Snapchat alternative

Comparing twonly and Snapchat

A comparison of twonly and Snapchat on encryption, advertising, tracking and registration.

Comparison of the free app versions. Sources checked on October 31, 2026.
	twonly	Snapchat
End-to-end encryption for photos, videos and chats	Yes	Not across all content¹
Advertising	None	Yes²
Tracking for advertising	None	Yes³
Registration	Username	Phone number or email address required⁴

The assessment “not across all content” is based on Snap’s Law Enforcement Guide: Snap lists saved chats among the content it can disclose in response to valid legal requests. Content in My Eyes Only, however, cannot be decrypted by Snap.
Snapchat’s advertising information. Ad formats depend on factors including age, region, settings and subscription.
Snap describes its use of device, activity and partner data for advertising in its privacy policy. The extent and available choices depend on factors including age, region and settings; see also its advertising privacy information.
A phone number or email address is required to register for Snapchat. Sign-up instructions.

twonly is developed independently of Snap Inc. There is no business affiliation with Snap Inc. The name Snapchat is used here solely to identify the service being compared.

What you can do with twonly

Send spontaneous photos and videos, with text and drawings.
Choose how long sent photos stay visible.
Share a story for 24 hours.
Chat one-to-one or in groups, with text and voice messages.
Share your location with friends, end-to-end encrypted.
Turn a favourite photo into a sticker.
Play chess, Connect Four and other mini-games right in your chat.
Keep your favourite moments in Memories, with an optional end-to-end encrypted backup.

Switching from Snapchat

Download twonly and choose a username. You don’t need a phone number or email address.
Add your friends. Share your username or your link, or scan their QR code.
Create your groups again. Create groups in twonly and invite the rest of your friends.

Get twonly → Is twonly secure? →