ChatHub Alternative

What happened to ChatHub?

The ChatHub random video chat put a notice on its site saying the service had shut down, and directories that track chat sites now list it as discontinued. At the time of writing we could not find the original service running again.

It was not the only well-known closure in this corner of the internet. Omegle closed for good on 8 November 2023, when its founder explained the decision in a public statement, and the sites still running have been competing for their former users ever since.

Searching for ChatHub now can be confusing, for two reasons:

• The name is shared. ChatHub is also the name of an unrelated AI tool for comparing answers from different chatbots. If that is what you came for, this page is about something else.
• Not every site using the name is the original. Other domains use the ChatHub name for video chat. Before you turn on your camera anywhere, check who runs the site and read its privacy page.

When a popular chat site closes, its regulars scatter across a dozen others and start comparing. That is a good instinct. The rest of this page is meant to help with exactly that comparison, including a checklist you can run on any site, ChatWS included.

What did ChatHub users like about it?

Going by what ChatHub offered and how chat directories described it, three things stood out:

• It ran in the browser. There was nothing to download, which made it easy to open on a laptop between other things.
• It had filters. Gender and country filters were among its best-known features.
• It was simple. Random one-on-one video with a skip button, and nothing else to learn.

A good replacement keeps all three. ChatWS does, with one real difference in how filters work, which the table and the filters section further down explain.

ChatHub vs ChatWS

Most of ChatHub's column describes a service that no longer runs, so we kept it conservative. Where we could not confirm how ChatHub handled something, the cell says Varies rather than filling the gap from memory.

How do you check a ChatHub replacement before you turn on your camera?

Run any replacement through these seven questions. Each comes with the ChatWS answer, so you can hold us to it:

1. Who pays for it? A free site should say how it is funded. ChatWS is paid for by one clearly labeled sponsor link. Nothing is sold: no coins, no credits, no subscription, no premium level.
2. Does it ask for anything it does not need? ChatWS wants three answers (gender, age, and whether you would like to meet women or men) and a confirmation that you are an adult. No email, no phone number, no card.
3. What does it keep? On ChatWS, nothing: no recordings, no saved video, no message logs. The call runs between the two browsers, peer to peer when the network allows and otherwise through an encrypted relay that retains nothing.
4. Is it honest about the limits? A peer-to-peer connection can expose your IP address to the other person, and nothing stops someone filming their own screen. A site that promises total invisibility is overselling.
5. Does it tell you when you are not watching a live person? ChatWS says plainly that if no one is free to match, you may see a sponsor card or a pre-recorded clip where the stranger would be.
6. What happens when you report someone? On ChatWS, a flag above the other person's video leads to two options. Reporting closes the chat, hands a still frame to human moderators and puts a block on the person. Block and next simply moves you on and keeps them out of your matches, no report needed.
7. Is it adults only, and does it act on that? ChatWS is 18+. Anyone who appears underage is removed, and repeat offenders are banned.

If a site cannot answer most of these on its own pages, keep looking. For a closer look at what a stranger can and cannot see, read our page on anonymous video chat.

What should a former ChatHub user expect from the first few minutes?

Switching sites always feels slightly off at first. This is what a first session on ChatWS looks like, so nothing catches you out:

• Three questions, then the camera. Gender, age, women or men, followed by the 18+ confirmation and your browser's camera and microphone prompt.
• Your own face first. You see your picture before anyone sees you. Fix the light now: a lamp in front of you, not behind.
• A wide mix of people. Without a country filter, consecutive matches can come from different continents and time zones.
• Some quick skips. People tap Next fast on any random chat site. It is not personal, and the same button is yours to use.
• Text whenever you want. The text box and emoji reactions sit beside the video in every chat, handy for names, links and noisy rooms.
• No meter running. Chats are not timed, days are not capped, and there is no balance to top up.

Give it a proper session before you decide whether it replaces ChatHub for you. If your mind goes blank when a face appears, our list of questions to ask strangers will get you past the first hello.

How do gender and country filters work on ChatWS?

Filters were a big part of ChatHub's appeal, so here is exactly how ChatWS handles them:

• The start form sets the basics: before your first match you choose between meeting women or men.
• Karma turns on matching filters by gender, by country, or both at once.
• Karma builds up through chatting and through return visits. It is never sold, so nobody gets better matches by paying.
• If you switch devices, a free account can carry your karma with you. Chatting never requires one.
• Leave the country filter off and you are matched from a lobby ChatWS shares with a wider network of sites, which means people from many countries.

Two tips from the way filters behave everywhere. A narrow filter means fewer people to match with, so widen it if things slow down. And a filter steers matching but cannot verify anyone; a stranger's age, gender or country is what they say it is, nothing more.

Want to see how the rest of the field compares? Our OmeTV comparison looks at another site known for letting you pick a country. Or skip the research and read how free random video chat works on ChatWS, then scroll back up to the form.