Omegle alternatives and clones: what parents should know

• –Official rating above age 7
  Not rated; site rule 18+ (13+ with a parent)
• ✓Contact with other players or strangers
  Random text and video chat with strangers
• –Purchases with real money
  None found
• –Paid random items
  None found
• –Violence or scary content in rating descriptors
  No official rating
• –Government lawsuits, fines, or safety warnings
  None found; the A.M. lawsuit was private

Each flag is a yes-or-no fact from the sources on this page. The number is a count of flags, not a safety score. How we count.

Checked October 2026. Ratings and settings change; check the official source before you decide. What do these ratings mean?

Facts for parents, not medical or legal advice. If you're worried about your child, talk to your pediatrician.

What was Omegle?

Short answer: A website, started in 2009 by Leif K-Brooks, that paired two strangers at random for a text or video chat.

According to NPR, the site's warning said users had to be "18+ or 13+ with parental permission and supervision," and a lawsuit argued it didn't ask for a birth date or check for parental consent.

Omegle shut down: what happened

Short answer: Omegle closed on November 8, 2023, and its homepage was replaced by the founder's statement.

K-Brooks wrote that the site had been misused, "including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes," and that running it was no longer sustainable. The closure came days after Omegle settled a lawsuit, A.M. v. Omegle. In that private suit, filed in 2021, the plaintiff alleged that at age 11 she was matched with an adult man who sexually exploited her. The settlement terms weren't disclosed.

Is Omegle still a thing? The clones

Short answer: The original Omegle is gone, but copycats exist.

Internet Matters, a UK nonprofit, says sites now using the Omegle name are copycats that work in similar ways, and that some may slip past filters set to block the original. It notes they don't strictly verify ages. As of October 2026, the omegle.com address still loads a site, and we couldn't confirm who runs it or whether it has any link to the original.

Is Omegle safe? What the clones have in common

Short answer: There's no official rating for Omegle or its copies; they're built on chatting with random strangers.

We found no official rating for Omegle. According to Internet Matters, copycat sites work in similar ways: they pair users with random strangers. For a similar app with store ratings, see our page on the Monkey app.

The habit kids may copy: "talk to strangers"

Omegle's tagline was an invitation to talk to strangers. For a young child, the screen can make a stranger feel like a friend.

Try tonight: the fort rule

Ask: "If someone you don't know talks to you on a screen, what do you do?" Agree on the answer together: close it and come get a grown-up. Practice once with a pretend tablet. In our program, this is the lesson "My Fort": the rules I keep.

Is Omegle still a thing?

No. Omegle shut down on November 8, 2023. Sites using its name now are copycats, according to Internet Matters.

Why did Omegle shut down?

Founder Leif K-Brooks wrote that running it was "no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically," citing misuse of the site. It closed days after settling the A.M. v. Omegle lawsuit.

What was the Omegle age limit?

Its own rule was 18+, or 13+ with parental permission and supervision. A lawsuit argued it didn't ask for a birth date or check for consent.

Are Omegle alternatives safe?

Copycat sites pair strangers at random like Omegle did, and Internet Matters says they don't strictly verify ages.

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