Apps Like Snapchat for Disappearing Messages and Filters
Instagram comes closest, with stories, vanish mode and filters. WhatsApp and Signal have timed messages. B612 and SNOW are cameras with filters only.
Snapchat does two jobs, and the apps that copy it mostly pick one: photos, chats and day-long stories that delete themselves, or a camera full of filters and Lenses. So the messengers and the cameras are kept apart below. Apps built around chatting with strangers are left out on purpose.
Instagram, the closest all-round match
Instagram covers more of Snapchat than anything else here. Its listing says Stories and Notes disappear after 24 hours, and that you can customise posts with stickers and filters.
For messages, its help centre describes three separate tools. Vanish mode makes everything sent in a chat disappear when someone leaves the chat or switches the mode off, and Instagram says the feature may be unavailable in Japan and in European countries. A disappearing photo or video can be seen once, unless you allow a replay. Timed disappearing messages exist too, but only in certain locations and only between two accounts.
The minimum age is 13 in most countries. Instagram’s help page lists 14 for South Korea, Spain, Quebec and Florida, and 16 for Australia.
Disappearing messages compared
Snapchat is the yardstick. Snapchat Support says Snaps are deleted from its servers once everyone they were sent to has viewed them. Chats are deleted 24 hours after viewing unless you change the setting to straight after viewing, seven days or never. Stories usually expire 24 hours after posting. The minimum age is 13, and Snapchat adds that the law where you live can set a different one.
| App | On Google Play | Minimum age | Disappearing messages | Stories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snapchat | Free with ads, in-app purchases | 13 | Snaps after viewing, chats after 24 hours by default | 24 hours |
| Free with ads, in-app purchases | 13 in most countries, 16 in Australia | Vanish mode, view-once photos and videos | 24 hours | |
| Free, in-app purchases | 13, or higher where the law says | 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days, plus view once | Status, 24 hours | |
| Signal | Free, in-app purchases | 13 | A timer per chat, up to 4 weeks | 24 hours |
| Telegram | Free, in-app purchases | 18 in the EU, the UK and Australia | A self-destruct timer in Secret Chats | Yes |
| Messenger | Free, in-app purchases | 13 in most countries, by Facebook’s rule | A timer in end-to-end encrypted chats | 24 hours |
WhatsApp, for the people you already chat to
WhatsApp’s help page says messages can be set to disappear 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days after they are sent. The timer applies to both people and to new messages only. There are gaps, and WhatsApp lists them itself: a message forwarded to a chat without the timer stays there, a quoted message can outlive the original, and a backup made before a message disappears will contain it.
View once is the nearer thing to a Snap. A photo, video or voice message sent this way vanishes after it has been opened once. WhatsApp says the recipient cannot forward, save or screenshot it, and that it expires if it is not opened within 14 days. Status is WhatsApp’s stories feature, and its listing says updates disappear after 24 hours.
Signal, with no ads and a non-profit behind it
Signal’s support page says anyone in a chat can set a disappearing-message timer, with a custom time of up to four weeks. For the sender the clock starts when the message is sent. For the recipient it starts when the message is read. Stories on Signal expire after 24 hours.
Its listing says Signal is a non-profit supported by donations and not by advertisers. Google Play shows an in-app purchases label and no ads label.
Telegram and Messenger
Telegram keeps self-destructing messages inside Secret Chats, which are end-to-end encrypted and live only on the two devices that started them. Its FAQ says the timer starts when the message appears on the recipient’s screen, and that Telegram will try to notify you if a screenshot is taken. The same timer can be put on photos and videos in ordinary private chats.
Telegram is not one for young teenagers. Its terms say users in the EU, the UK and Australia must be at least 18, and Google Play rates the app Mature 17+.
Messenger lets you set a timer in an end-to-end encrypted chat so that messages disappear after they have been seen. Meta’s help page adds that a message nobody reads disappears after 14 days. We found no age page for Messenger alone. Meta’s help page for Facebook gives 13 for most countries.
Facebook itself has stories too. If the main Facebook app is too heavy for your phone, we cover the options in alternative Facebook apps for Android.
Disappearing does not mean gone
Most of the makers say this themselves. Snapchat’s Google Play listing warns that people can always capture your messages with a screenshot or a camera. Signal’s support page says the feature is not for cases where the other person is your adversary, since they can photograph the screen. WhatsApp blocks screenshots of view once media and still tells you to send it only to people you trust.
Instagram and Messenger say they notify you when they detect a screenshot in vanish mode or in an encrypted chat. Messenger admits it may not detect all of them.
Marco Polo, nearer a video call
Marco Polo is free with a paid Plus plan and no ads. It is a video messenger where you record a clip and the other person answers when they have time. That makes it closer to a video call than to Snapchat. Calls that happen live are covered under free video calling apps.
Filters without the messaging
These are camera and editing apps. You take the picture there and send it through whichever messenger you already use.
B612, from SNOW Corporation, is the nearest to Snapchat’s Lenses. Its listing describes filters and beauty effects applied in real time, new AR effects every day, and a tool for building a filter of your own to share with friends. It also shoots video and lets you add music. SNOW, from the same company, leans towards AR makeup, custom beauty effects, stickers updated daily and seasonal filters. Both are free with in-app purchases.
Camera360, from PINGUO TECHNOLOGY HK CO LIMITED, has more than 300 filters, makeup filters, short videos and stickers that track your face and expression, which is the playful side of Snapchat’s camera. BeautyPlus, from PIXOCIAL TECHNOLOGY (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., is mostly about retouching selfies, with an anime filter and a film camera mode with six vintage models. LINE Camera, also from SNOW Corporation, is about stickers and frames, filters, stickers made from your own drawings and collages, and its listing says the basic features are free without the premium subscription.
Retrica, from Retrica, Inc., goes the other way from face effects, toward a retro look. It recreates the look of early digital cameras and disposable film, with the filter visible in the viewfinder before you press the button and no watermark on saved photos. Its listing says most presets can be used without a subscription. These last four are free with ads and in-app purchases.
Three of the six come from SNOW Corporation, so the choice is narrower than the store makes it look. If you want a camera app for better photos and not for filters, head to camera apps for Android.
Under 13: Messenger Kids
None of the messaging apps above lets a child under 13 sign up on their own. Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and Signal all set 13 as the minimum, and Snapchat’s age page describes no version for younger children.
Meta makes a separate app, Messenger Kids. Its listing says parents manage the child’s contact list and can see their messages, there are no ads or in-app purchases, and no phone number is needed. It has filters for video chats. Meta’s own site says a parent sets it up through their Facebook account and the child does not get a Facebook account. WhatsApp’s terms also mention parent-managed accounts for under-13s in countries where they are offered.
