Natter Features: Chat in a Room, in Private or in a Group
Join freeNatter gives you moderated chat rooms, private messages and private group chats, plus likes, matches and search for when a chat turns into something more. It all runs in your browser.
What can you do on Natter?
Chat, mostly. Drop into a chat room for a group natter, carry on one to one in private messages, or, on VIP and VIP+, set up a group chat with the people you get on with. When a chat starts to feel like more than a chat, the dating side is right there too.
Natter is for adults only, 18+. Some features come with every account and some open up on VIP or VIP+; what each plan costs is on the pricing page. New to chatting online? Our guide on how to chat is a gentle place to start.
Six ways to get a conversation going
Live chat rooms
Group chat with admins close at hand, ready to step in if anyone forgets their manners. It may be random, but Natter doesn't do toxic. Free members get a limited set of rooms; VIP and VIP+ open more, including the VIP and Verified rooms.
Private messages
Take a good chat somewhere quieter. Messaging is limited on Free and unlimited on VIP and VIP+, which also add read receipts and make your messages stand out in the other person's inbox.
Group chats of your own
On VIP and VIP+ you can start a private group of up to 50 members, handy for the regulars you've got to know in the rooms. Nobody gives out a phone number to take part.
The Activity Feed
Post an update about your day, comment on other people's and like the ones that make you smile. A comment under someone's post makes an easy first hello. Posting and commenting are limited on Free and unlimited on VIP and VIP+.
Spaces, polls and articles
Write a longer post in Spaces, vote in a poll or read what other members have written. Good for showing the bits of you that don't fit in a profile, like your views on pineapple on pizza.
Promote Me
Feeling shy? Promote Me sends intro messages out for you, so the first hello isn't all down to you. It comes with every account.
What do Free, VIP and VIP+ include for chatting?
Everyone starts on Free. Here's how chatting and messaging differ between the plans; everything else, and the prices, are on the pricing page.
| Feature | Free | VIP | VIP+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private messaging | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Posting and commenting | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Message read receipts | Not included | Included | Included |
| Chat rooms | Limited | Additional rooms | Additional rooms |
| VIP and Verified chat rooms | Not included | Included | Included |
| Create private group chats | Not included | Included | Included |
When a chat turns into something more
Some chats stay friendly, and that's lovely. Some turn into something else, so the dating side is built in rather than bolted on.
Likes and Super Matches. Like the profiles you fancy. On Free you get one Super Match a week. VIP and VIP+ come with three Super Matches and one Boost a week, unlimited likes and rewinds, a list of who likes you, and the option to like or match everyone at once.
Search. Limited on Free. VIP and VIP+ add advanced search with unlimited results.
Daily match suggestions. Each day Natter suggests people to say hello to, weighing up things such as:
- age range
- who you want to meet
- distance
- how recently they were active
- what each of you is after
- smoking and drinking
- interests
- beliefs
What someone is after might be friendship, something casual, something long-term or something else again. The suggestions make the introduction; the chat does the rest.
Badges that tell you who's chatty
Badges are earned through activity: Verified, Chatterbox, Heartthrob and Most Popular. They give you a feel for how someone uses Natter before you've said a word.
There's also a badge for members who reliably reply to messages, so you can spot the people who tend to write back. And when someone who isn't your cup of tea gets in touch, a one-click polite reply lets them down kindly.
How can you tell someone is who they say they are?
Natter has four checks. Age estimation runs automatically; the other three are optional, and nobody checks every profile, so see a badge as a good sign rather than a guarantee, and keep your wits about you either way.
ID check
Any member can check their ID at no charge.
It adds a badge to your profile, so the people you chat with can see you've done it.
Video check
A live video check with a moderator.
It confirms you are who you say you are, with no documents needed.
Age assurance
An automatic age estimate, with further checks in places where the law calls for them.
It helps keep the rooms for grown-ups.
Staff review
Someone from the Natter team can review a profile and validate it.
A validated profile carries a badge, and you never have to share ID documents for it.
You stay in charge of who sees what
On Natter you go by a username. Your real name and email address are never shown to other members, and your location appears only as your nearest town or city. Blocking is instant: whoever you block can't message you or see you any more. You can report a member or a message from inside the site, and a thumbs up or down after a chat feeds into each member's reputation score.
If someone pushes to take the conversation to another messaging app, a warning pops up, because moving chats off the site is a well-worn scammers' trick. Photos, videos and text are screened on upload by software and human reviewers, pictures that might be explicit stay blurred behind a warning until you choose to look, and requests to take down anything shared without consent are acted on fast.
Behind the scenes, software watches for the patterns bots and scammers leave, payments and data sit on PCI-compliant cloud hosting with SSL, and real people answer support by chat and messaging, day and night. The full list is on the chat safety page.
Chat from the sofa, the bus or the kitchen table
Natter runs in any web browser, on a phone, a tablet or a computer, and on a phone it can live on your home screen as a web app.
What people ask about Natter's features
Is there a Natter app?
Natter runs in your browser, so there's nothing you have to download. On a phone, the web app on your home screen opens like any other app.
Can I use the chat rooms on the Free plan?
Yes. Free members can chat in a limited set of rooms, and VIP and VIP+ open additional rooms, including the VIP and Verified chat rooms.
How big can a private group chat be?
Up to 50 people. Members on VIP and VIP+ can create one, and nobody has to share a phone number to be in it.
Does anyone keep an eye on the rooms?
Yes, the admins do. They moderate the live rooms and deal with anyone who ignores Natter's community rules, which you can read on our about page.
Who can see my profile?
Natter members, plus members who joined through Natter's partner sites, because Natter belongs to a network that shares its members. They see your username, photos and nearest town or city, but never your real name or email.