Built by someone who believes real connection still matters.
ThXChat is an independent project by Ethen, a solo developer building a random chat platform focused on genuine human connection — not AI replacement.
Why ThXChat exists
The more AI companions and roleplay apps I see launching, the more I believe the opposite will happen: people are going to want real human connection even more, not less.
That's basically why I built ThXChat.
I had this idea years ago but never seriously started. Work was busy, life was busy. A few months ago I finally committed and started building properly — solo, mostly after hours. It's been live for several months now, with over 1,500 early users so far.
The product itself: strangers get matched randomly, can chat with live translation across 23 languages, do voice or video calls, or talk to an AI companion named Echo when no one's around. It's more than just text chat.
What makes ThXChat different
Informed matching
See a partner's gender, age, and region before the conversation starts — not a blind connect-and-bail.
Chat commitment timer
A short minimum stay gives both sides room to actually talk, rather than skipping every 5 seconds.
Text-first, no exposure
Random matches are text-based. Voice and video exist, but as an upgrade path for members — not the default.
Translation built in
23 languages, one-tap translation. Language should not decide who you can talk to.
Moderation that works
AI pre-review on every report, human review on escalations, tiered enforcement rather than shadow bans.
Echo is not a substitute
The AI companion exists for quiet hours and emotional support — never as a replacement for matching with real people.
About the founder
Hi, I'm Ethen. I build ThXChat alone, after hours. AI coding tools have been a huge part of this — as long as I can clearly think through the logic, the implementation just happens. I feel like I can move at a pace I never could before.
The hard part is retention. Both users have to be online at the same time for a match to work. That's a tough constraint, and I'm still figuring out growth. Revenue is small but real. I'm not stopping — every AI chat product I see launching makes me more convinced there's a genuine gap for real human connection.
If you want to follow the journey or say hello:
- Indie Hackers: @thxchat
- X (product account): @ThxChatCom
- Email: [email protected]
How ThXChat is built
ThXChat is a small, independently operated stack: a Vue 3 chat app, a Next.js marketing site, a Java Spring Boot backend, a Go service for AI workloads, and an OpenIM layer for real-time messaging. Voice and video run on LiveKit. Everything deployed on Cloudflare, Azure, and Tencent Cloud.
Safety is a first-class feature, not an afterthought: every reported message goes through an LLM pre-review before a human looks at it, and enforcement is tiered — from warnings to temporary restrictions to permanent bans — rather than silent shadow bans. Read more on the Safety page.
Come try it. No signup needed.
10 free matches a day as a guest. Unlimited after you sign in.
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