Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which permits individuals to connect with all their chat apps from one interface, is relaunching its app on Wednesday to supply a safer model that not requires use of its personal cloud providers. As well as, Beeper is introducing premium choices that present entry to extra accounts than its free tier and embody power-user options like reminders, the power to ship messages later, an incognito mode to learn messages with out marking them learn, AI voice observe transcriptions, and extra.
Now owned by WordPress.com maker Automattic, which purchased Beeper for $125 million in 2024, the app has virtually fully built-in with competitor Texts.com, which Automattic additionally acquired the yr prior for $50 million.
With a mixed 30-person crew (together with contractors) and now working beneath the Beeper model, the messaging app helps WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, X, Telegram, Sign, Matrix, Slack, Google Chat, Discord, LinkedIn, and Google Messages (SMS/RCS). On Mac computer systems solely, Beeper also can join customers with their iMessage chats, although Apple has shut down this entry in prior variations.
The general aim, in accordance with Automattic, is to simplify the issue of getting too many messaging apps to maintain up with, whereas additionally maintaining these chats safe.
The app beforehand first linked with Beeper Cloud earlier than speaking with the messaging community, mentioned Beeper CEO Kishan Bagaria. Whereas that system stays the default, customers will now have the choice of switching to Beeper on gadget, which is able to see the app connecting on to the messaging community and skipping the intermediary.
“That ensures that end-to-end encryption is preserved and your privateness is pretty much as good because the official app,” Bagaria informed TechCrunch in an interview forward of the app’s relaunch. Whether or not the businesses concerned will recognize having their very own apps bypassed, nevertheless, stays to be seen.
“We have now good relationships with a few of these firms, and a few of them are OK with this,” Bagaria mentioned. “Others, we now have probably not heard from a lot.”
To stave off any potential shutdowns by messaging community suppliers, Beeper goals to help the enterprise fashions of the first-party apps every time doable. For instance, if Telegram is displaying advertisements, these advertisements shall be proven in Beeper, too.
As well as, EU laws requiring that messaging platforms be interoperable may put stress on messaging app suppliers to go away an answer like Beeper’s alone.
Alongside the relaunch, there’ll now be an choice to improve to a brand new $9.99 monthly premium plan, Beeper Plus, which permits customers to attach with 10 messaging providers as a substitute of simply the 5 that free customers have entry to.
As well as, Plus subscribers have the choice to schedule messages to ship later, can set reminders to comply with up on chats, learn messages in incognito mode in order that they don’t really feel pressured to reply instantly, entry a number of accounts per community, view AI voice observe transcriptions (processed through OpenAI’s Whisper mannequin with consumer consent), and swap out their app icon for a customized model.
An excellent increased tier, Beeper Plus Plus, which begins at $49.99 monthly, affords entry to limitless accounts and is designed with the wants of companies or social media managers in thoughts. (Annual subscriptions are additionally out there at a reduced value of $99.99 per yr for Beeper Plus and $499 per yr for Beeper Plus Plus.)
After Automattic acquired Beeper, the corporate mixed its crew with Texts.com to develop a brand new product that provided the perfect of each providers. With Wednesday’s relaunch, these apps at the moment are 99% built-in, Bagaria mentioned, as just a few smaller options stay to be ported over.
Ultimately, Automattic’s newest acquisition, the private CRM Clay, which can later be rebranded, may also be built-in with Beeper, although it can stay a stand-alone app.
“It can largely be constructed on high of the Beeper platform — it’ll keep complimentary,” Bagaria mentioned. “Clay is an incredible app [as it] works right now. Then, with Beeper, it may possibly simply ingest extra interactions and information, which is able to make it like 2x to 10x higher. As soon as that’s achieved, I’m certain Clay is usually a very highly effective product.”
Beeper right now has tens of millions of registered customers, together with these from Texts.com. A small portion of those that are nonetheless utilizing Texts.com at the moment are being provided the choice emigrate to Beeper, because it has added the on-device expertise, which they like.
Bagaria mentioned there should still be some remaining points round reliability when shifting to the on-device mannequin, however these are being labored out as edge instances pop up. At some later level, Beeper Cloud shall be deprecated as soon as the corporate is bound the on-device mannequin is able to being everybody’s day by day driver.
Additional down the street, Beeper goals to make its information out there to different firms, with consumer permission and controls to guard privateness. As an example, an MCP (mannequin context protocol) Beeper someday may let customers join to talk apps through Claude or ChatGPT to ask it issues like “summarize all my vital messages from this night.”
These developments will take a while, as Bagaria says he’s additionally a “very privacy-conscious consumer,” and would desire a resolution that’s very clear about what information is accessed and when, and one that enables customers to even manually say sure or no to information requests, maybe.
“We additionally don’t need to have server farms the place we now have fashions educated in your information. That’s an entire no-no,” he mentioned.
