Life after WhatsApp: The alternatives

Within hours of

Facebook

announcing that it would buy messaging service

WhatsApp

in a $16 billion deal, some users were already taking to Twitter to declare their intention to find an alternative. And there are plenty out there, from SnapChat and WeChat to

Google

Hangouts and even BBM.

If you plan to ditch the popular messaging service for another cross-platform service, here’s some alternatives to consider.

Viber
Sold for $900 million only days ago to Japan's Rakuten, Viber combines voice calls and text messaging over 3G and wifi, linked to your mobile number. Like WhatsApp, it searches your contacts to find other users of the service.

Kik Messenger
Kik has expanded beyond simple instant messaging and now offers users the option to send videos, sketches, stickers and a built-in browser. It's based on user names rather than phone numbers.

Telegram
Encrypted messaging service that stores messages in the cloud, allowing users to access them from multiple devices. It's ad-free and subscription-free.

Line
Popular in Asia, Line offers voice calls and text chats, free video calls and even games. As of November last year, it had 300 million users.

Skype
One of the best known voice and messaging services, Skype is still going strong. Users register with a user name rather than their number, and can pay for extras such as their own local number or calls to landlines and mobiles.