A Tinder alternative where you meet on video first.
You would rather see and hear someone before deciding anything. Roulettly puts you face to face, on camera, with a random adult, within seconds. Free, no account, in your browser. It is a video chat, not a dating app: chance decides who you meet.
Free, no account. 18 and over.
You are
I want to talk to
Never widen the search. Leave Roulettly in the background, we notify you as soon as someone matches.
Optional: they help put you in front of someone who shares your tastes.
Start, random video chat Create an accountShort answer: Roulettly is not a dating app: it is a free random video chat in your browser or on Android, with no account, for adults 18 and over, in 20 languages. You are connected to a stranger by video, you move to the next person with one button, and matching favours someone who speaks your language.
Sources: NCSC, using video conferencing services securely, W3C, the WebRTC standard
What people mean when they search for sites like Tinder
A search for "Tinder alternative" or "sites like Tinder" rarely asks for a copy of anything. More often it says something about the person typing it. They want to meet someone new, and they would like the meeting to feel real from the start: a voice, a laugh, the way someone reacts to a question.
Roulettly answers one part of that wish and only that part. It is a free random video chat for adults aged 18 and over. You turn on your camera, press Start, and a stranger appears. You talk, or you move on. No account, no photo to upload, nothing to write about yourself before the first hello.
It is worth saying plainly what Roulettly is not. It is not a dating service, and nobody on the other side signed up to find a partner. Some people come to practise a language, some to kill ten minutes, some to meet someone interesting. If you treat it as a place to have good conversations with strangers, it works well. If you expect a list of dates, you will be disappointed.
Video first: a real conversation from the first second
On camera, the first impression is the person, live. You hear their accent, see whether they smile at your joke, notice whether the conversation flows or stalls. Within a minute you usually know if you want to keep talking. That is the whole point of meeting on video first.
There is also nothing to prepare on Roulettly. You upload no photo and write nothing about yourself: an optional nickname is enough, and you can skip even that. What matters is the next few minutes of conversation.
Video does not mean you have to talk out loud the whole time. A chat panel sits next to the video, so you can type a word when the room around you is noisy, share the spelling of a name, or keep talking when the microphone is not an option.
Chance decides who you meet
On Roulettly, each new conversation is drawn at random. You do not pick the person in advance, and nobody picks you: you end up talking to people you would never have chosen, and some of them turn out to be the best conversations of the week.
Two quiet priorities shape the draw. The first is language: the matching gives priority to someone who speaks yours, and the interface exists in 20 languages. The second is interests: under What you are into on the start screen, you can add a few things you like, and they help place you in front of someone who shares them. Neither is a wall. If nobody fits right now, you still get a conversation rather than an empty screen.
Pick interests the way you would pick a topic at a party. Two or three real ones, short and specific, are better than a long list. Hiking, jazz, cooking, a football club, a series you are watching. They give both of you an easy first sentence.
How to start in three steps
On a computer or a phone, without installing anything.
Turn on your camera
Open Roulettly and press Turn on my camera. Your own preview appears, so you can check the light and the framing before anyone sees you. No account and no e-mail are asked for the free chat.
Tell it a little about you
Choose You are (Female or Male), leave I want to talk to on Everyone, add a few interests under What you are into and, if you like, a nickname. Then tick I'm 18 or older and I accept.
Press Start
A stranger appears on your screen. Say hello, bring up a shared interest if you notice one, and press Next as soon as you would like to talk to someone else.
Making a good first impression on camera
Meeting on video rewards a few simple habits, and none of them costs anything. Face a window or a lamp rather than sitting with the light behind you, so your face is not a dark shape. Put the camera at eye level: a phone propped on a pile of books beats a phone held at arm's length. Check your sound once, because people forgive a blurry picture far sooner than a voice they cannot hear.
Then open with something easy. A plain "Hi, how is your evening going?" works better than a line you prepared. If the other person shares one of your interests, start there. Ask a question, listen to the answer, and let the conversation go where it goes. Most good chats on Roulettly are short and light, and that is fine.
Leaving is part of the format too. When a conversation is not working, a quick "Nice to meet you, take care" and a tap on Next is all it takes. Nobody is owed a long explanation, and you are not owed one either. Our guide on starting a conversation with a stranger has more ideas for the first minute.
Safety comes before everything else
Roulettly is for people aged 18 and over only. The Start button does nothing until you tick I'm 18 or older and I accept, and the terms of use state the same rule.
Every encounter has a Report button, and reports are reviewed by our moderation team. Nudity detection also checks your own camera: in the browser it runs on your device, and in the Android app a small thumbnail is analysed in memory on our server. The conversation is not recorded: video and sound go through an encrypted relay that only forwards them, and the other person never sees your IP address. Moderation is the one exception, and it covers only your own camera, as the privacy policy explains.
Meeting strangers online calls for the same common sense everywhere. Keep your full name, your address and your workplace to yourself until you really want to share them. Never send money to someone you have only met on a screen, whatever the story. Be wary of anyone who asks you to move to another app straight away. Our article on video chat scams explains the patterns to recognise, and the how it works page details the moderation process.
If you want to talk only to women or only to men
The free chat is set to Everyone, and it stays that way for as long as you like. Premium exists for people who want more say in who they meet. It requires an e-mail account, and it turns I want to talk to into a real choice: only women or only men.
Premium also adds a Strict mode that never widens the search, a Previous button that brings back the person you just left when they are still available, and, on the web, the Block button. Plans run for 1, 6 or 12 months and are managed from the Premium window.
None of it is needed to try the format. Start free, see whether meeting on video suits you, and decide later.
Apps like Tinder: where Roulettly fits
If you are looking at apps like Tinder, here is what Roulettly does, plainly: it puts two adults on camera together, at random, for as long as both want to talk. It arranges no dates, and the free chat asks for no profile.
It runs in the browser on a computer or a phone, so there is nothing to install. An Android app is also published on Google Play, and on iPhone you simply open the site in Safari. If English is not your first language, the home page exists in 19 other languages, Spanish and French among them.
If talking to someone right now is what you want, that is what Roulettly is for.
Questions
Is Roulettly a dating app?
No. Roulettly is a random video chat for adults aged 18 and over. You are put in touch with someone by chance, on camera, and you both decide how long the conversation lasts.
Do I need a profile or photos?
No. There is nothing to upload and nothing to fill in. You turn on your camera, tick that you are 18 or older, and press Start. A nickname is optional.
Can I choose who I talk to?
Not one by one: each conversation is drawn at random, with priority given to your language and to shared interests. Premium, with an e-mail account, lets you talk only to women or only to men.
Can I go back to someone after pressing Next?
With Premium, the Previous button brings back the person you just left when they are still available. In the free chat, each Next starts a new conversation.
Do I have to install anything?
Nothing at all. Roulettly opens in the browser, on a phone as well as on a computer. If you prefer an app, the Android version is on Google Play; on iPhone, Safari is enough.
Is Roulettly free?
Yes. Random video chat is free and needs no sign-up. Premium, optional, adds a filter to talk only to women or only to men.
Is my video recorded?
The conversation is not recorded. Video and audio go through our encrypted relay, which only forwards packets it cannot read and stores nothing. Moderation is the exception and covers only your own camera, as the privacy policy explains.