Free anonymous chat, with the limits spelled out

Yes, it is free to start: you can open the site and have your first conversations without paying anything and without creating an account. What it is not is free without end, and we would rather say that plainly on day one.

Here is the model in one breath. You arrive, you get a starter set of free matches, the Reward Center tops you up while you are online, and coins only come into play when both of those are used. Some people never reach that point.

Everything you need to try the service and stay safe on it costs nothing. The list is longer than most people expect.

The Reward Center adds free matches based on how long you stay online, and it lets you claim again later the same day. It sits at the top of the start match screen, so you see its status every time you go to find someone.

Think of it as a meter that fills while you are around. When it is full, you tap to claim and the free matches drop into your balance. The meter then starts filling again.

Once your free matches are used up, starting another match uses coins. That is the main thing coins pay for.

Nothing about the chat itself changes when you move from free matches to coins. The strangers are the same, the three modes are the same, and skip, block and report work identically. The only difference is what paid for the start of that match. Your balance is visible on the match screen, so it is easy to tell which side you are on. The full picture is on the coins page.

It isn't unlimited because every live match costs real money to carry, and a ceiling on the free side is part of what keeps the service online and moderated.

Video and voice have to travel through servers in real time. Reports have to be read by people. Spam and bot accounts have to be caught before they reach you. None of that is free for us, and a service that hands out endless matches to anyone still has to pay those bills somehow.

Usually that means one of three things: pages crowded with ads, personal data sold on, or very thin moderation. We picked a different trade. The free side is funded by the people who buy coins, and it has a limit so that trade keeps working.

Free matches and coins start the same kind of match; they differ in how you get them and what you need to hold them.

No. Using free matches does not require your name, phone number or email, and the free side is not paid for by selling your personal information.

What we do keep, such as match times, reports and basic technical logs, is kept to run and protect the service, and it is listed in the privacy policy. If you want the no-account side explained in more depth, see chat without registration. For the general idea of meeting strangers without handing over who you are, start at the anonymous chat homepage.

The easiest way to stretch free matches is to give each stranger a few real seconds before tapping next. Every new match is a new start, so reflex skipping burns through them fast.

Anyone offering a coin generator, a hacked balance or a link that doubles your free matches is running a scam. There is no such tool, and there never has been.

What these offers are after is your login, a small "unlock" payment, or a download that should never be on your phone. Report the account, block it, and carry on.