Don’t pay for WhatsApp

This might come as a surprise, but WhatsApp is not a free service.

Aside from data charges when sending and receiving messages, it is a subscription service that has to be renewed every 1-5 years – unless you were among the early adopters who scored a lifetime subscription.

New users get the first year free, after which they are prompted to pay for the next year’s service, or for multiple years at a discount.

As per the “Payment Info” screen in WhatsApp on two Android devices at the time of publication (depicted in screenshots below), a year costs $0.99 (R10.73), 3 years costs $2.67 (R28.93), and 5 years costs $3.71 (R40.20).

WhatsApp’s founders said when they started their venture in 2009, they wanted to make something that wasn’t just another ad clearinghouse.

“Remember, when advertising is involved, you the user are the product,” stated WhatsApp.

In an blog post on why it doesn’t sell advertisements, WhatsApp quotes Fight Club.

Fight Club

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.

Free WhatsApp

Although WhatsApp does ask for money at the end of your free subscription, users report that if you wait, your subscription will be extended by up to a year – for free.

There are also numerous reports online from users who try to trick WhatsApp into extending their service, by deleting their account or deleting the app and reinstalling it with a new Google account – which WhatsApp said won’t work.

The trick that does seem to work, however, is to wait for WhatsApp to renew your subscription for free.

Left: WhatsApp time-limited subscription, which seems to automatically extend when it runs out. Right: A user with a lifetime WhatsApp subscription.

WhatsApp alternatives

If WhatsApp’s subscription model bothers you, there are free alternatives you can use.

Skype and Google Hangouts offer instant messaging, and voice and video calling that is not linked to your phone number.

If you want a messenger that links to your phone number, then services such as Viber, Telegram, and TextSecure are worth checking out.

The company behind TextSecure – Open Whisper Systems – is respected in security circles and has been contracted by WhatsApp for its encryption technology. WhatsApp for Android users should already be using this encryption by default.

Free or cheap WhatsApp data

If it’s free WhatsApp data you are looking for, then Cell C is the the first port of call.

While the network has ended its free WhatsApp data promotion, it does offer a bundle for R5 that gives you 1GB of data for use on WhatsApp for 30 days.

Cell C also recently launched TRACE Mobile, a mobile tariff plan based on its EasyChat prepaid package, which includes free WhatsApp.

To qualify for free WhatsApp (and Facebook) on TRACE Mobile, subscribers need a positive account balance and an active bundle.

More WhatsApp news

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