Replaces Snapchat

European alternatives to Snapchat

Chat, photos and groups with friends, hosted in Europe

Browse the category: Instant messaging apps · Photo and video sharing social networks

Snapchat is the messaging app from Snap Inc. in Los Angeles, built around photos and short videos that disappear after they are viewed. Friends swap snaps, keep streaks going, post stories for a day and talk in group chats, and the camera with its lenses and filters is the centre of the app. It is especially popular with teenagers and young adults.

Everything you send passes through servers in the United States, under US law, and the app makes money from advertising built on what it learns about you. A European alternative to Snapchat keeps that data closer to home. mssgs is a group chat app from the Netherlands with servers, channels, voice calls, photo sharing and built-in games, hosted entirely in the EU. Threema and Olvid are private messengers from Switzerland and France for the one to one and small group side of it.

European options 6

Our pick

mssgs

Group chat for teams and communities from the Netherlands

mssgs is a group chat app for friends, communities and teams, made by Deverence Group B.V. in the Netherlands. It is organised into servers with channels, alongside direct messages and voice calls. Built-in mini-games, custom bots, webhooks and support for MCP and AI agents extend what a server can do, and there are apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux and the web.

NetherlandsEU hostedFree plan

Threema

Encrypted messaging app from Switzerland

Switzerland

Olvid

French messenger that works without a phone number

FranceFree plan

TeleGuard

Free messaging app from Switzerland

Switzerland

ginlo Private

Personal messenger from Germany

Germany

SKRED

Encrypted peer to peer messaging from France

FranceFree plan

Questions

Is there a free European alternative to Snapchat?

Yes. mssgs is free to start with no credit card, and TeleGuard is free as well. Threema and Olvid charge a small one-off or subscription price for the app, which is what pays for the service instead of advertising.

Which alternative feels closest to Snapchat for a group of friends?

mssgs comes closest for the social side: you set up a server for your friends, chat in channels, share photos, jump into voice calls and play the built-in games together. It does not copy the disappearing snaps or the camera lenses, so treat it as a group chat rather than a camera app.

Can I move my Snapchat memories and friends over?

Snapchat lets you download your data, including saved memories, from its account settings. There is no import into another app, so you keep the export as a personal archive and invite your friends to the new app by link.