When Omegle shut down in November 2023, it didn't leave a gap so much as a crater. Within weeks there were hundreds of sites with "Omegle" somewhere in the name, and most of them are exactly as bad as you'd expect: fake user counts, bots in every other chat, and a "free" button that turns into a paywall.

So this list is about the ones that actually hold up. Nine sites, what they're good at, and what'll annoy you about each.

Full disclosure: Omingle is our site, and it's on this list. We've tried to be fair anyway. It's not #1, and we'll tell you where it falls short.

What we looked at

Every site here got judged on the same handful of things. Can you start chatting without making an account? Is there any real moderation, or just a report button that goes nowhere? Does it work on a phone without an app? And are the useful filters actually free, or locked behind a subscription?

That last one matters more than people think. A lot of these sites look free right up until you try to pick a country or a gender filter.

1. Emerald Chat

Emerald is probably the closest thing to "Omegle, but grown up." It matches on interests, has both text and video, and leans hard into moderation. It's also got a karma-style reputation system, so people who behave badly get pushed out over time.

The downside is that it's more structured than Omegle ever was. Some people love that. If you just want pure chaos, it can feel a bit like there's a hall monitor in the room.

2. Camsurf

Camsurf is video-first and strict. Explicit stuff gets you banned fast, and it's one of the easier sites for a first-timer because the experience is pretty clean.

The catch is that there's no anonymous text mode to fall back on. If you're not in the mood to be on camera, Camsurf isn't really for you.

3. ChatHub

ChatHub's big selling point is filters, especially language. Being matched with someone you can actually talk to sounds basic, but on the big global sites it's surprisingly rare, especially late at night.

One weird thing: a lot of unrelated sites use the "ChatHub" name now, and some of them are pretty sketchy. Double-check the URL before you turn your camera on.

4. Omingle

Here's where we put ourselves, and honestly this feels like the right spot. Omingle does the basics really well: no signup, text or video, optional interest tags, and it works in a mobile browser without an app. Video is peer-to-peer, so we can't see your stream, and there's a report button in every chat.

Where it falls short is size. It's new, which means fewer people online than the giants, especially at odd hours. If you want a massive pool with instant matches at 4am, one of the bigger sites below will probably beat it for now.

5. OmeTV

OmeTV is one of the biggest and most stable options, with apps on iOS and Android plus a browser version. Matching is fast because there are just so many people on it.

The problem is moderation. Its age check is basically a checkbox, and in 2025 Australia's online safety regulator formally warned the company over child safety. By October that year its apps had been pulled from Australian app stores. It still works in a browser, but go in with your eyes open.

6. Chatrandom

Chatrandom has been around forever and it's got a bit of everything: random video, chat rooms, and location and gender preferences. There's an Android app too.

But a lot of the good stuff is tied to a paid upgrade, and moderation is noticeably looser than on Camsurf or Emerald. It's fine for a quick session. Just don't expect a curated experience.

7. Shagle

Shagle is the "fun" one. Masks, filters, a friendly vibe, and lots of people online. If you're a bit camera-shy, the face masks honestly help break the ice.

Like Chatrandom, gender and location filters are mostly paid features. And the free experience can feel like a long ad for the premium one.

8. Monkey

Monkey is built for short, fast video calls and it's clearly aimed at a younger crowd. That's kind of the problem. Apple removed it from the App Store over safety concerns, and it never came back.

It still runs on Android and in the browser. We're including it because people ask about it constantly, but it's not one we'd recommend.

9. Tinychat

This one's a history lesson. The original Tinychat, the group video room site, shut down in December 2024 after about fifteen years. The domain was sold in 2025 and now runs as a different random video chat site.

If you're looking for the old Tinychat rooms, they're gone. What's there now is basically a new site wearing an old name, so judge it like you would any other newcomer.

So which one should you actually use?

It depends what you want. For the most structured, moderated experience, try Emerald Chat or Camsurf. If you mostly want to talk to someone who speaks your language, ChatHub's filters are hard to beat. For the biggest crowd right now, it's OmeTV, with the caveats above.

And if you want something simple, no account, text or video, with interest matching and an actual report button, give Omingle a shot. It's free, and if it's not your thing, closing the tab costs you nothing.

Whatever you pick, a few rules hold everywhere. Don't share your real name, school or workplace. Skip anyone who pushes you to move to another app. And leave the second something feels off. Our video chat safety guide goes deeper on this. If bots are what's driving you nuts, we've also written about which sites handle them best.

If you're curious how the original ended up shutting down in the first place, here's the full story of what happened to Omegle.