Y99 alternative: one-to-one text chat, and no guest mode
Y99 has kept the same .in address since August 2017 and still asks one thing at the door: a nickname. No form, no email, no captcha — straight into a chat room about music, anime or nothing in particular. The question arrives a line later, when you read a reply and wonder who typed it. The chat above is Veilr's text chat: sign in once, choose Text, and you are matched with one stranger.
How Y99 became the room everyone here knows
The domain was registered in August 2017 through an Indian registrar and never moved — its ninth year in a corner of the web where addresses die off every year. The rooms and the articles around them are written for readers in India and Pakistan — the market the name grew up in. The formula was blunt and it worked: nothing to pay, nothing to fill in, banner advertising covering the bill, and the same operator running yesichat.com the same way.
Credit where it is due. Rooms are sorted by subject and by language, so anime is a click, not a lottery, and Y99 built things a free chat site usually skips: a shared drawing board, watch-together video, group video meetings. There is no paid version at all.
What the nickname does not settle
The site's paperwork argues with its own front page. The terms of service, last updated in October 2022, say you must be 18, or 16 with a parent supervising; the front page advertises "chat rooms for teens". Neither is enforced, because typing a nickname is all there is to getting in — nothing is asked about your age, and nothing stands behind the name.
Trustpilot puts Y99 at 2.7, with the caveat it deserves: seven reviews is a sample, not a measurement. Inside them the same two complaints keep coming back — adults and teenagers in one room, nobody moderating.
The app is gone, the name is scattered
The Android app is gone from Google Play; the store listing returns a 404. AppBrain, which tracks store pages, dates the removal to April 2025. No reason for it has surfaced anywhere — not from Google, not from the developer — so anyone who tells you why is guessing.
The name is spread thin as well: five mirrors — y99.chat, y99.me and y99.org among them — are live and listed on Y99's own front page, so the site itself leaves open which address is the real one.
What Veilr puts at the door instead
An account you already have. You arrive with a social account — the sign-in screen shows which ones are open to you — and there is no guest mode, no search without one. Veilr is adults only, 18+: people state their date of birth when they sign up, and our servers refuse a match to an account whose recorded age is under 18.
Choosing who turns up, free. 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 stay preferences that widen when nobody fits rather than leave you waiting, except under Boost.
A subject, without a room to find first. Interests are a ranking signal, not a gate: tick Music, Anime, Sports or Gaming and people who share them move up your list, while a partner with nothing in common is still matched. The format is fixed before the search, so a text chat never turns into a camera pointed at you.
Two languages in one conversation. Y99 answers the language problem by sorting rooms by language, which works until the person worth talking to is sitting in another one. Veilr does not filter partners by language: 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, earns more, and Boost lifts the ceiling. On a voice or video call between two different declared languages, subtitles can start on their own: five free minutes with a new account, then Boost, a top-up or a reward.
What the other side actually sees. Your gender, your age band and, when it is known, a country flag; in text and voice also a blurred version of your photo, any Verified or Boost badge, and your native language once you set it — that one you can switch off. A partner with an active Boost can unblur it for the length of that chat, and you are not told. Only someone searching with an age filter sees your exact age. A stranger you are matched with never sees your real name, email address or city. Add to contacts takes both of you: a one-sided tap creates no contact and saves no conversation — it only asks the other person — and when you both tap you are swapping account details with someone you met at random, which is exactly why it takes two.
Y99 and Veilr, side by side
| Y99 | Veilr | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | A nickname, nothing to confirm | A social account you already have |
| Who is on the other side | Nothing asked, nothing checked | 18+; an account whose recorded age is under 18 is refused a match |
| Finding a subject | Rooms by subject and by language | Interests move someone up your list |
| Beyond the chat itself | A drawing board, watch-together, group video | Text, voice and video, one to one |
| On a phone | Browser only — the app is gone from Google Play | Browser, or the Android app |
| Who pays for it | Banner advertising | Boost and subtitle minutes; no ads inside matches, chats or calls |
Three of those rows are Y99's, and none is a consolation prize: a drawing board, watch-together and group video on a free site, and a nickname will always be faster than an account.
Getting into a Veilr text chat
- 1. Sign in with a social account you already have; set your gender in your profile to open the filter.
- 2. Choose Text — nothing asks for your camera — tick a couple of interests, and start searching.
More comparisons
- The comparison index
- Chatib — rooms by subject and country.
- Chatiw — free, and you pick your partner from a list of who is online.
- Text chat — how text chat works on Veilr.
- Voice chat — talking, with subtitles.
What people ask about Y99
Is Y99 safe?
Nothing about who joins is checked, and the site's terms and its front page disagree about teenagers. Veilr has no guest mode and no search without signing in, and it is 18+. Report someone mid-chat and Veilr moves you to the next partner and keeps you two apart for a day; blocking for good stays a separate choice of your own.
Why is the Y99 app not on Google Play?
The listing returns a 404; AppBrain dates the removal to April 2025, and no reason for it has surfaced anywhere, so any explanation you read is a guess. Veilr runs in a browser with nothing to install, and its Android app asks for camera, microphone and notifications — no location, no contacts, no files.
Is Y99 free?
Yes, with no tiers and no subscription; banner advertising pays for it. Veilr's matching, all three formats and the gender filter cost nothing either. Only two things are sold: Boost, which puts you first in the queue, and extra subtitle minutes.
Do I have to register on Veilr?
Yes, and that is the trade this page is about: no password, no email form, just an account you already have — and you are not matched without one. What you write in a random chat is not kept as a history you can return to, unless you both add each other as contacts.
All trademarks and service names on this page belong to their respective owners. Veilr is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any of them.