In 2020 there were quite a few moves at Zuckerberg. The undisputed protagonist is certainly WhatsApp now on everyone’s lips due to the changes to its privacy policy.

Here is an article with the 5 best alternatives to WhatsApp: let’s go to the discovery of all the available features.

5 alternative chats to WhatsApp

1. Telegra

Telegram was founded in 2013 by the homonymous company Telegram LLC led by the Russian brothers Durov.

Advantages of Telegram

Telegram has conquered users since the first days of its launch and, to date, it is the main competitor of WhatsApp.

The first big advantage of Telegram are groups. Unlike WhatsApp, where it is necessary to have people’s phone numbers to create virtual communities, Telegram allows you to create groups with thousands of people while maintaining the privacy of contacts.

Groups are a great way to create a strong community around your brand (whether it is corporate or personal, it changes little). A corporate example? The Clube Oberlo group , the Telegram channel dedicated to topics such as marketing and dropshipping available on the Brazilian market.

If you are looking for inspiration for a personal brand , then try taking a look at SocialSellerGram by Maria Letizia Russo.

You know when you make a mistake in sending a message and on WhatsApp there remains that message that tells you “This message has been permanently deleted”? Here, on Telegram it is possible to completely delete the chat without reporting: the message that until recently was available to all users, has now magically disappeared.

A very particular feature of Telegram is the ability to create customized chatbots with different functionalities. An example is @Trackbot, a tool that allows you to track shipments directly on Telegram.

Disadvantages of Telegram

From what has been said so far, Telegram certainly seems to be an option to consider among the alternative chats to WhatsApp but, since we know that perfection does not exist, let’s take a look at its disadvantages.

Let’s briefly enter into the merits of Telegram ‘s processing of personal data and privacy (after all, this is the reason why so many people are looking for alternatives to WhatsApp!).

WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption all mobile no list for messages. But what does it mean in layman’s terms? Imagine you have a journal in which you and your friend write a series of coded dialogues to communicate.

With end-to-end encryption, only those who participate in the writing of the diary have the key to decipher what is written. Everyone else (in the case of these apps we are talking about servers, service providers …) are unable to read what you and your friend are writing to each other.

Telegram uses end-to-end encryption only for secret chats (which also have the function to destroy messages after a certain amount of time). However, everything that is published on normal chats or groups remains public and is also shared with Telegram.

The cookies used by Telegram are used only to be able to offer the service both on mobile and in the web version. According to their official policy, therefore, there are no commercial cookies used for profiling or advertising.

2. Signal

Signal is on everyone’s lips. In reality, this app created by Signal Messenger LLC has been online since 2014.

Its success was launched by a Tweet from Elon Musk (founder of Tesla) who recommended its use: well, within 24 hours, Signal’s shares skyrocketed and there were more than 63,000 downloads.

Advantages of Signal

Let’s start with Signal’s biggest advantage (and the reason it is acquiring more and more users): it does not collect data. Seriously. Signal does not track any type of data: everything – from phone numbers, to messages and calls – is end-to-end encrypted.

In practice, only you and your interlocutors have control over what is happening (read the Signal  privacy policy ).

It can be said that among the alternatives to WhatsApp and Telegram, Signal is the undisputed queen when it comes to security.

Signal has all the features that apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have accustomed us to: groups, 1-to-1 messages, stickers, reactions … Added to these are some goodies including:

• The ability to pin your favorite chats at the top;
• Note to self : a 1-to-1 chat with you to leave reminders or notes;
• The ability to disable the preview link ;
• Messages expiring : in practice, from the moment of reading a countdown is triggered at the end of which the message is deleted.

Disadvantages of Signal

Signal’s biggest drawback, at least for the moment, is coverage. It counts that on WhatsApp there are about 1.6 billion active users, Signal can count 20 million people.

A situation that could change at any moment but, for now, WhatsApp remains the messaging app on which to find the greatest number of users. For how long? This is not known!

3. Viber

In the ranking of the best alternatives to WhatsApp and Telegram we also find Viber, a messaging app born in 2020 and today owned by the well-known Japanese company Rakuten.

Advantages of Viber

The first advantage of Viber is that it is a very well fed platform. It is estimated to have more than one billion registered users and 260 million active users.

What does this mean? Which among the alternative apps to WhatsApp and Telegram, is probably the one with the highest number of users … dormant! All these accounts, following the removal from WhatsApp, could become active again: this makes Viber a messaging app with very high potential.

Viber features very classic features such as messages, stickers, calls and 1-to-1 or group video calls. It allows you to add reactions within the conversation and allows you to log in by simply entering your phone number.

In terms of security, Viber takes advantage of the now well-known end-to-end encryption that I have already told you about during this roundup of alternative apps to WhatsApp. Nothing shared between users remains logged on Viber servers. The only exception is represented by messages waiting to be delivered but, once delivered to the recipient, they are removed from the Viber archive (read the complete privacy policy ).

Speaking of privacy, it is also possible to create secret chats on Viber. These do not appear in the main dashboard but are in a separate section of the application.

The last advantage of Viber is that it allows you to contact users who are not subscribed through the app. As? Through the purchase of Viber credits.

Disadvantages of Viber 

In the advantages we talked about the high potential. We do not have the mathematical certainty that dormant accounts will return to shine with their own light, however! In fact, the big drawback of Viber is the presence of a few million active users on the platform.

4. Threema

Threema is another of the alternatives to WhatsApp and Telegram that is getting noticed. Born in 2012 from a Swiss mind, it currently has 8 million active users.

Advantages of Threema

In addition to basic functions and end-to-end encryption, Threema offers a number of really nice features.

The first I want to talk to you about is the possibility of creating internal surveys in the app. No more need to rely on external applications like Doodle: all group decisions can be made without leaving the Threema environment.

A point in favor of this app is its optimization for tablets and SIM-free devices. Having a tablet without a SIM card, it happened to me to want to install WhatsApp to deal with an emergency situation and not to be able because the verification is done by phone number. Threema would definitely have served me well in that moment!

Speaking of this last point, you don’t need to enter your phone number to create a Threema account.

Finally, Threema offers the possibility of fixing some messages at the top (Slack users know this function well): ideal if you need to remember something or highlight a communication.

Disadvantages of Threema

Let’s start without delay by saying that with Threema it is not possible to delete sent and delivered messages. Once sent, your communication is done: there is no way to go back.

Likewise, there is no feature that allows you to destroy messages after a given period of time. In short, Threema is permanent!

Another drawback – especially for those people who use messaging apps for work – is the absence of distribution lists for Apple users. Instead, they are available on all devices with the Android operating system.

It may seem repetitive but it is always good to specify it: Threema has a very small pool of people to communicate with when compared with other solutions (not necessarily WhatsApp).

The last drawback – perhaps the biggest – is that Threema is a paid alternative to WhatsApp. This is a one-time purchase of € 3.99.

5. Snapchat

Snapchat is certainly one of the best known alternative chats to WhatsApp and Telegram. Like Facebook and Google, Snapchat was born from the minds of some college students – Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown – and was launched in 2011.

Snapchat launched the phenomenon of stories in the world of social media marketing . So why include this social network in a list of alternative apps to WhatsApp? Because it was born as an alternative messaging app, an innovative way to connect people.

It worked? Apparently yes since, according to the most recent statistics, Snapchat has 238 million active users every day.

Benefits of Snapchat

The first benefit of an app like Snapchat for ecommerce site owners is audience segmentation . In other words, Snapchat users are young: it estimated that 45% are under 25 and 71% are under 34.

Thanks to a Twitter-style communication – therefore based on the here and now, on snapshots – Snapchat is very useful for real-time marketing. Do you have a new blog post? Upload a story with the link. Last minute news? Take a picture, apply a couple of stickers and boom! The news reaches all your users within seconds.

Snapchat has tons of features:

• Snapchat story : basically Instagram stories ;
• Calls and video calls;
• Snapchat Ads : a kind of Instagram Ads with which you can create targeted ads;
• Discover : a channel where you can find new content and profiles based on your interests;
• Geolocation and Snap Map : A way to know the location of who is on your Snapchat network.

Disadvantages of Snapchat

Let’s talk about the collection and processing of personal data. From the first access we realize that Snapchat requires more information from those who want to access:

• Username;
• Password;
• Mail;
• Telephone number;
• Date of birth.

All published content is share with Snapchat, as can read in their privacy policy . Other information collected are usage statistics; the filters, contents and contacts you interact with; all the content you create, such as stickers, for example, and your geographical location.

All the information collected, having an advertising platform, can be use to profile people and provide relevant advertisements. In practice, a sort of Facebook Ads but with much less data available.

In short, from the point of view of privacy Snapchat behaves like a social platform rather than a messaging app and, given the recent WhatsApp case , it probably might not be the best choice for those looking for more protection.