Comparison of instant messaging clients

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging clients. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. External links lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.

Contents 1 General information 2 Operating system support 3 Protocol support 3.1 Single protocol clients 3.2 Jabber Clients without any multi-protocol transports 3.3 Jabber Clients using server-side multi-protocol transports 3.4 Multiprotocol clients 4 Features 5 Features 2 6 See also 7 References

[edit] General information

Basic general information about the real time communication services: creator/company, license/price, amongst others.

	Author / Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	License	Gateways
GSIM	Stream, GSIM	2009-07-10	Multi-protocol/Encrypted	2.6.0	GSIM license	Gateways to MSN/Yahoo/Gtalk/IRC/ICQ/QQ/AIM/GG/XMPP
Adium	Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg	September 2001	Multi-protocol	1.3.5  (2009-06-22; 22 days ago) (Mac OS X)	GPL v2
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)	AOL	May 1997	Single protocol	6.8.12.4 (Windows) 1.0.2 Build 110 Beta (Pro (Win)) 1.3.30.1 (Triton (Win)) 1.1 (Mac OS X) 1.5.286 (Linux)	Clickwrap license
aMSN	The aMSN team	May 2002	Single protocol	0.97.2	GPL
A-Talk	Robert Edworthy	2006	Single protocol	1.0.3	GPL
Ayttm	Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis	April 2003	Multi-protocol	0.5.0-10 (Linux) 0.4.6-17 (Windows)	GPL
BitWise IM	BitWise Communications, LLC	2002-03-17	Single protocol/Encrypted	1.7.2	Clickwrap license
BitlBee	Wilmer van der Gaast	2002-08-09	IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol	1.2.3  (September 7, 2008)	GPL
Brosix	D-Bross	June 2006	Single protocol/Encrypted	2.0.3 (June 2009)	Clickwrap license
Centericq	Konstantin Klyagin	1999	Multi-protocol	4.21.0  (September 2, 2005)	GPL
climm	Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann	1997(?); 2001	Dual protocol	0.6.3	GPL v2
Coccinella	Mats Bengtsson	1999-12-01	Single protocol	0.96.12  (March 18, 2009)	GPL v3
Cspace	Tachyon Technologies	2008-02-22	Single protocol	1.27	GPL
Digsby	Steven Shapiro	Jan 2008	Multi-protocol	Beta	Clickwrap license
eBuddy	Paulo Taylor	2003-03-09	Multi-protocol	Beta v5.0.1	Clickwrap license
EQO	EQO Communications	2006-02-06	Multi-protocol	1.4	Clickwrap license
emesene	Luis Mariano Guerra	2006-05-24	Single protocol	1.0.1	GPL
Empathy	GNOME	May 2007	Multi-protocol	2.26.1  (2009-04-13; 2 months ago)	GPL
Exodus	Peter Millard	2002	Single protocol	0.10.0.0	GPL
Fire	Eric Peyton	1999-04-01	Multi-protocol	1.5.6  (February 15, 2006)	GPL
Fring			Multi-protocol		Clickwrap license
Gabtastik	Mesa Dynamics, LLC	May 2008	HTTP	0.2	Clickwrap license
Gadu-Gadu	Łukasz Foltyn		Single protocol	7.7	Clickwrap license (?)
Gajim	Yann Le Boulanger	2004-05-21	Single protocol	0.12.3  (2009-06-12; 32 days ago)	GPL
GCN	Jason K. Resch	2000-11-18	Single protocol	2.9.1	Clickwrap license
GOIM	Herbert Poul	2005-08-16	Single protocol	1.1.0  (July 2, 2006)	GPL
Goofey	Tim Mackenzie	1990s (Early 1990s)	Single protocol	2.08	Clickwrap license
Google Talk	Google, Inc.	2005-08-24	Dual protocol	104	Clickwrap license
Gyachi		2006-01-26	Single protocol	1.1.35 June 15, 2008	GPL
iChat	Apple Inc.	August 2002	Multi-protocol	4.0.8 (619)	Clickwrap license
IBM Lotus Sametime	IBM, Ubique	1998	Multi-protocol -- proprietary T.120, SIP, XMPP	8.0; March 2008	Clickwrap license
ICQ	Mirabilis (AOL)	November 1996	Single protocol	6.0	Clickwrap license
IMVU	Will Harvey	July 2001	Single protocol	3.0	Clickwrap license
INSPEAK	GLobal Unicom, LLC	2004	Multi-protocol	6.1.1	Clickwrap license
Instantbird	Florian Quèze and Quentin Castier	2007	Multi-protocol	0.1.2	GPL v2
Jabbin	Jabbin Team	December 2005	Multi-protocol	none	GPL v2
Kadu	Kadu Team	August 2001	Single protocol	0.6.0.1	GPL v2
KMess	The KMess team	April 2002	Single protocol	1.5.2 (March 2009)	GPL v2
Konnekt	Stamina	2002	Multi-protocol	0.6.22.137	Clickwrap license
Kopete	Kopete Team	2002-03-03	Multi-protocol	0.50.2	GPL
Licq	Graham Roff (up to v1.0) Jon Keating	1998-06-22	Multi-protocol	1.3.6	GPL
Mail.ru Agent	Mail.ru	May 2003	Single protocol	5.0 (Windows) 1.0 (Windows Mobile) 2.1 (J2ME)	Clickwrap license
MCabber	Mikael Berthe	2005-06-07	Single protocol	0.9.9  (October 9, 2008)	GPL
MECA Messenger		?	Multi-protocol	5.2	Clickwrap license
meebo	Meebo, Inc.	2005	Multi-protocol, Web-based	alpha v19	Clickwrap license
Meetro	Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer	2005	Multi-protocol	0.96 Beta (Win) 0.53 Beta (Mac OS X)	Clickwrap license
Mercury Messenger	Danny	2003	Single protocol	1.9 Final  (October 20, 2007)	Clickwrap license
MindSpring	Earthlink	2006-04-03	Multi-protocol	1.0 (v53.0)	Clickwrap license
Miranda IM	Miranda IM project	2000-02-06	Multi-protocol	0.8.0	GPL
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	Microsoft	?	Single protocol	7.0	Clickwrap license
MySpaceIM	MySpace	2006-05-09	Single protocol	1.0.754.0 (February 7, 2008)	Clickwrap license
Naim	Daniel Reed	1998-10-05	Multi-protocol	0.11.8.3.1 (2007-07-09)	GPL
Ometheus	Ometheus	2007	Multi-protocol, Web-based	alpha v0.1	Commercial license
OpenWengo	Wengo	2004	Multi-protocol	2.1.2	GPL
Pandion	Dries Staelens, Sebastiaan Deckers	2004-06-28	Single protocol	2.5  (2006-01-07)	Clickwrap license
Palringo	Palringo Ltd	2006	Multi-protocol		Clickwrap license
Paltalk	Jason Katz	1998	Multi-protocol	9.0	Clickwrap license
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	Mark Spencer	November 1998	Multi-protocol	2.5.8  (2009-06-28; 16 days ago)	GPL
PopNote	Mike Raymond	July 2004	Single Protocol	3.6	GPL v2
pork	Ryan McCabe	2006-12-06	AIM, IRC Gateway	0.99.8.1	GPL v2
Proteus	Justin Wood, et al.	November 2001	Multi-protocol	4.2.1  (October 27, 2008)	GPL
Psi	Justin Karneges	2001	Single protocol	0.12.1  (2009-04-18; 2 months ago)	GPL
psyced	psyced.org Project	1997	IRC+XMPP+PSYC Gateway, Multi-protocol	0.99	GPL
QIP	Ilgam Zyulkorneev	2004	Single protocol	9030 (Windows) 2120 (Windows Mobile) 2000 (Symbian S60 and UIQ3)	Clickwrap license
Qnext	Qnext Corp.	2004-06-28	Multi-protocol	3.0.1.36 (Beta) (March 1, 2007)	Clickwrap license
qutIM	Rustam Chakin	June 2008	Single protocol	0.1.1	GPL
Tencent QQ	Tencent	February 1999	Single protocol	2008 贺岁版	Clickwrap license
RealTimeQuery	realtimequery.com	2005-2007	Single protocol	v3.0 - 2007	Clickwrap license
Scrapboy	Scrapboy Digital Media Corporation	2006-05-26	Single protocol	2.1.17	N/A
Sim-IM	Sim-IM Team	?	Multi-protocol	0.9.5.2  (November 28, 2008)	GPL
Solixa	www.solixa.com	?	Single protocol	Template:Latest stable release/Solixa	GPL
Skype	Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis / eBay	2003	Single protocol	4.1.0.136  (June 30, 2009 (Microsoft Windows), others by platform)	Clickwrap license
talk	Kipp Hickman	1982	Single protocol	1.7 (BSD version)	BSD
Trillian	Cerulean Studios	2000-07-01	Multi-protocol	3.1.12.0  (2008-11-26; 7 months ago)	Clickwrap license
Trillian Pro	Cerulean Studios	2002-09-10	Multi-protocol	3.1.12.0  (2008-11-26; 7 months ago)	Clickwrap license
Trillian Astra	Cerulean Studios	?	Multi-protocol	Beta	Clickwrap license
VZOchat	Visicron Systems	2005-02-14	Single protocol	6.3.2 (Windows)  (July 5, 2009) 1.2.8 (Windows Mobile)  (May 14, 2009)	Clickwrap license
Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger)	Microsoft	July 1999	Dual protocol	8.5.1302 (Windows XP/Vista) 1.0.6141 (Windows Live for Nokia S60)	Clickwrap license
Windows Messenger	Microsoft	2001-10-25	Multi-protocol	5.1.0701 (Windows XP SP2)	Clickwrap license
Xfire	Xfire Inc.	2004	Dual protocol	1.111  (July 6, 2009)	Clickwrap license
Yahoo! Messenger	Yahoo!	1999-06-21	Dual protocol	9.0.0.1912 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix)	Clickwrap license
Zephyr	Project Athena	1987	Single protocol	2.0	MIT
	Author / Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	License

[edit] Operating system support

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

Client	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	Windows Mobile	Android	BlackBerry	iPhone OS	Other
Adium	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
AIM	Yes	Yes [1]	Dropped (1.5.286)	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Palm OS, webOS
aMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Nokia N770, N800, N810
Ayttm	Obsolete	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Beejive	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
BitlBee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	AmigaOS
BitWise IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Brosix	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Carrier (formerly Funpidgin)	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Centericq	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
climm	Yes2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	AmigaOS, BeOS
Coccinella	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Digsby	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
eBuddy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	PlayStation Portable,Nintendo DS,Palm OS
emesene	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Empathy	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
EQO	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Symbian S40/S60/S80, Java ME
Exodus	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fire	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fring	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Symbian OS, Java ME
Gadu-Gadu	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Symbian OS, Java ME, web-based
Gajim	Yes	Yes1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
GCN	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
GOIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Goofey6	No	Yes7	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Google Talk (standalone)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	webOS
Google Talk (Gmail)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Gyachi	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No
IBM Lotus Sametime	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Symbian S60/ UIQ3 [2]
iChat	No	Included	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ICQ	Yes	Dropped (3.4.23)	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	web-based
imeem	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
imo.im	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
IMVU	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Instan-t	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Instantbird	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Jabberwocky	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	AmigaOS, MorphOS
JClaim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Java
Kadu	No (unofficial)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
KMess	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Kopete	No	Yes1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Licq	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Mail.ru Agent	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Java ME
MCabber	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
MECA Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
meebo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Meetro	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Mercury Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (Unofficially, Java)	No (Unofficially, Java)	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	No3	Yes	No3	No3	No3	No	No	No	No	No
MindSpring	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Miranda IM	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MSNP-Sharp	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
mundu messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Symbian(Nokia Phones), Palm OS, J2ME(Sony Ericsson Phones)
MySpaceIM	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
naim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Nimbuzz	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Java, Symbian OS, Palm OS
OctroTalk	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Symbian S60
ooVoo	Yes	Beta	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
OpenWengo	Yes	Yes5	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Palringo	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Symbian S60, Java
Paltalk	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pandion	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pidgin formerly Gaim	Yes	Yes1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	AmigaOS
Pivot	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PlayXpert	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PopNote	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
pork	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Proteus	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Psi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
psyced	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
QIP	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Symbian S60/ UIQ3
Qnext	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
QQ	Yes	Beta	preview	No	No	No	No	No	No	Symbian S60 3rd Edition
qutIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
RealTimeQuery	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Sim-IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	? (possible)	No	No	No	No	OS/2
Steam (content delivery)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Skype	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	PlayStation Portable 2000, 3000
talk	Yes4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian Astra	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
VZOchat	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Xbox 360, SymbianS60
Windows Messenger	Included (XP)	Yes8	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	SymbianS60
Xfire	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VoxOx	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Yahoo! Messenger	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Yandex Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Zephyr	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Client	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	Windows Mobile	Android	BlackBerry	Other

Note 1: Not a dedicated Mac OS X but a POSIX application: Will need an X server and additional libraries installed, and will not look like a native Mac OS X application.

Note 2: Requires ANSI terminal. See e.g. Windows ANSI driver problem on how to load ANSI.SYS.

Note 3: MSN Web Messenger can be used with a compatible browser and valid Microsoft Passport Network account.

Note 4: Numerous talk/ytalk clients exist for Win32; others are available under the Cygwin environment.

Note 5: Only available in the upcoming version OpenWengo-ng already available through Subversion.

Note 6: Generally only available as source, not as a ready-to-install binary.

Note 7: Client will only work on Mac OS X within a Unix terminal session (Terminal.app, Xterm, iTerm, or similar.)

Note 8: It is called Messenger for Mac, currently version 7.

[edit] Protocol support

[edit] Single protocol clients

• aMSN - MSNP
• BitWise IM
• Brosix
• emesene - MSNP
• Gale Messaging
• Google Talk
• Gyachi
• Kadu (instant messenger) - GG
• KMess - MSNP
• Mail.ru Agent
• Mercury Messenger - MSNP
• Microsoft Messenger for Mac - MSNP
• MSNP-Sharp - MSNP
• NateOn
• qutIM
• Skype
• Tencent QQ
• TerraIM
• VZOchat
• Zephyr

Many IRC-only clients are listed at Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients

[edit] Jabber Clients without any multi-protocol transports

• Exodus
• GOIM
• MindSpring
• Pandion

[edit] Jabber Clients using server-side multi-protocol transports

• Coccinella
• Gajim
• Global Communications Network
• Google Talk
• iChat
• MCabber
• Psi
• psyced
• Nimbuzz

[edit] Multiprotocol clients

Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client supports.

	Supported Protocols	WLM (formerly MSN)	Y!M	AIM	ICQ	XMPP (Google Talk, Jabber, etc.)	IRC	IBM Lotus Sametime	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	LAN	Xfire	Skype	MySpaceIM	Facebook	LiveJournal	Others
Adium	17	Partial17	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial11	Yes	Yes	Partial10	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	With plugin	With plugin4	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileMe, Yahoo! Japan, Zephyr, NateOn, Tlen, Twitter
AIM	02	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	With proxy	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ayttm	03	Yes	Yes	Partial6	Partial6	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Beejive	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
bhsIM	07	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	NateOn
BitlBee	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Indirect25	No	No	No	No	No	With plugin20	No	No	With plugin28	No	No	No	No
Carrier (formerly Funpidgin)	11	Partial17	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial10	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	SILC, Zephyr, Blizzard Battle-Net Chat (with plugins)
Centericq	06	Yes	Yes	Partial6	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
climm	02	No	No	Partial12	Yes	Partial13	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Digsby	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial26	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
eBuddy	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Empathy	018	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	Blizzard Battle-Net Chat, NateOn, SILC, Tlen, Zephyr (with plugins)
Eyeball Chat	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fire	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial10	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
IBM Lotus Sametime	05	No	Yes18	Yes18	No	Yes18	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP
iChat	04	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	MobileMe
ICQ	02	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
imeem	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
imo.im	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
IMVU	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	IMVU
Instan-t	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	instan-t
Instantbird	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Jabberwocky	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
JClaim	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SMS, Nate, Yahoo! Japan
Kopete	012	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	With plugin4 (deprecated)	No	No	No	WinPopup
Licq	03	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
MECA Messenger	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
meebo	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Partial (via Jabber)	No
Meetro	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Miranda IM	16	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	With plugin21	Yes	Yes5	Yes	With plugin4	Yes	No	Yes	Tlen, Chat5
mundu messenger	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Naim	03	No	No	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Lily
Nimbuzz	12	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Partial27	Yes	Yes	No	StudiVZ, SchülerVZ, Hyves
ooVoo	01	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
OpenWengo	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP
Palringo	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Paltalk	03	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	012	Partial17	Partial23	Yes	Partial24	Partial15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial10	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	No	Yes	With plugin4,19	Yes	With plugin22	No	Blizzard Battle-Net Chat, NateOn, SILC, Tlen, Zephyr (with plugins)
Pivot	02	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PlayXpert	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Sony Station Friends
pork	02	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Proteus	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial9	Yes	No	With proxy	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yahoo! Japan
QIP	02	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
QIP Infium	06	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Mail.ru Agent, Euroset, Phoning
Qnext	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Qnext
Sim-IM	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
talk	02	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	ntalk, ytalk
Trillian Basic	05	Partial17	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian Pro	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial14, 15	Yes	With plugin1	Yes	Partial10	With plugin1	With plugin1	With plugin1	No	With plugin	Partial4	No	No	No	No
Trillian Astra	011	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes14, 15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	With plugin1	No	No	Yes	Partial4	Yes	Yes	No	ASTRA
VoxOx	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN)	02	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Windows Messenger	03	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP, EIM
Yahoo! Messenger	03	Yes17	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Supported Protocols	WLM (formerly MSN)	Y!M	AIM	ICQ	XMPP (Google Talk, Jabber, etc.)	IRC	IBM Lotus Sametime	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	LAN	Xfire	Skype	MySpaceIM	Facebook	LiveJournal	Others

Note 1: Plugin available [3]

Note 2: Plugin available

Note 3: Interoperability with proprietary protocols can be achieved using server-side gateways (so-called transports) in Jabber.

Note 4: Plugin available, but requires installed and running Skype.

Note 5: LAN and chat protocols supported for Miranda include NetSend, WinPopup, Novell Netware NCP, BattleNet, Vypress Chat, Quick Chat, and Walla Chat.

Note 6: Uses the AIM TOC2 protocol, which has fewer features than the Oscar protocol the official client uses. An Oscar plugin is available, but is still in early development.

Note 7: Plugin available [4]

Note 8: Can only enter one ICQ/AOL IM account, so users who have both an ICQ number and an AOL IM account name, can't use both.

Note 9: Text-based messaging only; does not support Bonjour/iChat's audio IM functionality.

Note 10: Probably text-based messaging only, without support for Bonjour/iChat's audio IM functionality.

Note 11: Only trunk builds of Adium have IRC support, which is very limited.

Note 12: AIM interoperability: can send/receive to AIM from an ICQ account.

Note 13: The support is optional. It currently isn't feature-complete, but basic operations should be fine.

Note 14: Claims to be supported, though frequently fails to receive or deliver messages, and tends to crash when receiving multiuser chat invites or file transfer requests.

Note 15: Feature incomplete. Lacks service discovery and transport support, making user search, multiuser chat, connections to other IM networks via XMPP difficult or impossible.

Note 16: Yahoo! Messenger interoperability (some bugs): can send/receive to Yahoo! Messenger from a Windows Live Messenger on-line account. No audio or video support as of yet.

Note 17: Windows Live Messenger interoperability: can always send/receive to Windows Live Messenger from a Yahoo! Messenger account.

Note 18: Using IBM Sametime Gateway you can establish a server to server communication to other IM communities. [5]

Note 19: With plug-in, requires Skype to be running. [6]

Note 20: See post 2008-02-19 02:39 at http://bugs.bitlbee.org/bitlbee/ticket/115#comment:25

Note 21: With using third-party plug-in "MirandaQQ" developed by Stark Wong from Hong Kong. [7]

Note 22: Facebook Chat plugin for Pidgin

Note 23: No audio or video, and generally poor support for anything beyond the very basic in the protocol. So there is chat and smileys, but no Photo Album Sharing, SMS and the rest. Also, although the oficial client does have the ability to embed the communication through HTTP there is no such option for Gaim.

Note 24: among others, the privacy settings are not working Note 24: Access is denied in the Yahoo network as it uses a deprecated protocol.

Note 25: Bitlbee does not provide access to IRC. Instead users connect to it as if it were an IRC server so Bitlbee and IRC will both be used from the same IRC client.

Note 26: Digsby does not support XMPP conferences.

Note 27: Nimbuzz does not support skype on the PC clients. Source: http://forum.nimbuzz.com/index.php?action=vthread&forum=11&topic=406

Note 28: Plugin available [8]

[edit] Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

Client	Number of Features Included	Toolkits or SDKs	Encryption	File transfer	Proxy-server	Graphical smileys	Unicode (UTF-8)	Built-in games	Themes / skins	Plugin system 1	Third party add-ons 2	Scripting	Message Logging	Voice messaging	Voice Mail	Webcam Support	Offline messaging	Remote desktop application assistance	Whiteboard	Right-to-Left texting
Adium	011	Cocoa	Yes 11	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?
AIM	11	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
AIM for Mac	4	Cocoa	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
aMSN	11	Tcl/Tk	?	Yes	http, socks5, msn gateway	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes 17	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
BitlBee	03	N/A	No	No	?	No	Yes	No	Partial 19	Yes	No	?	Partial 19	?	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
BitWise IM	08	W32, GTK2, Carbon	Yes 7	Yes	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	?
Brosix	014	W32	Yes	Yes	https, socks4, 4A, 5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Centericq	05	ncurses	Partial 9	Partial	?	No	?	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	?
climm	07	line based	Yes 5,11	Yes	?	N/A	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A	No	?
Coccinella	11	Tcl/Tk	Yes	Yes	http, socks4, 5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
Digsby	09	?	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	?
eBuddy	05	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
Empathy	0	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
EQO	05	N/A	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Exodus	05	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Fire	09	Cocoa	Yes 6	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gadu-Gadu	06	W32	?	Yes	?	Yes	No	No	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No	?
Gajim	07	GTK2	Yes 9	Yes	http	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
GCN	05	W32	Yes 4	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
GOIM	05	Java/SWT	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Google Talk	08	W32	No	Yes	?	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Third party plugin	Yes	No	No	Yes
Gyachi	09	GTK2	Yes	Yes	https	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
IBM Lotus Sametime	15	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	available	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
iChat	11	Cocoa	Yes 21	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 3	?
ICQ	12	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
imeem	02	?	No	Partial	?	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
IMVU	06	?	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes 13	No	Yes 14	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Jabberwocky	01	No	No	Partial	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes 20	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
Kadu	07	Qt	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	?	?	?
KMess	07	Qt/KDE	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Kopete	08	Qt/KDE	Yes 9,11	Partial	No	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	With plugin	Yes	With plugin (Partial)	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Licq	09	Qt	Yes 5	Yes	https	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
MCabber	04	Curses	Yes 11	No	?	No	Yes	No	?	?	No	?	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
MECA Messenger	05	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Meetro	04	?	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Mercury Messenger	11	Swing	Yes 4	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
Miranda IM	12	W32	Yes 10,11	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 15	No	Partial15	Yes	No	Yes	?
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	04	Carbon	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	No	?	?	?
MSNP-Sharp	11	W32	?	Yes	http, socks5, msn gateway	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes 17	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
mundu messenger	105	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	?
Nimbuzz	07	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?
ooVoo	09	Yes	Partial (signaling only)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
OpenWengo	06	Qt	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Palringo	03	?	No	No	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Partial (picture capture only)	?	No	No	?
Paltalk	09	N/A	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
Pandion	11	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Pidgin formerly Gaim	07	GTK2	8,11	Partial	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	No	Partial	Yes
PopNote	021	W32	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	{{no)}	No	No	No	No	No
pork	03	ncurses	?	Yes	?	No	?	?	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	No	?	?	?	?
Proteus	05	Cocoa	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Psi	06	KDE/Qt	Yes 9	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Partial (Icon sets only)	Not Yet	No	No	Yes	Partial (Linux & Unix)	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
psyced	07	N/A	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
QIP	10	W32, VCL	Yes	Yes	http(s), socks4, 4A, 5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Qnext	10	Swing	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
QQ	11	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
qutIM	07	Qt	Yes	Yes	http(s), socks 5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
RealTimeQuery	03	N/A	Not Yet	Yes	?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Not Yet	No	Not Yet	Not Yet	No	?	?
Sim-IM	08	Qt/KDE	Yes 5,6	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Skype	12	Qt/KDE, W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	With plugin (Windows only)	Yes
talk	00	curses	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
Trillian Basic 3.0	07	W32	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Trillian Pro 3.0	11	W32	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
Trillian Astra	12	W32	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
VoxOx	7	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
VZOchat	7	W32	Yes	No	https, socks4, 4A, 5	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger)	15	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Messenger	06	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	?	No	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xfire	06	W32	No	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	?
Yahoo! Messenger	11	W32, Cocoa, GTK	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Client	Number of Features Included	Toolkits or SDKs	Encryption	File transfer	Proxy-server	Graphical smileys	Unicode (UTF-8)	Built-in games	Themes / skins	Plugin system 1	Third party add-ons 2	Scripting	Message Logging	Voice messaging	Voice Mail	Webcam Support	Offline messaging	Remote desktop application assistance	Whiteboard	Right-to-Left texting

Note 1: Plug-in system to add/expand the default features for the application, or protocol. Such as (but not limited to) Trillian chat client - Plugins.

Note 2: Third party add-ons which are usually not approved by the author of the application and are usually standalone. Such as (but not limited to) AOL Instant messenger - Third-party add-ons.

Note 3: Using third party add-on software. Consult the client's page for details.

Note 4: Proprietary; compatible only to itself.

Note 5: ICQ: SSL-encrypted direct connections; compatible between climm, licq and Sim-IM.

Note 6: Any protocol: GPG-encrypted messages.

Note 7: Blowfish-encrypted direct connection; compatible only to itself.

Note 8: Newer version Pidgin: Pidgin-encryption plugin, older version Gaim: Gaim-encryption plugin, available at pidgin-encrypt.sf.net. This plugin is compatible with Pidgin/Gaim clients only.

Note 9: Compatible with all Jabber clients implementing JEP-0027 (standard Jabber encryption).

Note 10: SecureIM plugin provides 192 bits AES Encryption, compatible only between Miranda clients.

Note 11: End to end encryption via "Off The Record" (OTR) encryption. Adium: Plugin (built-in), Kopete: Plugin (kopete-otr.follefuder.org), Pidgin: Plugin (www.cypherpunks.ca/otr), Miranda: Plugin (addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=2644), climm: built-in since (mICQ) 0.5.4, Trillian Pro: Plugin (trillianotr.kittyfox.net)

Note 13: While IMVU does not allow add-ons to extend the client, registered accounts can create new content for use inside the simulation.

Note 14: IMVU logs all actions perceived by the client, including actions that do not have a textual result, making the log difficult to use for reading of messages.

Note 15: WebCam Video, a plugin for Miranda IM, allows for video chat between two users of the Miranda IM client through a different method than whichever protocol they may currently use.

Note 16: AES256-encrypted direct connection; compatible only to itself.

Note 17: Voice clips are fully supported in the stable version, while the audio conference feature is available only in the development version.

Note 19: The IRC client connecting to the bitlbee server should take care of this feature.

Note 20: The Jabberwocky client allows scripting in the ARexx language.

Note 21: Only for members of MobileMe

[edit] Features 2

Client	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	Animations
Adium	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial
AIM	No	Yes	No	No	?	Partial
aMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BitlBee	No	?	?	?	?	?
BitWise IM	?	?	?	?	?	?
Brosix	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Centericq	?	?	?	?	?	?
climm	N/A	?	Yes	?	?	?
Coccinella	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Digsby	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Empathy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
EQO	n/a	n/a	Yes	No	No	No
Exodus	?	?	?	?	?	?
Fire	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gajim	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
GCN	?	?	?	?	?	?
GOIM	?	?	?	?	?	?
Goofey6	?	?	?	?	?	?
Google Talk (standalone)	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Google Talk (Gmail)	No	?	?	No	No	Yes
Gyachi	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
iChat	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
ICQ	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes: tZer
IMVU	?	?	?	?	?	?
imeem	?	?	?	?	?	?
Jabberwocky	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Kadu	?	?	?	?	?	?
KMess	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kopete	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys
Licq	?	?	?	?	?	?
MECA Messenger	?	?	?	?	?	?
meebo	?	?	?	?	?	?
Meetro	?	?	?	?	?	?
Mercury Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
Miranda IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	No	?	?	No	Yes	Partial
MindSpring	?	?	?	?	?	?
MySpaceIM	?	?	?	?	?	?
Naim	No	?	?	?	?	?
Nimbuzz	No	No	No	No	No	No
ooVoo	?	?	?	?	?	?
OpenWengo	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Pandion	?	?	?	?	?	?
Paltalk	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pidgin formerly Gaim	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys and user icons
PopNote	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
pork	?	?	?	?	?	?
Proteus	?	?	?	?	?	?
Psi	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
psyced	No	No	No	No	?	?
Qnext	?	?	?	?	?	?
QIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys
QQ	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?
qutIM	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes:Animated emoticons
RealTimeQuery	No	?	Yes	?	?	?
Sim-IM	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Skype	No	No	No	No	?	Yes:Animated emoticons
talk	?	?	?	?	?	?
Trillian	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
Trillian Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Trillian Astra	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
VoxOx	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
VZOchat	No	No	No	No	No	Yes: Animated user icons
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes: Animated emoticons, winks
Windows Messenger	No	No	No	No	?	?
Yahoo! Messenger	?	?	?	No	?	?
Zephyr	?	?	?	?	?	?
Client	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	Animations

[edit] See also

• Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
• Comparison of LAN messengers

[edit] References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

v • d • e Instant messaging clients (and comparison of clients and protocols) Proprietary and/or single protocol AIM · Baidu Hi · Digsby · Fetion · fring · Gadu-Gadu · IBM Lotus Sametime · iChat  · Mail.ru Agent · NateOn · Nimbuzz · Qnext · QIP · Skype · Tencent QQ · Trillian · VZOchat · Yahoo! Messenger · Xfire Open source and/or multi-protocol Adium · Ayttm · BitlBee · Carrier · eBuddy · Empathy · Instantbird · Kopete · meebo · Miranda IM · Pidgin · qutIM · Sim-IM XMPP (Jabber) Coccinella · Exodus · Gajim · Google Talk · Jabbim · JAJC · JWChat · Psi · Tkabber · Gizmo ICQ ICQ · Licq .NET Messenger aMSN · emesene · KMess · Microsoft Messenger for Mac · Mercury Messenger · MSNP-Sharp · Windows Live Messenger · Windows Messenger