Best free skype alternatives?

So what is the best free skype alternatives? I was thinking to try something else! Skype is not bad but somehow pretty often i must say i get connection problems or just some wierd lag and stuff.

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The ones I can think of of the top of my head are google hangouts, discord, and utox but there are probably more.

Do you need video features or just calling someone over the internet?
In case simple audio calls are enough, Signal or Wire are good apps to try. Both have text and call encryption.

I would say tox, it needs a bit more of development but the core is there.
I've never seen a better alternative regarding privacy, DHT for online/offline states, and direct communication between two or more contacts ('friends').

I use teamspeak because I don't need video.

I present to you! Ghetto Skype

https://github.com/stanfieldr/ghetto-skype

qTOX or uTOX?

Try them both, qTox has more features if I can remember correctly, but uTox is lighter :) (of course)
Here is a list https://tox.chat/clients.html
Anyway it doesn't matter, you can chat with any other tox client.

I think at one point in the Tek (over a year ago) Logan mentioned Jitsi

https://jitsi.org

Hey man i tried it and i get this massive echo sound that is just terrible whenever i use voicechat or videochat. Is it me or something else?

I don't know, for me it's worse than skype (but good enough), they don't seem to enhance the audio input (as do skype).

If all you need is audio Mumble is fantastic. Lightweight, protable, will run on the kitchen sink. Plus is has encryption if you want it.

Way prefer server-client model because you own or know who owns the infrastructure.

Try the Encrypted Video & Voice Messengers from privacytools.io. Definitely should use Signal, and also jitsi if you can.

Skype has a well documented backdoor made by microsoft and it's basically piped straight to the nsa's wrists, and anyone else who wants ad data.
Hangouts is the same except within the google omniverse.

Personally for day to day use I want something that's cross-platform and cross-device (with (group) video chat), and also not m$ or google.
I found WeChat and Line to be pretty neat, and work everywhere. They also support some encryption.

Vsee is great, I started using it about a year ago and haven't looked back at anything since. It's encrypted, HIPAA compliant and is used most often for telemedicine conferencing.

Plus NASA uses it:
https://vsee.com/blog/nasa-chooses-vsee-telemedicine-video-conferencing-iss/

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Do you know what desktop environment that is in the screenshot? :o

Yeah its GNOME on Fedora

Been using curse for a while, actually pretty good service.
https://www.curse.com/

I've used Wire. It's got a similar layout to that of Skype, and it's got call encryption and such. Also seems to have better call quality.

Tox clients have superior sound than Skype, but only under the right conditions

Tox works on full duplex, not half-duplex like skype. skype will cut out one person talking if the listener makes any louder sound than the speaker.

Tox has both channels permanently open so can have echo problems with people using speakers rather than headphones, skype can work on speakers a bit better, but if someone has their speakers too loud, will be echo problems on there too.

but If you hear echo, it isn't you, it is person at the other end.

Tox doesn't do sound mangling (processing). microphone will sound as good as it originally sounded.

Used to be a time when it was possible to change settings in skype to get a clean full duplex connection, but Microsoft soon put a stop to that after they bought it.

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