TL;DR — Rabbit ビデオチャット
Rabbit (Rabb.it) was a free co-watching and video チャット service, and it shut down for good on July 31, 2019. It let groups browse and watch the same content together in real time while talking on camera, and at its peak it reported around 3.6 million monthly users. A failed funding round ended it, and the watch-party service Kast bought its remaining technology. Today you need a watch-party tool for co-watching, or a ランダムビデオチャット site for meeting new people.
- Best for (back then): watching videos and browsing the web together with friends
- 料金： it was free; there is nothing to use now
- 際立った特徴： a shared cloud browser (“Rabbitcast”) that everyone in the room could see
- スキップ it if: you find a site using the Rabbit name today, because it is not the original service
People still search for “Rabbit video chat” years after the service disappeared, usually because they remember watching shows with friends in a Rabbit room. The short answer is that Rabbit is gone: it closed in July 2019. This explainer covers what Rabbit was, how it worked, why it shut down and what to use instead, whether you want a modern watch party or simply a place to meet new people on camera, like the sites in our guide to 2026年におすすめのランダムビデオチャットサイト.
Rabbit at a glance
| それは何だったのか | Co-watching website and app with text and video chat |
| 発売開始 | Mac-only closed beta in 2013; rebuilt as a web app in 2014 |
| Based in | California, United States |
| 価格 | 無料 |
| Peak audience | About 3.6 million monthly active users (May 2019, per the company) |
| Key feature | Shared cloud browser (“Rabbitcast”) plus a “Share on Rabbit” Chrome extension |
| Status | Shut down — servers turned off July 31, 2019 |
| What happened to the tech | Acquired by the watch-party service Kast in July 2019 |
What was Rabbit?
Rabbit was a free service for watching and browsing the internet together with other people while you talked over video and text. It started in 2013 as a Mac-only video chat and content-sharing app in closed beta, then relaunched in 2014 as a web app that worked in any browser, later adding mobile apps. Rabbit did not host films or shows itself. Instead, a host opened a virtual browser in the cloud and everyone in the room saw the same screen, which is why it became a popular way to watch things “together” at a distance.
Rabbit belongs to the same lost generation of webcam communities as Stickam, the early live-streaming pioneer, and it closed a few years before Omegle shut down in 2023. Unlike Omegle, though, Rabbit was mostly used with friends rather than for random matching with strangers.
How did Rabbit work?
- You signed up for a free account in your browser or the mobile app.
- A host created a private room for friends or a public room anyone could join.
- The host launched a Rabbitcast, a shared cloud browser, or pushed a page to the room with the “Share on Rabbit” Chrome extension.
- Everyone in the room watched or browsed the same screen in real time.
- Participants talked over webcam video, voice and a text chat next to the shared screen.
Rabbit’s main features
| 特徴 | What it did | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbitcast | A hosted browser in the cloud that the whole room could see | Let groups watch almost anything together with no syncing |
| Private and public rooms | Invite-only rooms for friends or open rooms for anyone | Worked for movie nights and for meeting new people |
| Video and text chat | Webcam tiles and a chat panel beside the shared screen | Made remote viewing feel social, not passive |
| Chrome extension | “Share on Rabbit” sent a page straight to a room | Quick sharing without setting up a full Rabbitcast |
| Built-in ad-blocker | Removed ads inside the shared browser | Cleaner viewing for everyone in the room |
Rabbit timeline: from beta to shutdown
| Year | どうしたの |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Rabbit opens a Mac-only closed beta for video chat and content sharing |
| 2014 | Rebuilt as a browser-based web app, later joined by mobile apps |
| May 2019 | About 3.6 million monthly active users and 30 staff; a venture funding round fails |
| July 2019 | Rabbit announces it will cease operations and lays off its staff |
| July 31, 2019 | Servers are switched off; Kast acquires Rabbit’s IP, software stack and several patents |
Why did Rabbit shut down?
Rabbit shut down because it ran out of money after a funding round failed in May 2019. Running a cloud browser for millions of users is expensive, and the company never found a business model that covered those costs. Co-watching copyrighted shows through a shared browser also left it in a legally awkward position, because Rabbit relied on users streaming content it did not license. When the money ran out, the team was laid off and the servers went dark on July 31, 2019. Kast bought what was left of the technology, but Rabbit itself never came back.
What Rabbit did well, and where it fell short
| What worked | What didn’t |
|---|---|
| Free and ran in a normal browser | No business model that paid for its servers |
| Shared screen meant no manual syncing | Legal grey area around streaming content it didn’t license |
| Video chat made remote watching social | Public rooms were lightly moderated |
| Private rooms for friends and public rooms for strangers | Shared cloud video could be laggy at busy times |
Staying safe on sites that use the Rabbit name
Be careful with any website or app that calls itself “Rabbit video chat” today: the original service is gone, and copycat sites often reuse a familiar name to attract traffic. The same safety rules apply to any video chat with strangers.
- Don’t download unknown “Rabbit” apps or browser extensions from outside the official app stores.
- Never pay for “Rabbit Premium” or similar upgrades, because no official Rabbit service exists.
- 個人情報を保護してください。 Don’t share your full name, address, school, workplace or social handles with strangers.
- 背景に注意してください and assume anything on camera can be recorded.
- 18歳以上限定。 Random video chat with strangers is for adults, and you may meet explicit behaviour.
The best Rabbit alternatives in 2026
| Alternative | タイプ | 無料？ | 最適な用途 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kast | Watch-party app (bought Rabbit’s tech) | 無料で始められます | Watching together with friends |
| Discord screen sharing | Voice and video chat app | はい | Friends who already use Discord |
| Paltalk | グループビデオチャットルーム | はい、有料プランでご利用いただけます。 | Meeting new people in topic rooms |
| Camfrog | Group webcam rooms | はい、有料プランでご利用いただけます。 | Big multi-cam community rooms |
| FaceFlow | Browser group video chat | はい | Quick group calls in a browser |
| Chat to Strangers | ランダムビデオチャット | Yes, no sign-up | Meeting new people one-on-one |
If you miss Rabbit’s public rooms more than its movie nights, group video communities are the closest match today. Our Paltalk review covers the veteran topic-room service, FaceFlow’s browser-based group calls need nothing to install, and how Camfrog’s multi-cam rooms work is worth reading if you want bigger crowds.
Who should use what instead?
If you used Rabbit for movie nights with friends, a dedicated watch-party tool such as Kast or Discord screen sharing is the natural replacement. If you used its public rooms to meet new people, a group video chat service or a one-on-one random video chat fits better, and you can compare the options in our list of Omegleの最適な代替手段. For instant face-to-face conversations, you can also try our 見知らぬ人との無料ビデオチャット, 登録不要（18歳以上）。
よくある質問
Is Rabbit video chat still working?
No. Rabbit (Rabb.it) shut down its servers on July 31, 2019, and the website and apps no longer work. Any site using the Rabbit name today is not the original service.
What was Rabbit video chat?
Rabbit was a free co-watching service based in California. Hosts opened private or public rooms where friends could browse and watch the same content together in real time through a shared cloud browser, while talking over text and video chat.
Why did Rabbit shut down?
Rabbit closed after a venture capital funding round failed in May 2019. The company laid off its staff, announced the closure in July 2019 and turned off its servers on July 31, 2019.
Who bought Rabbit?
On July 31, 2019, the watch-party service Kast acquired Rabbit’s remaining intellectual property, software stack and several patents. Rabbit itself was not relaunched.
Was Rabbit a random video chat with strangers?
Not mainly. Rabbit was built for watching and browsing together in rooms, usually with friends. Public rooms let you meet new people, but it never worked like Omegle-style one-on-one random matching.
What can I use instead of Rabbit?
For watching together with friends, use a watch-party tool such as Kast, Discord screen sharing or Teleparty. For meeting new people on camera, use a group video room service such as Paltalk or Camfrog, or a free random video chat for adults.
結論
Rabbit was ahead of its time: a free, browser-based way to watch and talk together that millions of people used before “watch parties” became mainstream. It closed on July 31, 2019, after its funding fell through, and nothing called Rabbit today is the original. Pick a watch-party tool for nights in with friends, or a group or random video chat when you want to meet someone new. Our guide to 見知らぬ人と話せる安全なウェブサイト is a good place to start.
