also set up private or public group chats and add friends to those chats. Not only that, but you can spice things up a bit by adding bots to your group chats as well and playing fun games with your friends in the chat.
You do need an email address or phone number to sign up for Kik. However, it is still private — people you chat with will only see your username, name, and profile picture.
You choose your own username, and you can always keep your profile picture empty. You can also block or report anyone who does not make you feel safe.
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3. Azar
Azar is a video chat app available for Android and iOS devices that claims to have made over 109 billion matches. It has some cool features that make it easier to communicate with strangers on Azar when compared to Chatous.
For example, it has an Instant Voice and Text Translator. That allows you to talk to anyone all over the world — not only via text chat but also via voice chat — even if you do not speak a mutual language.
You can easily discover new cultures, learn about events happening on the other side of the world, and make romantic or platonic connections with anyone in any country.
You can add friends, so you can talk with them again later, and use filters in your video chats to make things a bit more exciting.
4. Who
Who is one of the most popular video chat apps/dating apps in the world. While it is not limited to dating, it does have a dating aspect — making it a good alternative to Chatous if you want to video chat with potential romantic prospects.
Chatous isn’t really meant for dating.
5. CamSurf
CamSurf is a fantastic alternative to Chatous for finding new people to chat with via video. According to the website, almost 1.8 million people have joined CamSurf until now.
I like that you can chat directly on the website on your desktop. There are also mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, however, allowing you to connect with people from your phone or tablet.
Unlike Chatous, you don’t need to enter your birthday to start chatting with people on the website. However, you do need to choose your gender — but there are four options available:
- Male
- Female
- Couple
- Transgender
On Chatous, I only saw two options: male or female.
If you are a couple, and you want to connect with people for some online fun and discussions, CamSurf might be a better option than Chatous.
When you click on Start, you will be connected with a random stranger. According to CamSurf, thousands of users are online at any given time, from all over the world, so it shouldn’t take long to find someone new and interesting.
However, if you get tired or bored, just click on Next to exit the chat and start talking with another random stranger.
You can also filter your search based on location or language so that you only connect with people who share a common language or who understand your culture.
In addition to the video chat, there is a text chat, so you can use Google Translate to chat with people from other parts of the world.
6. Holla
Holla is a popular video chatting app that focuses on improving your safety and security. If you sometimes feel unsafe on Chatous due to creepy individuals, consider Holla.
One of the top advantages of using Holla over other video chat apps is that it blurs the screen of the stranger you are chatting with until they expose their face or you choose to unblur it.
That makes it harder for people to go on video and expose themselves, which is a problem on many random video chat apps. In addition, you will know that you are talking with a real person — if they are a scammer that does not want to expose their face, their screen will remain blurred.
Also, Holla is moderated 24/7. It has much better reviews on the Google Play Store than Chatous, and you can filter by language and region when searching for new people.
7. Ablo
Ablo is another popular alternative to Chatous. It is available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple Play Store.
Ablo has better reviews than Chatous on the Google Play Store, and it is a better app for “traveling virtually” around the world. That’s because you can watch videos and live streams from people all over the world who are showing you around their native cities.
If you want to explore new cities but do not have the time, money, or ability to go there, consider using Ablo to explore them virtually. You can also video chat or text with new people directly, even if they speak another language, due to the built-in translator feature.
8. Monkey
Monkey, or Monkey Web, is a video chat app with “TikTok vibes.” You can use it directly on the website — simply select your gender and start chatting with random people.
You can also download the app to your Android device from the Google Play Store.
So, why use Monkey? It has a number of features that make it superior to Chatous, in my opinion.
First, you can create a profile, with a short description, and add your Instagram profile to your Monkey profile.
The benefit of this is that you can view other people’s profiles and vet them to ensure they are real people, and they can do the same. They can also learn more about you and become real friends.
Also, I really like the swipe feature. Monkey allows you to find new people by swiping right or left.
It is kind of like Tinder or Bumble — if you have used one of those apps, you will be familiar with the swiping feature. If you come across a profile in the swipe section, and you don’t feel like you can trust the person, or you simply don’t like them, just swipe left, so you are not matched with them.
In addition, you can stay in touch with the friends you add on Monkey by uploading short “moments” to your Monkey profile. Those moments are essentially short videos where you can talk, vent, give life hacks, dance, or do anything else.
That’s what gives Monkey “TikTok vibes” — those short videos will be posted to your profile, kind of like TikTok profiles where people can view short videos you uploaded.
As such, Monkey is not only an app for video chatting with new friends but also kind of like a social media platform.
According to Monkey, you can sometimes even find celebrities on the platform and video chat with them!
In addition to chatting with new friends you make on the platform, you can also invite a friend you already know by sending them a link to a video chat. In addition, you can create group chats with your friends.
Monkey was created by teenagers, for teenagers. Seriously — it was created by a group of five teenagers from LA who were not happy with the selection of video chat apps that already existed.
As such, you can expect to find a younger crowd on Monkey — kind of like the age group you can expect to see on TikTok.
9. Yubo
Yubo is a site for teenagers and other young people to find and video chat with new people online. In addition to video chatting with strangers, you can live stream and play games.
You can invite up to 10 friends and new people to your live streams, and they can chat with you while you are streaming.
There are a few features on Yubo that I like, which Chatous does not have. For example, Yubo partnered with Snapchat to allow you to use Lenses when video chatting with friends and strangers.
If you have used Snapchat in the past, you will be familiar with Lenses. They are essentially fun and cute filters that make your video chats more exciting.
In addition, Yubo allows you to stream videos you are watching on YouTube. You can hold a watch party and stream live as you watch, react to, and comment on your favorite YouTube videos, whether you are watching PewDiePie, The Daily Dose of Internet, or random life hacks.
Yubo has a swipe feature, which allows you to choose your new friends and matches. You can choose to be presented with people who are nearby, so you can make local friends or people all over the world.
Simply swipe right on people you share similar interests with to add them to your friends list!
Yubo is always adding new features and updating the platform. For example, one recent feature it added is that nonbinary people can now choose the nonbinary gender option; Chatous has yet to allow this.
10. Joi
Joi is another great alternative to Chatous if you are looking for a more social aspect, or you are concerned about creepy people on Chatous.
It blurs each video chat from the start — that way, you won’t have to be exposed to things you don’t want to see.
You can also create a profile and add short videos to your profile, so there is a social aspect as well.
On Joi, you can both video chat and text chat — there is a built-in translator for text chats, allowing you to talk to people from all over the world. Also, you can send gifts to your friends.
11. Bermuda
Bermuda Video Chat is another excellent Chatous alternative, with better reviews on the Google Play Store than Chatous — for good reason. Here are some of the cool features you will enjoy when switching from Chatous to Bermuda:
- Create a profile and upload images to your user feed
- Follow profiles and gain followers
- Play games when video chatting with strangers — these fun and simple games will give you something to talk about
- Add stickers and filters when video chatting
- Send text messages and translate them with the built-in translator
- Swipe right or left to choose who you match with
- Filter by gender and location
- Send gifts to people you like
If someone is being inappropriate on Bermuda, simply report them and Bermuda will ban that person within 24 hours. That helps keep the Bermuda community safe.
12. LivU (Android/iOS)
LivU is a popular video chat app for both Android and iOS devices. It has excellent ratings on the Google Play Store — right now, its overall rating is 4.5 stars, which is higher than most Chatous alternatives.
Each video chat will be blurred at first to protect both you and the other person. In addition, you choose who you match with by swiping right or left on people.
You can also add beauty filters when video chatting to make yourself look better. If you match with someone who doesn’t speak a mutual language, you can always use the built-in translator when text chatting with them.
According to LivU, the app has had over 40 million downloads around the world, so there is no shortage of users to chat with.
13. Tumile
Tumile is an excellent alternative to Chatous. Its blurring filter helps keep you safe at the beginning of chats, and you can also choose to simply voice chat, without any video, if you are feeling shy.
When you do video chat, you can add filters or beauty effects to make yourself look better, or you can add fun GIFs and stickers. You can also use the instant translation tool to translate text messages between languages.
Also, you get to choose who you chat with, as you can swipe right or left on people before chatting with them.
14. Lamour
Lamour is an interesting Chatous alternative for dating. It has a pretty unique feature — females are the ones to initiate first.
In a way, that sorts of makes it like Bumble, another dating app where females have to initiate contact first. The difference is that Lamour is a video chatting dating app.
You can meet people from all over the world and send them text messages that are translated in real time, breaking down language barriers and allowing you to meet fun people from other countries. On Lamour, you can also hold chat parties with multiple friends you made from all over the world — it is a lot of fun!
Although you can find people from anywhere, you can also find people who live nearby. That makes Lamour a good dating app for finding local romantic prospects as well.
If you only want to meet people who live nearby, make sure to filter for people based on location. You can also filter for matches based on common shared interests.
15. CuteU
CuteU is another awesome alternative to Chatous for dating. It is better than Chatous if you want to avoid fake profiles and scammers — CuteU promises that they display only verified profiles, so you know you will be talking to real users.
You can filter based on gender, so you only see people of your preferred gender. CuteU is great for finding people all over the world and near you — they will display top “cute” profiles near you each day.
In addition to video calls, you can join and watch live streams or send text messages.
Staying Safe When Using Chatous Alternatives
It is always important to stay safe when using random chat apps, even if they have safety measures such as video blurring. For example, never disclose your location or personal information — that’s the number #1 rule.
Do not send any photos or videos that contain personal or sensitive information, either. If you feel unsafe, always report the profile and block them — do not continue engaging with them.
Wrapping It Up: What Is The Best Chatous Alternative?
The best Chatous alternative is Omegle. It has been around for a really long time and has a large user base of people you can chat with.
Omegle is easy to use and allows you to quickly end a chat if you don’t feel comfortable. It is also great for college students, as you can chat only with other verified college students.
Nevertheless, there are some other great Chatous alternatives as well — feel free to download and try out a few until you find one you like the best.