imo alternative for meeting new people on video
imo is very good at one hard thing: calls that keep working on a weak connection. Its video and voice calls hold up on 2G and 3G, and that's why it's used across India, Bangladesh and Indonesia and by migrant workers calling home. On 27 August 2026 Google Play showed more than a billion installs (1,562,160,743, to be exact), a 4.4 rating from 9.06 million reviews, and an update from the day before. But imo is built for people whose number is already in your phone. Veilr is for the opposite: a video chat with someone you've never met. The video window at the top of this page is Veilr's.
Where imo comes from
It started in 2007 as a web service, imo.im, in Palo Alto. The founders are the brothers Georges and Ralph Harik; Georges was one of Google's first ten engineers. The Android app arrived on Google Play on 27 July 2010. The developer today is Pagebites, Inc., still in Palo Alto. imo's own description claims more than 200 million users in over 170 countries and more than 30 interface languages.
Calls, messages, files and group calls are free, with no subscription. Money comes from two things: Diamonds, a virtual currency for gifts in imo Live streams and rooms, and imo Out, for calling ordinary phone numbers. The Google Play listing says the app contains ads and lists in-app purchases from $0.49 to $199.99 per item. Its terms of service, as revised in December 2024, call sales of Diamonds and other virtual items final and irreversible.
imo also says its private messages and calls are encrypted end to end. That's its own claim; we haven't seen an independent audit.
What imo isn't made for
You register with your name and a mobile number, confirmed by a code sent by SMS, and then you call and message your contacts. There's no matching with strangers and no filter for who you meet, because meeting strangers isn't what it's for. The one corner of imo where strangers talk is its voice rooms, called Voice Party. The minimum age in its terms is 13, and the voice features are set separately at 18+, while Google Play rates the app for Everyone. The terms are governed by California law, with arbitration in Santa Clara County.
Where imo is missing or cut off
The US App Store. On 27 August 2026 the page for imo's iPhone app returned a 404 in the American store, and Apple's search for "imo" there showed only apps by other developers. The same app was available in the UK, Russian, Indian, Indonesian, Turkish, German and French stores. Why it's missing in the US, we don't know.
The UAE and Oman. imo's voice and video calls fall under the regulator's ban on VoIP calling, along with WhatsApp and FaceTime. Messages work; calls don't.
India. In May 2023 imo was one of 14 messaging apps blocked under Section 69A of the IT Act at the request of the Home Ministry, over their use in Jammu and Kashmir. The Internet Freedom Foundation pointed out that the blocking order itself was never published. Store listings for India were still being served on 27 August 2026, with 23,809 ratings in the Indian App Store. Whether the block is enforced today, we haven't checked.
Accounts tied to an SMS code. In August 2021 The Daily Star in Bangladesh described gangs that took over imo accounts by intercepting the one-time code, read the chats for a week, and then asked the families of migrant workers for money. Police arrested two men and said the ring had eight to ten members.
What Veilr is for
Strangers, by format. Choose video, voice or text, and Veilr matches you with someone at random. The format you chose holds until the chat ends. There are no phone contacts involved at any point.
No phone number at all. You sign in with an account you already have, such as Google. No SMS code, no new password. On your first visit you fill in your gender, date of birth and native language. Veilr is 18+, and our servers refuse a match to any account recorded as under 18.
Some choice over who. imo has no reason to offer this; Veilr does. With your own gender set, you can ask for the gender you'd like to meet. It's free and tried first if someone who fits is online, and if nobody does, you're matched with someone else instead of waiting. Your partner's choice counts as well. With Boost your choice stays firm and you go first in the queue.
Languages you don't share. imo's interface comes in far more languages than Veilr's 16. What Veilr adds happens between the two of you. On a call where your declared native languages differ, live captions in your language can come up over the other person's video, in any of 34 caption languages; a new account gets five minutes free. In text, messages can arrive translated, with the original a tap away; there's a quota on a free account and no limit with Boost.
Contacts you earn in a chat. Nobody can find you by phone number or by name. Press ‘Add to contacts’ during a chat; if you've both added each other, you're contacts, and each of you gets the other's display name and account email.
What you pay. Nothing to meet someone and talk, in any format. Boost and extra caption minutes are sold once each, with nothing that renews, and Veilr doesn't call phone numbers. A free account may see an ad between matches or while it searches; calls and chats carry none, and Boost removes them.
Where Veilr runs. On Android there's an app on Google Play. On iPhone and computers it works in the browser, so the App Store doesn't come into it, in the US or anywhere else. Veilr isn't available in the United Kingdom. And imo's record on 2G and 3G is something Veilr can't claim.
Which one to open
Calling family abroad over a patchy connection is imo's job, and a billion installs say it does that job well. Veilr isn't trying to replace it. Meeting someone new on camera is the part imo leaves out, and that's the part Veilr is for.
| imo | Veilr | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you talk to | Your contacts, found by phone number | Strangers, matched at random |
| Talking with strangers | Voice rooms only | Video, voice or text chats |
| Signing up | Name, mobile number, SMS code | An existing account; gender, date of birth, native language |
| Minimum age | 13; 18 for voice features | 18 |
| Weak connections | Built for 2G and 3G | No such track record |
| Calls to phone numbers | imo Out, paid | Not offered |
| iPhone in the US | Not in the US App Store | In the browser |
| What costs money | Diamonds and imo Out; ads in the app | Boost and caption minutes, one-off |
Starting a video chat on Veilr
- 1. Sign in with an account you already have and fill in the profile once.
- 2. Choose video, allow the camera, and press ‘Start video chat’.
Related
- Every comparison
- Azar — a video app for strangers, with live captions of its own.
- Skout — profiles of people nearby, with messages.
- LivU — video with strangers, paid in coins.
- Video chat — the format on this page.
- Voice chat — calls without a camera.
Questions about imo
Can you meet strangers on imo?
Only in its voice rooms. Everything else in imo is for people in your contacts, found by phone number.
Why can't I find imo in the US App Store?
On 27 August 2026 its app page returned a 404 in the American store, while stores in other countries still had it. The reason isn't public. Veilr has no App Store app anywhere; on an iPhone you open it in the browser.
Does imo work in the UAE?
Messaging does. Voice and video calls fall under the VoIP ban there, like WhatsApp and FaceTime.
Is imo free?
Calls, messages and group calls are. The app shows ads, and Diamonds and imo Out cost money; its terms treat those purchases as final.
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