The Story Behind EmeraldChat

Why we made a random video chat

Most chat sites fall into two camps. Some ask for an account, a photo and a bio before you can say hello. Others drop you into a noisy room where nobody listens. We wanted something in between: one person, one conversation, started in a few seconds.

The name comes from a small idea. An emerald is something you hold up to the light and look at carefully. A good conversation with a stranger is a bit like that: rare, a bit surprising, and better when you pay attention.

EmeraldChat at emeraldchat.vip: an independent site

EmeraldChat is an independent service, operated at emeraldchat.vip. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by any other chat service that has a similar name. If you were looking for another service, please use that service's own website.

Search engines sometimes mix similar names together. If you want to be sure you're on our site, check the address bar: it should read emeraldchat.vip.

What we care about

Three things shape most of our decisions:

• Ease.You should be in a call in under a minute, with nothing to download.
• Control.Next, Report and Block are on every call, because leaving should never be hard.
• Honesty about money.Free to start, clear about coins, with a notice before charging. Details in how it works.

How EmeraldChat differs from a dating app

A dating app is about profiles: you build one, others judge it, and a conversation starts days later if at all. EmeraldChat has no profile to polish. You're matched live, you find out in two minutes whether you click, and what happens next is up to you. It suits people who want to talk to strangers, practise a language or make friends online as much as people who are looking for something more.

What we won't do

A short list of promises:

• We won't invent numbers.No "millions of users" or star ratings we can't back up.
• We won't pretend it's all free.It's free to start. Longer video calls and gifts use coins.
• We won't promise perfect safety.We give you strong tools and honest advice, in help and safety.

Who's behind it

A small team that builds, moderates and answers email. We use the site ourselves, which is the quickest way to find the things that annoy you. We don't publish personal names or invented headcounts, because they'd add nothing to the page. What matters is that you can reach us, and that reports get read.

What a typical evening on EmeraldChat looks like

It's usually quieter than people expect. Someone opens the site after dinner, allows the camera, and gets a few seconds of loading. The first call is often short and a little awkward. The second is better. By the fourth, they've found someone to talk to about a film for twenty minutes, and then they close the tab and get on with their night.

That ordinariness is deliberate. We'd rather be a pleasant ten minutes than a place that tries to keep you scrolling. If you want to see how that plays out in practice, video chat with strangers goes through a call step by step.

How we think about moderation

Tools come first: Next, Report and Block on every call. Then people: reports go to moderators who read them in context. We'd rather remove someone quickly than debate it, because the people who were hurt are the ones who matter. We also try not to be heavy-handed with people who are just shy, clumsy or dull, which is why Next exists and why the community guidelines separate rudeness from rule-breaking.

Talk to us

Feedback, questions or ideas are welcome. Email support[at]emeraldchat.vip, replacing [at] with @, or see how to reach us on the contact page. Rules for everyone on the site are in the community guidelines.