If you have an Android phone, the hot news of the last two days is probably that WhatsApp is no longer free. Indeed, WhatsApp has started charging annual fees for its service subscription. If this has made you consider stopping using the app, in this post we present the main free alternatives to this service.
In reality, WhatsApp was never free. They always made it clear that on Android it was an annual subscription service, and that they let you try it for an initial period. This policy is different on iPhone, where users buy the app from the start, getting a lifetime app for the money that on Android costs the annual subscription.
WhatsApp’s business strategy has been clear: achieve massive expansion, and then, charge an annual fee. Undeniably, they have been very successful in this. Their penetration is such that it has become common to hear phrases like “send me a WhatsApp,” “I’ll send it to you via WhatsApp,” etc.
There are many alternatives to WhatsApp; you can find numerous pages with comparisons of alternatives. However, the fundamental aspect is often overlooked. A messaging app has to be popular. It’s no use having the best messaging app in the world if there’s no one to talk to. WhatsApp was a success because everyone was on it.
The curious thing is that WhatsApp was neither the first nor the best instant messaging application. WhatsApp’s popularity is due, in large part, to iPhone users, who started its expansion. It was then copied by Android users, who, although they had better alternatives, went with the flow. The rest, as you know, is history. (Ends with “I want one of those phones… those… with the Guasáp”)
Luck plays a not insignificant role in WhatsApp’s success. The history of computing and companies in general is full of products that, without being the best or the first, achieve success against their competitors. Call it marketing, call it luck, call it X… but the truth is that sometimes success is about being in the right place at the right time.
Be that as it may, WhatsApp has started charging. The net is cast, the tuna are inside, and now they have started to pull slowly to get their profits. They are within their rights; we wouldn’t expect them to do everything for free. But we, as intelligent tuna, have the right to decide whether we stay inside or swim away to other seas.
Reasons Not to Pay
There are multiple reasons why you might choose not to pay. Some of the most common are the following.
- You’re bothered by having to pay. Okay, one euro a year is a small amount. But it’s your euro, and you’re fond of it.
- It bothers you to feel “forced” to pay an annual fee, when others are allowed to make a one-time payment.
- No one guarantees that, if the move works out for them, what costs one euro this year will be 5 next year, and 10 the year after.
- You’re concerned about having to give your card number, and prefer to avoid it if possible.
- On principle, you are against paying for an app that isn’t even the best in its class, when there are better free ones.
- You question what the app’s real utility will be after the “stampede” of users. If the number of people leaving WhatsApp is significant, its usefulness will be greatly reduced.
- You think that within a few weeks it will be free again. It’s possible that free service extensions will return, since WhatsApp’s business is being popular.
Any of these reasons is a legitimate reason not to want to pay. If you share one, it’s reason enough (if you share all of them, don’t even think about buying it). Whatever your reasons, you might find it interesting to know free and popular alternatives that can represent an alternative to WhatsApp.
Alternatives
Line
Undoubtedly, the big alternative of the moment, it will likely become its successor. Since the “WhatsApp crisis,” the number of Line users has increased considerably. Line has all the qualities to replace WhatsApp, even offering improvements, like having an app to send messages from your PC.
Line’s biggest problem is its high battery consumption, which depends on the phone model. For example, on terminals like the Nexus 4, the consumption becomes prohibitive. If they solved this, it could be the perfect alternative to WhatsApp.
Spotbros
The Spanish alternative in instant messaging. The truth is that Spotbros is an app with excellent performance, good visual appeal and usability that, certainly, has nothing to envy WhatsApp for. Its only flaw is that it’s not yet popular, although the number of users has increased considerably in the last year. You can try it for yourselves, and you’ll be giving a boost to the “national product.”
Viber
A year or a year and a half ago, Viber emerged as the great competitor to WhatsApp. Impeccable performance, good battery consumption, all the functionalities of WhatsApp and a few novelties. However, it was unable to compete with the pull of WhatsApp’s popularity. Viber fell into oblivion, relegated to the dust-collecting drawer. Perhaps now is a good time to give a second chance to an app that performs its job outstandingly.
Gtalk
If earlier I mentioned that Android users had alternatives to WhatsApp at the time, Google Talk is the perfect example. Google Talk is Google’s instant messaging application, and it is a native Android functionality. It’s hard to have greater potential popularity, given that if you have Android you have Gmail, and if you have Gmail you have Gtalk.
However, Google has never been able, or known how, to give Gtalk the projection it could have, both in its mobile and PC versions. In any case, it’s good for you to know that your Android phone has this functionality available natively and that, logically, it is perfectly integrated into your phone, with minimal battery consumption. The interface is sober and functional, although it does not allow sending images and other files (a scolding for Google). On the other hand, you have the computer application available.
Facebook Messenger
Finally, another app that I think is not getting the use it could. If you’ve ever tried Facebook Messenger, you’ve seen that it fulfills its role more than outstandingly. Moderate battery consumption, allows files, you can check messages on your computer from Facebook, it’s cross-platform. And as for popularity, who doesn’t have Facebook? Undoubtedly a good app that deserves at least a chance from you.
Conclusion
We have presented several reasons why you might decide not to pay for an app, when there are better free alternatives, just because others do (didn’t your mother tell you not to jump off a bridge if your friends did?). We have also presented some of the alternatives available at the moment, paying special attention to their popularity.
In the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see how the situation evolves. Socially, it will be interesting to see the percentage of people who buy the app. Will two classes of smartphone users be created, those who decided to pay and those who didn’t? Will there be groups of friends who bought WhatsApp due to peer pressure, and others who moved to a free alternative? How will the market solve this fragmentation of users, with one or with multiple simultaneous apps? Will it be the beginning of the zombie apocalypse?
Most likely, Line will rise as the successor to WhatsApp, and end up dethroning it. If a large number of people abandon WhatsApp, its usefulness will be considerably diminished, causing an even greater stampede. It wouldn’t be far-fetched for WhatsApp’s strategy to include returning to free subscription extensions to maintain its market share.
In any case, here you have several free alternatives to use. Was the article useful to you? Do you know another interesting app? What do you think is the future of instant messaging? If you want to leave a comment, you are welcome.
