The company
mssgs is made by RUAL and operated by Deverence Group B.V. in Brummen: a Dutch private company, privately owned, with no foreign parent.
Deverence Group company recordThe healthy alternativeto Hyves
Your friends, private chats, communities and games, with no ads and no sorting you into audiences for advertisers. Made in the Netherlands, on Dutch servers, and you can check that yourself.
In short
mssgs as a Hyves alternative
Hyves came back on 22 September 2026, now owned by media company Mediahuis, and gets ads in its timelines from 2027. mssgs is the healthy alternative: a Dutch app for your friends, with private chats, communities, stories and nine games, with no ads and no sorting you into audiences. Your chats and your account live on servers at BIT in Ede, and you can check that yourself. mssgs is free, there is no waiting list, and it runs on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and in the browser.
- Made by
- RUAL, the Netherlands (since 2009)
- Servers
- BIT in Ede, the Netherlands
- Ads
- None, and no audience profile
- Age
- 13 and up, with Parent Center
- Apps
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, web
- Waiting list
- None, you start right away
Comparison checked on 28 września 2026.
mssgs vs Hyves
Hyves and mssgs side by side
The new Hyves next to mssgs, as it stands a week after launch. Green marks who is ahead on that row, and we say so when that is Hyves.
| Topic | Hyves | mssgs |
|---|---|---|
| Company and money | ||
| Made by | Mediahuis Nederland, part of the Belgian Mediahuis group | RUAL, the Netherlands |
| How it makes money | Ads from 2027: Branded Hyves, Buzz positions in timelines and native display | Optional Premium and credits, no ads |
| Sorted into audiences for ads | Yes, into audiences Mediahuis builds from your interests and how you use Hyves. Advertisers get no personal data themselves | No |
| Third-party scripts on the website | An ad server and two advertising data platforms | No advertising or tracking scripts |
| Truly European | ||
| Where your posts are stored | At Scaleway, France | At BIT in Ede, the Netherlands |
| Signing in | Through FusionAuth and Amazon, both American | Its own sign-in system, on the servers in Ede |
| The website's front door | www.hyves.nl runs through Cloudflare, United States | mss.gs runs directly on BIT's network |
| What you do there | ||
| Adding friends | Yes | Yes, and you only talk to people who said yes |
| Krabbels (scribbles) on your profile | Yes | No |
| Decorating your profile | Yes, with glitter images and the dancing banana | Profile photo, bio and badges |
| Short updates for your friends | WieWatWaar | Posts and stories, for everyone, friends only or a private group |
| Private messages | Not yet at launch | Yes, one-to-one end-to-end encrypted |
| Age and access | ||
| Minimum age | 16, not younger even with a parent's permission | 13, with protective settings and the Parent Center up to 15 |
| Signing up | Waiting list, new members are let in in phases | Right away, with a username and an email address |
| Apps | iOS, Android, web | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, web |
Checked on 28 września 2026 against Mediahuis' own announcement, brand page, terms of use and privacy statement (in Dutch), the Follow the Money investigation and what hyves.nl itself loads. Hyves has only just come back and is changing fast; if something is no longer right, email support@mss.gs and we will fix it.
Truly European
European down to the server, and you can check it
"Hosted in Europe" says little when signing in runs through an American cloud or the front door belongs to an American company. So here is who does what, and where, each with a source you can open yourself.
Your chats, photos and account
Live on servers at BIT in Ede, a Dutch hosting provider with its own data centres. Not in a European region of an American cloud.
Where mssgs runsThe website and the domain
mss.gs and its nameservers run directly on BIT's network (AS12859), with no American middleman such as Cloudflare at the front door.
Network record at RIPE
Checked on eu-alt.eu
The eu-alt.eu listing
eu-alt.eu, a guide to European software, records who owns each service and where its servers are, with dates and sources, and refreshes the DNS data daily. This is what it says about mssgs:
- Ownership
- EU controlled
- Checked
- 4 September 2026
- Core hosting
- BIT, Ede
- Website
- BIT (AS12859)
What we mean by healthy
Why mssgs is a healthy alternative to Hyves
Nobody earns from your attention, nobody sorts you into audiences for advertisers, you only talk to people who said yes, and parents can look in without reading along.
Ads in your timeline
Hyves
Hyves is ad-free for now. From 2027 Mediahuis sells ads on it: Branded Hyves for brands, Buzz positions in timelines and native display.
Sorted for advertisers
Hyves
Under its privacy statement, Mediahuis may record which profiles and Hyves you view or follow, who you are connected to and which groups you are in, and show ads to audiences it builds from your interests and use. Advertisers get no personal data themselves.
mssgs
mssgs does not sort you into audiences for ads and does not track you. Your messages are never used to train AI.
European, apart from a few American parts
Hyves
Krabbels, comments and images are stored at the French provider Scaleway. But Follow the Money found that signing in runs through the American companies FusionAuth and Amazon, and www.hyves.nl goes through the American Cloudflare. Mediahuis says it is working on it, but calls it difficult.
mssgs
mssgs runs at BIT in Ede, signing in and the website included, and belongs to a Dutch company with no foreign parent. Here is how to check.
Talking in private
Hyves
At launch, Hyves does not have private messages yet.
mssgs
One-to-one chats are end-to-end encrypted with the Signal protocol, and you can make voice and video calls.
Under 16
Hyves
Hyves is for 16 and up. Younger is not allowed, not even with a parent's permission.
mssgs
mssgs is for 13 and up. Accounts aged 13 to 15 start with protective settings, and in the Parent Center a parent sees who the child chats with, but never the messages and never where the child is.
A waiting list
Hyves
After a quarter of a million sign-ups on day one, Hyves lets new members in in phases.
mssgs
On mssgs you start right away, with a username and an email address. No phone number and no real name needed.
In fairness
What Hyves does better
mssgs is not a new Hyves, and Hyves has things mssgs does not. Better to know that up front.
- The nostalgia. Krabbels, glitter images, WieWatWaar and the dancing banana. mssgs has no krabbels and no glitter.
- Your old friends. A quarter of a million people signed up on day one, so your classmates from back then may well be there already.
- Your profile at the centre. Hyves revolves around your profile page. mssgs revolves around conversations, and your profile is mostly your calling card.
- A calm timeline. Hyves promises posts from friends instead of an endless stream an algorithm picks for you.
- 16 and up only. If you want a network without young teens, that is the place.
- European-owned too. Mediahuis is a Belgian company, and your krabbels are stored with a French hosting provider.
Stay with Hyves if
- you mostly want the feeling of back then, with krabbels and glitter
- your old group of friends has already signed up there
- a public profile matters more to you than conversations
Pick mssgs if
- you do not want ads, not in 2027 either
- you do not want to be sorted into audiences for advertisers
- you want to chat in private, call and play games together
- you want to start a community of your own, with channels and voice
- your child is between 13 and 16 and you want to look in without reading along
Switching
From Hyves to mssgs in three steps
There is nothing to import: your old Hyves profile no longer exists, not on the new Hyves either. So you start over everywhere, and on mssgs without a waiting list.
Download mssgs
Free on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux, or open it in your browser. A username and an email address is all it takes.
Find your friends
Add them by username, or with your QR code when you are standing next to each other. Or share your own page, mss.gs/@yourname.
Start your hyve again
On Hyves, groups were called hyves. Make a community for your old class, club or village, with channels and voice, and share the invite link.
Curious what else it does? See the features, the FAQ or the help desk.
Hyves alternative: frequently asked questions
What is a good alternative to Hyves?
That depends on what you miss. If you mostly want the krabbels and glitter of back then, the new Hyves is the place. If you want what Hyves once was, a place for your own friends, but with private chats, communities and games and without ads, mssgs is a healthy alternative: Dutch, free and without a waiting list.
Is Hyves really back?
Yes. Mediahuis relaunched Hyves on 22 September 2026, as a website and as an app for iOS and Android. A quarter of a million people signed up within a day, and new members are let in in phases.
Can I get my old Hyves profile back?
No. The profiles of the old Hyves, which closed in December 2013, are no longer available, not on the new Hyves either. If you downloaded your profile in November 2013, your photos and krabbels may still be in that file.
Will Hyves show ads?
Yes, from 2027. Mediahuis has announced Branded Hyves, Buzz positions in timelines and native display, without pop-ups or ads with sound. The ads go to audiences Mediahuis builds from interests and use; advertisers get no personal data themselves. mssgs shows no ads.
Is mssgs truly European?
Yes. mssgs is made by RUAL, a Dutch software company founded in 2009 with no foreign parent. Your chats, your photos and your account live on servers at BIT in Ede, and the website runs on the same Dutch network. The sources are on this page, so you can check it yourself.
Does mssgs have games, like Hyves used to?
Yes, nine games you play with friends inside a chat, including Four in a Row, Battleship, Checkers, Word Guesser and Memory. You always play against someone, never against the computer.
Is mssgs free?
Yes. Chats, communities, voice calls, the games and the map are free for everyone. Premium is optional, paid with credits and never renews by itself.
How old do you have to be for mssgs?
13. Accounts aged 13 to 15 start with protective settings until a parent links the account in the Parent Center. There, a parent sees who the child chats with, but never the messages and never where the child is. See child safety.
Other alternatives
Your friends, without the ads
Free to start, no waiting list, no credit card. Your chats stay in the Netherlands.
Download mssgs