Omegle shut down in November 2023 after years of moderation and legal pressure. Overnight, millions of people lost the simplest way to talk to a stranger online. Chat Avenue is still running, but if you have opened it lately you know the feeling: text only rooms, a dated interface, and no real cam to cam.
So what do people actually want from a replacement? It comes down to four things: you stay anonymous (no phone number, no real name), you can start with no sign up, there is some moderation so it is not chaos, and increasingly, the option to go on cam, not just type. That last one is where the old text room sites fall behind.
Our pick: Heeyyo (anonymous rooms plus cam)
Heeyyo keeps the themed room format that made sites like Chat Avenue popular (Global, Dating, Gaming, LGBTQ+, Senior and more), but adds the thing those sites never did well: real one on one cam. You walk into a live room, see who is there, start chatting, and when it clicks you go private with text, voice, or video.
Unlike Chat Avenue, which is essentially typing in a room, Heeyyo lets you go cam to cam in a private room. And unlike Omegle, you are not thrown at a random stranger, you choose. No phone number, no email as a guest, and guest sessions store nothing. Pick a nickname and you are in within ten seconds.
Trade offs: it is a newer platform, so rooms are quieter than the giants at off peak hours, longer video costs tokens (payable in crypto, no card needed), and it is strictly 18+.
Other popular options
The original random video chat, older than Omegle. Cleaned up with AI moderation, it is the most recognizable name in roulette style matching. You get cam, but you do not choose who you meet.
Two of the most used Omegle style sites. OmeTV is app first random video; Emerald Chat mixes text and video with interest matching. Both recreate the random stranger experience, with the usual caveat that random means bots and repeats too.
The classic room based sites. Chat Avenue, Chatib and 321Chat still have active themed rooms, and they are free with no sign up. The catch is that they are built around typing: dated interfaces and no built in cam to cam. Fine if you only want to type, limiting if you want video.
The real difference in 2026 is cam
Here is the thing most lists miss. The old text room sites (Chat Avenue, Chatib, 321Chat) are built for typing. The random video sites (Chatroulette, OmeTV) give you cam but no control over who you meet. What Omegle actually offered was both, a stranger and a camera, with anonymity. Heeyyo is built to give you that combination: you choose who to talk to in a room, then go one on one on cam, and you stay anonymous the whole time.
No more swapping to Snapchat or Whereby just to cam
Here is a pattern anyone who uses chat sites knows. You meet someone in a text room, and to actually see each other you both jump to another app: Snapchat, Whereby, Discord, Telegram, sometimes Instagram, Talky or Teams, and swap a username or a room link. That means juggling apps, and handing a stranger a handle that is tied to the rest of your life.
Heeyyo removes that step, and honestly that is the whole point of it. The cam is built in, so you go from a room straight into a private one on one video without leaving the site, without an app swap, and without giving anyone your Snapchat, your Instagram, or your real identity. If your routine right now is "meet on chat, then move to another app to go on cam," Heeyyo is that entire flow in one place, and you stay anonymous the whole time.
How to stay safe on any of these
- Never share your real name, address, workplace, or financial details.
- Prefer sites with active moderation and a working report button.
- Use platforms that do not require a phone number, so your identity is never tied to the account.
- Leave any conversation that makes you uncomfortable. You owe a stranger nothing.