Videocall uses WebRTC — the same open web standard built into Chrome — to send video and audio directly between browsers. No Flash, no Java applet, no plugin to install first.
Browser video chat used to mean plugins. Sites relied on Flash or Java applets to get a camera feed working, which meant a separate install, separate security prompts, and separate updates — on top of whatever the site itself needed. Those plugins have mostly been retired by browsers for good reason: they were slow to patch, easy to exploit, and a pain to keep current.
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) replaced that need. It's an open standard, built directly into Chrome, that lets two browsers exchange video, audio, and data with each other without any third-party software in the middle. Videocall is built on WebRTC, so when you click call, your browser and the other person's browser negotiate the connection using tools that are already sitting inside Chrome — nothing extra to fetch, trust, or install.
The Chrome extension you add is really just the interface around this: it gives you a username, a contacts list, live chat, and file sharing wrapped around a WebRTC video connection. The heavy lifting — actually moving the video and audio — is handled by the browser standard itself.
"Peer-to-peer" means your video and audio try to travel directly between your browser and the other person's, rather than being routed through a company's server in between. Videocall connects calls peer-to-peer whenever possible — when it can, your call is a direct line between the two of you.
For you, that generally means less lag, since there's no extra hop for your data to make, and less of your call passing through a third party's infrastructure along the way. It's worth being precise here, though: "whenever possible" isn't a guarantee. Some networks, firewalls, or router configurations make a fully direct connection impossible, in which case a relay step is needed to get the call connected at all. And peer-to-peer describes the connection path, not a security certification — we don't claim guaranteed end-to-end encryption on top of it.
No plugin is only half the story — Videocall also skips the traditional app download entirely. Read how a free video call with no download works for the practical, non-technical rundown, or head back to the Videocall homepage to see the full feature list.
No. Videocall runs on WebRTC, which is built into Chrome. There's no Flash, no Java applet, and no separate plugin to install — a hard requirement of older browser video chat tools.
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is an open web standard that lets browsers exchange video, audio, and data directly, without a plugin. It's built into Chrome and is what makes Videocall's browser video calls possible.
Yes. WebRTC is the same underlying technology many video call apps use. Because Videocall connects peer-to-peer whenever possible, quality is often just as good since there's no extra server relaying your video in the middle.
Free, simple, and right in your browser. Make your next call a Videocall.
Add to Chrome — it's free