Press Start to Talk to Strangers on Video

None of these is a script. They are shapes: a question the other person can answer in one sentence, a detail you can both see, a topic that is easy to leave. Put them in your own words and they will sound like you.

If you get a short answer and nothing back, that tells you something too. Skipping is free and unlimited on Cafe Video Chat, so a flat opener costs you a few seconds rather than an evening.

The First Ten Seconds of a Call

Set things up before you press start. Put the light in front of you rather than behind you, use headphones in a noisy room and hold your phone at eye level. A steady picture and clear sound do more for a first impression than anything you say.

Cafe Video Chat matches you with whoever is free at that second, which is how any random video chat service works, so the first person you meet is not picked for you and you are not picked for them.

When the call opens, look at the camera lens rather than at the picture of the other person, because that is what reads as eye contact on their side. Smile if it comes naturally, say hello and let them answer before you ask anything. Both of you are in the same position, since a stranger has just appeared on each screen.

Keeping a Conversation Going, and Ending One Well

Most first conversations do not need a topic. They need one follow-up question. Whatever the other person says first, ask about it: where they are, what they are doing, what made them press start today.

Answer in full sentences rather than single words. A reply of "fine" gives the other side nothing to build on, while "fine, I have just finished a long shift and wanted someone to talk to" hands them three things to pick up.

Let a silence happen for a moment. A two second pause is not a failure, and the person who fills every gap usually ends up doing all of the talking.

People connect from more than 100 countries, so some conversations will cross a language gap. Speak slowly, keep sentences short and ask the other person to do the same. Plenty of good conversations get by on simple words and a lot of patience.

You do not owe anybody a long conversation. Ending one is as easy as starting it: say you enjoyed talking and press next. You can leave any call at any moment without giving a reason.

If a conversation is going well, stay as long as you like. There is no time limit on calls, so nothing cuts you off in the middle of a story.

What Talking to Strangers Does Not Promise

Four things worth knowing before your first call, said as plainly as everything else on this page.

None of this is unique to Cafe Video Chat. It is what talking to a stranger is like anywhere, and it is the reason skipping is free and unlimited here.

What It Costs, and What It Never Asks For

Talking is free and unlimited. Opening the page, allowing your camera, being matched and staying on a call as long as you like cost nothing, and no card details are needed to start.

One feature is paid. Creating an account adds 125 free coins, and coins pay for the gender filter, which is the only paid feature. There is no subscription.

A zero balance changes nothing about the conversation, because coins are never spent on talking or skipping. If you ever do buy coins, your card statement stays discreet.

Every call is one person at a time, the same idea as in 1v1 video chat where two people talk and nobody else joins.

Price is only part of feeling comfortable with someone you do not know. If privacy is what you want to read more about, take a look at our private video chat page before your first call.

Phone Browser or Android App

On a phone, press start in the browser and the call opens just as it does on a computer. It is the same page you would use for video chat with strangers on a laptop at home, with nothing to download or install.

There is an Android app if you would like an icon on your home screen. On an iPhone the browser does the same job, and you can add the page to your home screen if you want a shortcut.