How does local discovery work on Tel-a?

Location Mode uses your phone's location. Choose 20, 40, 80, or 250 miles for Rooms, Marketplace, Meeting People, and discovery. Other people only see a broad distance band, never a map pin, address, or exact distance.

Are Tel-a conversations encrypted?

Direct messages, voice notes, and calls are end to end encrypted. You control who can reach you, what you share, and when messages disappear.

Beta is liveAnonymous. Local. Free.

Your town, without the profile.

Q: Do I need a phone number or email to use Tel-a?

No. Tel-a does not ask for a phone number or email to create your identity.

A free, anonymous local community app for chat, marketplace, dating, and online games.

Tel-a is an online local community. Chat with neighbors, buy and sell local, meet someone, play a game. One community, zero identity required.

Join the beta See the difference

End to end encrypted No tracking 18+

Your signal

Anonymous by default

01The difference

What do Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram have in common?

They all want your phone number. Tel-a wants nothing.

You should not have to trade your identity to be part of your community. Tel-a gives you a local place to belong without turning you into a profile.

PARTS OF TOWN

One community, many corners.

Town square

The Rooms

A rebuilt classic room directory, where neighbors actually talk. Browse categories, live member counts, who's inside, typing, pinned messages, moderators, host tools, private-room codes and passwords, plus voice chat with push to talk.

Noticeboard

The Marketplace

Buy, sell, hire, rehome. The local classifieds board, back where it belongs.

Meeting place

Meeting People

Dating and missed connections, built in. Meet someone nearby without handing your identity to another app first.

Park bench

The Game Room

The one shared space. Location and No Location members can play together, with 20, 40, 80, and Worldwide choices just for games. Each table has its own voice channel.

Home base

Favorites

Keep family and friends close from anywhere, while local discovery stays inside the distance you choose.

Your boundary

Your Terms

Encrypted messages that disappear on your schedule, screenshot protected DMs, and no phone number or email, ever.

02Your control center

Your mode. Your boundary. Your terms.

Location Mode uses your phone's location. Choose 20, 40, 80, or 250 miles for Rooms, Marketplace, Meeting People, and discovery. People see a broad distance band like “less than 5 mi away,” never a pin, address, or exact distance.

20 mi40 mi80 mi250 mi

Connection modes

Two ways to connect

Location Mode

Uses your phone's location for local Rooms, Marketplace, Meeting People, and discovery.

No Location Mode

Uses no location at all. Connect only with other No Location members, anywhere.

Favorites

Keep family and friends close across both modes.

Web version

Tel-a on the web is No Location only, with Rooms, Marketplace, Meeting People, Missed Connections, Game Room, and messaging.

Deny location permission and Tel-a automatically uses No Location Mode. The Game Room has its own range controls, including Worldwide, and stays shared by both modes.

03Private by design

Private by design: end to end encrypted, no phone number, no email.

When a conversation matters, you should decide its boundary. Tel-a gives you encrypted messaging, private media controls, disappearing messages, and a profile that does not start with your phone number.

Private conversation

Encrypted channel

You decide who gets close.

And how long this stays.

No screenshots. No tracking.

Read timer · 02:00 · encrypted

04Messaging made easy

Speak your language. Understand theirs.

Tel-a starts in English, then supports Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Set the language that feels natural to you and messages from other people are automatically translated into your selected app language.

No copying text into another tool. No worrying about translation. Just talk.

English

Default language

Español

Spanish

中

中文

Chinese

Tiếng Việt

Vietnamese

Translation preview

Your language, right in the chat

Español · Original

¿Quieres hablar?

English · Auto translated

Would you like to talk?

中文 · Original

你好

English · Auto translated

Hello

Translation follows the language set in your Tel-a app.

05Free online games

Free online games: chess, checkers, Go, and 21 more.

The Game Room is Tel-a's one shared space. Location and No Location members can play free board, strategy, card, and trivia games together, with 20, 40, 80, and Worldwide choices just for games.

No. tel-a does not ask for a phone number or email to create your identity.

How does local discovery work?

Location Mode uses your phone's location. Choose 20, 40, 80, or 250 miles for Rooms, Marketplace, Meeting People, and discovery. People are shown in a broad distance band, never on a map or at a precise location.

What is No Location Mode?

No Location Mode uses no location at all. You see and interact only with other No Location members, anywhere. Favorites still work across both modes, and the Game Room is shared by everyone.

Are conversations encrypted?

Messages, voice notes, and calls are end to end encrypted. You control who gets access, what you share, and when you disappear from discovery.

Is Tel-a free?

Yes. Tel-a is free on Android, iPhone, and the web, including all 24 games in the shared Game Room.