Comparison of LAN messengers

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of LAN messengers.

General information

Basic general information about the LAN messengers: creator/company, license/price, among others.

	Protocol	Author / Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license	Programming language
AChat	?	Michal Hruby	2005	beta 7 (v0.150) (January 24, 2007 (2007-01-24))	Free	GNU/GPL	Delphi|C# Version started
Akeni LAN Messenger	Akeni Network Protocol	Akeni	2002	1.2.114 (January 13, 2011 (2011-01-13))	Non-freeShareware (16.95)	Proprietary	C++
BigAnt Messenger	?	BigAnt	2001	2.50 (July 8, 2009 (2009-07-08))	Non-freeShareware (20.00 + server)	Proprietary	?
Bopup Messenger	?	B Labs	2001	5.4.7 (December 24, 2009 (2009-12-24))	Non-freeShareware (12.90 + server)	Proprietary	C++
BORGChat	?	Ionut Cioflan	2002	v1.0.0 b438  (March 31, 2007 (2007-03-31))	Free	Freeware	?
dMessage	?	MGI Consultants	2007	6.20 (June 20, 2010 (2010-06-20))	Non-freeShareware (6 to 20 depending on the number of stations)	Proprietary	?
iChat	Bonjour IM Protocol	Apple Inc.	2003	5.0.3 (745), (April 26, 2010 (2010-04-26))	Non-freeBundled with OS	Proprietary	Template:Likely Objective-C
iptux	Microsoft Messenger service	Jally, ManPT, others	2008	0.51 (November 20, 2009 (2009-11-20))	Free	GNU/GPL	?
LAN Chat Enterprise	?	KGY Soft	2001	3.3, (May 29, 2007 (2007-05-29))	Non-freeShareware (12.00)	Proprietary	?
LinPopUp	Microsoft Messenger service	Jean-Marc Jacquet	2000	1.2.0 (Debian, April 7, 2008 (2008-04-07))	Free	GNU/GPL	C
Miranda IM	Microsoft Messenger service	Roland Rabien	2000	0.9.3	Free	GNU/GPL	C/C++
Net-C	?	DGtalize	2008	0.2.0 (May 15, 2010 (2010-05-15))	Free	GNU/GPL	Java
Outlook LAN Messenger	?	Srimax Software System	2002	6.0.43 (March 25, 2010 (2010-03-25))	Non-freeShareware (9.80)	Proprietary	?
Pichat	?	Piratson Technologies	2002	0.4.2 (March 13, 2010 (2010-03-13))	Free	Freeware	C++
PopNote	?	K5HUM	2003	3.6 (July 1, 2009 (2009-07-01))	Free	Freeware	HotBasic
Softros LAN Messenger	?	Softros Systems, Inc.	2000	4.4.1 (May 15, 2009 (2009-05-15))	Non-freeShareware (10.95)	Proprietary	?
Squiggle LAN Messenger	?	Overroot	2010	2.7 (May 5, 2011 (2011-05-05))	Free	Freeware	C#
Vypress Chat	Vypress Chat network protocol	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2000	2.1.8 (December 11, 2009 (2009-12-11))	Non-freeShareware (19.00)	Proprietary	C/C++
Vypress Messenger	Vypress instant messaging protocol	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2000	4.0 (October 19, 2004 (2004-10-19))	Non-freeShareware (19.90)	Proprietary	C/C++
WinMessenger	Microsoft Messenger service	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2001	2.8.04 (March 19, 2010 (2010-03-19))	Non-freeShareware (14.00)	Proprietary	C/C++
Winpopup LAN Messenger	?	Fomine Software	2002	5.3 (June 18, 2008 (2008-06-18))	Non-freeShareware (14.95)	Proprietary	?
LAN Messenger v3	?	Ken Ballentine (Updated by Steven Cole)	2006	3.4 (February 23, 2011 (2011-02-23))	Free	Freeware	Visual Basic .NET

Operating system support

The operating systems the messengers can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.

	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix
AChat	Yes	No	No	No	No
Akeni LAN Messenger	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
BigAnt Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Bopup Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
BORGChat	Yes	No	No	No	No
dMessage	Yes	No	No	No	No
iChat	No	Yes	No	No	No
iptux	No	No	Yes	No	No
LAN Chat Enterprise	Yes	No	No	No	No
LinPopUp	No	No	Yes	No	No
Miranda IM	Yes	No	No	No	No
Net-C	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Outlook LAN Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pichat	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
PopNote	Yes	No	No	No	No
Softros LAN Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Squiggle LAN Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Vypress Chat	Yes	No	No	No	No
Vypress Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
WinMessenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Winpopup LAN Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
LAN Messenger v3	Yes	No	No	No	No

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

	Toolkits or SDKs	Private messages	Private chat	Public chat	Message board	Encryption	File transfer	Unicode (UTF-8)	Message filtration	Graphical smileys	Message logging	Whiteboard	Terminal Service Compatibility	User base in Active Directory	Serverless (No server required)
AChat	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Akeni LAN Messenger	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
BigAnt Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Bopup Messenger	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
BORGChat	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
dMessage	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
iChat 1	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
iptux	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
LAN Chat Enterprise	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
LinPopUp	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Miranda IM	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes
Net-C	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Outlook LAN Messenger	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Pichat	W32 + Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
PopNote	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Softros LAN Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Vypress Chat	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Vypress Messenger	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
WinMessenger	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Winpopup LAN Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lan Messenger V3	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes

Note 1: Using Apple's Bonjour protocol

See also

• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
• LAN messenger
• Messenger service