Monkey app alternative: no subscription to choose who you meet
A match on the Monkey app opens as a fifteen-second video call and continues only if both of you press to extend it. What those fifteen seconds do not mention: choosing who turns up at all — the gender and location filters — sits inside Monkey Plus, a subscription that renews itself unless you stop it. Veilr keeps that filter free, and the video chat above is yours to use once you sign in.
Nobody can quote you one price
AVG's review puts Monkey Plus at $13.99 a month or $6.99 a week; other reviews quote $9.99 a month, and $13.99 for seven days or $27.99 for thirty on the higher Plus+ tier. The listing settles none of it: the amount depends on region and on where you pay. Alongside it sits a second currency — coins, called bananas — for gifts, boosts and Super DM.
What the money buys
The useful question was never how much, but what for. Four things you would expect to already have: filtering by gender and by location, skipping without a limit, turning the advertising off, and messaging or calling the people you added as friends. The base tier does not simply switch the gender filter on either — one review reports a cap of 150 gender-filtered matches, uncapped only on the tier above.
So the free app shows you people; the paid one is where you choose them and keep them — users call it a demo. Billing is the second theme: on PissedConsumer it averages 2.5 out of 5 across 28 reviews, 65% negative, and the dominant complaints are charges people did not expect or could not refund, and bans issued without explanation that survive an appeal. A small sample, and opinion — but about money and access.
In November 2019 the Washington Post analysed more than 130,000 App Store reviews across six random-chat apps including Monkey, counting over 1,500 reports of unwanted sexual behaviour; roughly 2% of Monkey's iOS reviews carried one, on an app then rated 12+. Apple raised its minimum age to 17+, and the app later left the store and has not returned.
What Veilr's free core includes instead
The filter you were being sold. Set your gender in your profile and you can choose who to talk to: free, tried first whenever someone you asked for is online, and if nobody is, you are connected to someone else rather than left waiting. The other person’s choice is always respected. With Boost your choice is a hard filter and you go first in line; people who registered as non-binary are matched by those who chose ‘Any’. Age and country are preferences too: if nobody fits, the search widens instead of stalling, and Boost is what makes them firm. Nothing runs out after 150 matches — no counter behind it.
No timer, no meter on leaving. Veilr fixes the mode before the search and holds it to the end, so a video match stays a video match. The conversation lasts as long as you both want, and Next returns you to the same queue — no skip allowance to run down.
Talking again later costs nothing. Adding someone takes both of you pressing ‘Add to contacts’ — a one-sided press creates no contact, it only asks, and a refusal is silent. After that the private chat and the calls between you are part of the product, with replies, edits, reactions, read states and photos stripped of their metadata.
Different languages are not an obstacle. Type in yours and your message can reach your partner in theirs, the original one tap away; every free account starts with a run of translations and earns more. On a call between two declared languages, live captions start on their own: five free minutes with a new account, then Boost, a top-up or a reward.
And no advertising in the conversation. Live matches, private chats and calls carry no third-party ad networks — nothing to buy your way out of. Only two things are sold — Boost, which puts you first in the queue, and extra caption minutes — bought once, never as a renewing subscription. Report somebody mid-chat and Veilr moves you on to the next partner, keeping you two apart for a day; blocking for good stays a separate choice of your own.
The two of them, honestly
| Monkey | Veilr | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | Social login, phone or email | A social account you have, no guest mode |
| Choosing by gender | Inside Monkey Plus, capped on the base tier | Free preference, tried first; hard only with Boost |
| Deciding whether to stay | Fifteen seconds, continued only if both agree | No timer; Next is not metered |
| Talking again afterwards | A friends list — messaging them is in the subscription | ‘Add to contacts’, if you both press; chat and calls included |
| Advertising | Removing it is part of the subscription | None inside matches, chats or calls |
| What you pay for | A subscription that renews by default, plus coins | Boost and caption minutes, bought once |
Two of those rows are Monkey's, and a third is not in the table: scale. AppBrain counts 21–24 million Google Play downloads and 3.76 out of 5 from roughly 71,000 ratings, on release 7.68.0 of 24 August 2026. The fifteen-second timer is a genuinely good idea, too — staying becomes a decision both make out loud. Veilr is younger, smaller, and asks you to sign in first; what that sign-in buys is the whole column beside it, at no price.
Starting a video chat on Veilr
- 1. Sign in with a social account you already have — the sign-in screen shows which ones are open to you.
- 2. Choose video; on a first visit the camera prompt appears only when you enable it or press start.
- 3. Set the gender filter, search, and press ‘Add to contacts’ when a conversation is worth keeping.
Questions people ask about the Monkey app
Is the Monkey app free?
There is a free tier with advertising and limits, and a subscription above it holding the gender and location filters, unlimited skips, ad removal and messaging your friends. On Veilr, matching, all three modes and the gender filter are free; only Boost and caption minutes are sold.
Why is Monkey not in the App Store?
Apple raised its minimum age to 17+ after the November 2019 reporting, and the app later left the store; its browser version still opens on an iPhone. Veilr runs in any modern browser with nothing to install, and its Android app asks for camera, microphone and notifications — no location, no contacts, no files.
Does Veilr put a timer on the conversation?
No. It runs until one of you leaves, and Next returns you to the same queue. Veilr is adults only, 18+: our servers refuse a match to an account whose recorded age is under 18.
What happens if I am banned by mistake?
No automated decision on Veilr bans anybody for good: automatic penalties are capped at 30 days, a permanent block takes a person, and the notice says which of the two it was. You can appeal by email.
Related
- The comparison index
- Flingster — the gender filter itself is a VIP subscription.
- Emerald Chat — interest tags.
- Video chat — this page's format.
- Text chat — same matching, no camera.
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