Chat apps for groups that speak different languages
Planning a girls trip to Europe sounded simple at first. I’d reconnect with my grad school roommates, one in France and one in Italy, for a week of wine, pasta, and catching up. But as the group grew to include friends from home and beyond, the language barrier started to complicate things. How do you coordinate when half the group speaks French, a few speak Italian, and my primary language is English? Enter multilingual chat apps.
Here’s my breakdown of the best apps for the job:
1. WhatsApp
Best for Popularity and Broad Use WhatsApp is a global favorite and probably already on everyone’s phone. It supports text and voice messages, but multilingual support relies on individual message interactions. This was our original attempt at communication, but the annoying process of longpressing each message meant that catching up on unreads took forever. Girls would start going radio silent because of how cumbersome it was.
Pros:
Widely used and reliable
Voice and video calling included (although, we don’t really use this)
Free to use.
Cons:
No built-in automatic translation for chats
Requires extra steps for non-English conversations
2. Telegram
Best for Customization Telegram’s open API and customizable bots make it a creative choice. Some bots offer real-time translation for messages, but setting them up can be tricky. Their built-in automatic translation cost money. I didn’t feel comfortable trying to convince the other girls to set up bots or pay a hefty subscription.
Pros:
Highly customizable with features
UI is beautiful
Cons:
Translation bots are a workaround, not a native feature
Setup can feel overwhelming for less tech-savvy users
Costs money for their automatic translations
3. FlaiChat
Best for Multilingual Families and Groups FlaiChat is specifically designed to support multilingual communication. Messages are automatically translated to the receiver’s preferred language, which means everyone sees the conversation in a way that makes sense to them. Setting up translations is straightforward. It picked up our preferred language automatically and then any message received in a different language is instantly translated without intervention. I also ended up creating a Voice Clone to send audio notes that get heard in French and Italian. I discovered FlaiChat through Reddit, where someone raved about how it simplified group communication.
Pros:
Automatic message translation tailored to each user
Simple interface with family-friendly features like task creation and location sharing
Free
Cons:
No video or voice calling yet
Less well-known, so not all your friends may be familiar with it
4. LINE
Best for Asian users, LINE is popular in Asia and offers an in-chat translation feature. It’s playful and social but less common outside certain regions. I managed to get a bot working that automatically translates languages, but the quality of the translations were highly inaccurate.
Pros:
Fun stickers and social features
Cons:
Less commonly used in Europe and the Americas
Overwhelming interface for first-time users
A lot of upfront setup to get automatic translations working
Quality of translations is poor
My Pick: FlaiChat
For our trip, FlaiChat was a game-changer. The automatic translations kept conversations flowing without awkward pauses to clarify, and we could focus on what mattered, planning our dream vacation. Setting up translations was effortless, and the app’s intuitive design made it easy for everyone to join in without a steep learning curve. While it doesn’t have voice or video calling yet, its multilingual-first approach made it worth introducing to the group.
