Why Omegle shut down
Omegle launched in 2009 as a dead-simple idea: press a button, get matched with a stranger, talk. Over time the webcam side grew faster than anyone could moderate it, and the cost and strain of fighting misuse kept climbing.
In November 2023 its founder announced the shutdown in an open letter, saying the fight to keep the site safe had become unsustainable to carry on. The site went offline and hasn’t returned.
What people actually miss
For a lot of people, the part worth missing was never the cameras. It was the text: a slow, low-stakes conversation with someone you’d never meet, that you could leave at any time.
That part is easy to bring back without the chaos the video side created — and without the ads, sign-ups, and sketchiness that most replacements piled on.
Where the text experience lives now
Koguko rebuilds the calm part of Omegle as text only. Koguko keeps it simple: open the site, press one button, and you’re talking to a random stranger. No account, no profile, no app to install.
It’s strictly for adults, ordinary chats aren’t stored by default, and you can report any conversation instantly. No video, no accounts, no slop.
Ready to say hi?
Start chattingCommon questions
When did Omegle shut down?
Omegle closed in November 2023, after roughly fourteen years online.
Why did Omegle close?
Its founder said the cost and strain of moderating misuse, especially on the video side, had become unsustainable, and announced the shutdown in a public letter.
Is there a text-only version of Omegle now?
Koguko brings back the one-tap “talk to a stranger” idea as text only: no video, no login, and no profiles.