Monkey App Alternative: Random Video Chat for Adults, No Download

What is the Monkey app?

Monkey is a random video chat app that matches users for quick, spontaneous video conversations with strangers. It is built around a mobile app, asks you to sign in and has paid features. Its look, tone and marketing are aimed at a young audience.

That young audience is also why Monkey has faced safety scrutiny in the app stores. Putting young users on live camera with strangers is very hard to do safely, and the app has drawn criticism for it. To see where it stands today, check the current listing and age rating in your own app store.

• Type: random one-to-one video chat
• Format: app-based
• Entry: sign-in required
• Audience: skews young
• Cost: free to download, with paid features

Why do people search for apps like Monkey?

The reasons differ, but they tend to come from adults who like the idea and not the package it arrives in.

• They are over 18 and do not want to land in chats with teenagers. For an adult that is uncomfortable at best and a serious risk at worst.
• They do not want another app. Phone storage is tight, and downloads and updates eat into a data bundle.
• They would rather not create an account or connect a social profile to random chats.
• The app is unavailable, restricted or rated differently in their app store.
• They want to chat from a laptop as well as a phone.
• They are tired of features that sit behind payment.

None of this is a judgement on people who enjoy Monkey. It simply means the app was designed with a different user in mind than a 25-year-old in Sandton or a 40-year-old in Bloemfontein who wants a grown-up conversation.

Why does an 18+ browser site suit adults better than an app?

A clear adults-only rule

Chatzy is for people aged 18 and over, and you confirm your age before any chat begins. To be honest about it: this is a confirmation, not an ID check, and no site without ID checks can promise that every user tells the truth. What Chatzy can do is make the rule unmistakable, take reports seriously and ban people who break it. If someone on screen looks under 18, report them and move on.

Nothing to install

• No storage used, and no updates to download over mobile data
• No app-store account or age-rating hurdle
• No icon on your home screen
• The same site works on Android, iPhone and a laptop
• Camera and microphone access is granted per site in the browser, and you can withdraw it at any time in the browser settings

For South African users the data point is a practical one. An app has to be downloaded once and then updated again and again, and each of those comes off a bundle when you are not on Wi-Fi. A website loads only what it needs at the moment you open it.

No account trail

There is no sign-up, email, social login or profile. You pick your gender, your age and whether you want to chat with women or men. No name, photo or profile is attached to you. An optional free account exists for one purpose only: keeping your karma points when you move between devices.

How does Chatzy compare with the Monkey app?

This comparison keeps to what can be said fairly. Monkey's features differ by platform and change over time, so some cells say Varies.

Monkey suits people who want an app with an account and a social feel. Chatzy suits adults who want to open a tab, talk to someone new and close the tab again, with nothing to install or uninstall.

• Pick an app like Monkey if you like having an app and an account, and you are comfortable with its audience.
• Pick Chatzy if you are an adult who wants anonymous one-to-one video with other adults and no installation.
• Whichever you choose, the safety basics further down this page apply equally.

How do you start chatting without downloading anything?

1. Type chatzy.co.za into Chrome, Safari or any modern browser.
2. Complete the 18+ age confirmation.
3. Set your gender, your age and who you want to meet: women or men.
4. When the browser asks, allow the camera and microphone.
5. Tap Start and wait for a match. Text chat and emoji reactions sit alongside the video.
6. Use Next to skip to someone new instantly, as often as you like. Use Stop when you are done.

There is no daily cap and no countdown on a conversation. A good chat can run as long as both of you want it to.

The lobby is shared with a wider international network, so expect a mix of South Africans and people from elsewhere. Karma points, which you earn by chatting and by coming back, can be spent on gender and country filters if you want to narrow that down.

Is Chatzy suitable for teenagers?

No. Chatzy is strictly for adults, and anyone under 18 should not use it. Random video chat with strangers is not a safe activity for minors on any platform, whatever the app's branding suggests.

• Parents: check which video chat apps and sites are being used on your child's phone, and use the parental controls built into Android and iPhone.
• Talk about it plainly. Most teenagers hear about these apps from friends long before a parent does.
• Adult users: if you are paired with someone who appears to be a minor, use the flag straight away. The chat ends at once and moderators review the report.

How do you stay safe on a Monkey video chat alternative?

Video and audio on Chatzy run peer-to-peer between the two browsers. Nothing is recorded or stored. Two limits come with that, and with any live video chat:

• On a direct connection, the other person may be able to see your IP address.
• Whatever appears on your screen can be captured by the other person using their own software.

The flag above the other person's video is your main tool. Tap it, pick a reason, and the connection ends immediately while a still frame of that person goes to moderators. Block is on by default, so you will not be matched with them again, and repeat offenders are banned.

• Keep your full name, address, workplace and phone number to yourself.
• Be wary of anyone who pushes you to move to another app within the first minute.
• Never pay, tip or send vouchers. Chatzy has no payment system, so any request for money is a scam.
• If you are threatened or blackmailed, do not pay. Save what you can and report it to SAPS.

If you are after flirting more than random conversation, sister site FlirtZA (flirtza.co.za) is the better fit.