You’ve grown to love Kik Messenger but want a native PC option that won’t leave you dealing with downloading third party software and living with bugs and glitches. It’s fully understandable, which is why I’ve outlined below 5 alternative options to message anyone, anywhere, for free and on your computer. Most of the options below have both PC and Mac options so no matter what platform you’re on, you will be covered through it all.
Unfortunately, Kik Interactive has given no indication on whether they plan to develop an desktop version for their popular app. As of now, users must rely on Android emulators for Kik on a computer, which inherently brings in more complication and work as compared to other options that natively have a desktop version.
I’ll cover the best options from my perspective below, however, there are many more options than the 5 that I’ll talk about below. Know of another app that I didn’t mention? If so, let us know in the comments and our readers can check out your favorite as well!
5 Best Alternatives To Kik
One of the key things to note here is that a messaging app or service is only as powerful as who it lets you communicate with. If all of your friends use a certain app, it will be much more useful and fun to use that app. Hence, ask some friends what they use and what they prefer, if there is a consensus among your friends that Kik is the only one they use, it may not make sense to switch to an alternative where you won’t be able to talk with your friends.
If it isn’t on Google, it just doesn’t exist! – Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia
1. iMessage
iMessage is one of the best alternatives to Kik when using it on your computer. iMessage allows you to send texts as you would a normal text but through your local internet connection. It syncs automatically with your iPhone, iPad, Macbook Pro, iMac, iPod, etc. One of the best things about this option is that it works extremely well. The engineers at Apple have made it extremely easy and reliable. Just login to your App Store account using your Apple ID and password and everything from there is done in the background.
One of the main downfalls is, of course, you have to be in the Mac network of devices for this option to work. If you currently don’t own a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, this won’t be a good option. However, I find a large portion of my friends have an iPhone and it makes messaging them both on my iPhone and Macbook Pro extremely easy.
2. Line
Line is used by over 450 million people, which means most likely your friends have downloaded it and have used it in the past. On top of that, if you download the app you can sync your contacts to see everyone that has Line in your contacts list. Line gives you the option to download the app on your iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, etc. But you can also download the app onto your Windows PC or Mac, giving you the option to sync all of your messages across all of your devices.
With Line you can send and receive text messages, but you can also send and receive voice calls so if you want to call your relative or pen pal from another country it won’t cost you a dime. Just make sure they also have Line installed.
3. Skype
You have likely heard of Skype and may not immediately put it into the same category as Kik, but ultimately it can do everything Kik can and more. With Skype you can…
- Send messages, video or images.
- Voice chat with anyone, anywhere around the world.
- Form social groups for large chat instances.
- Keep in touch with everyone!
They just have to have the Skype app on their device and login.
A great feature of Skype that is not available in a lot of the other alternatives is that you can call anyone’s cell phone or home phone through Skype, domestically and internationally. If you’re making a domestic or international call it’s super cheap and a much better option than using your personal cell phone to call someone. Also, most people already have Skype as it’s been around for a long time and has built up a massive following with recent usage topping 70 million concurrent users.
4. WeChat
WeChat is similar to the app Line in a lot of ways. It let’s you send and receive messages online and has options for downloading the app onto your Mac. One of the options for WeChat that distinguishes it is it’s web client. You can head over to web.wechat.com, which will let anyone sync their WeChat account online. However, you must have already signed up for WeChat on a mobile device as you will have to scan the QR code provided to authenticate your account.
If you’re on a computer at an internet cafe or work computer and don’t want to download a desktop app the WeChat web client is a good option. However, make sure your friends are using WeChat and if not, ask some of your closest friends to join if they are willing to do so.
5. Gchat
Gchat is a function built into Gmail by Google. Let’s be honest, almost everyone these days has Gmail, which means most likely all or most of your friends have the ability to send and receive messages through Gchat. Simply login to your Gmail account and turn on the chat functionality. Google will automatically sync your contacts so that you can see everyone of your friends that has Gmail and can chat with you.
One downside to this option is, although it is available on your PC, Mac and mobile devices, there is no stand along Gchat app that will let you message people. I’m not entirely sure why as this seems like good market that Google could tap into. Maybe they hope Google Plus will fill that niche or maybe Gchat is continually being developed and we’ll see a standalone product in the future.
Know of any other great options instead of using Kik for PC? Are there other apps that you’ve used and have liked a lot? If so, let us know below in the comments section!