How ExpressListen works

One account, two ways to take part: talk to someone, or listen to someone. You can do both.

Talking to someone

Join with your email, a password and a nickname. Confirm you are 18 or older and open the link we email you.
Open the listener list. You can filter by language: English, Hindi or Marathi.
Pick a listener and start writing. They don't need to be online; they will reply when they can.

There is no topic to choose and no form to fill in. Say as much or as little as you like, and stop whenever you want.

Listening

Anyone with an account can become a listener. There is no application: you read and accept our listener guidelines, choose your languages, and you appear in the listener list.

Switch on available when you have time to listen. It turns off by itself if you are offline for two minutes.
Switch listening off at any time. You can still talk to listeners yourself.
Listeners are kind people, not professionals. They listen; they don't give medical, legal or financial advice.

What the badges mean

Online · Available: the listener has the app open and is ready to listen. They are shown first.
Online: they have the app open right now.
No badge: they are offline. We never show “last seen”.

Chatting

Text only, one to one. You can have several conversations at the same time.
Ticks work like a messaging app: ✓ sent, ✓✓ delivered, and ✓✓ in colour when it has been seen.
Delete for me hides a chat from you. Delete for everyone erases it for both of you straight away. Messages are erased from our database once nobody can see them.

If something feels wrong

Block anyone from the conversation. They are not told. They can no longer reach you, and a blocked listener disappears from your list.
Report them with a reason and a few words. A real person on our team reads every report; nothing happens automatically. Your messages are never attached, and your name is never shared with the person you report.

Good to know

ExpressListen is for adults aged 18 and over.
It is not therapy and not an emergency service. In a crisis in India, call 112 or Tele-MANAS 14416.
Never share your real name, address, phone number or social media profiles.