Comparison of instant messaging clients
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (March 2011) |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2007) |
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 |
General information [edit]
| Client | Author, creator | First public release | Type | Latest stable version | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg | 2001-09 | Multi-protocol | 1.5.6 (March 18, 2013) [±] (OS X) | GPLv2 |
| aMSN | The aMSN team | 2002-05 | Single-protocol | 0.98.4 | GPL |
| AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) | AOL | 1997-05 | Multi-protocol | 7.5.14.8 (May 31, 2012) [±] | Clickwrap |
| Ayttm[1][2] | Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis | 2003-04 | Multi-protocol | 0.6.1 (Linux) 0.4.6-17 (Windows) |
GPL |
| BitlBee | Wilmer van der Gaast | 2002-08-09 | Multi-protocol IRC gateway | 3.2 (6 January 2013) [±] | GPL |
| Bombus | Eugene Stahov | 2005-01-05 | Single-protocol | 2008 (v0.6) | GPL |
| 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 | 0.7.1 (March 2010) | GPLv2 |
| Coccinella[3][4] | Mats Bengtsson | 1999-12-01 | Single-protocol | 0.96.16 (December 1, 2009) | GPLv3 |
| eBuddy | Paulo Taylor | 2003-03-09 | Multi-protocol | 2011 | Clickwrap |
| emesene | Luis Mariano Guerra | 2006-05-24 | Multi-protocol | 2.12.5 | GPL |
| Empathy | GNOME | 2007-05 | Multi-protocol | 3.8.2 (May 16, 2013) [±][5] | GPL |
| FaceTime | Apple Inc. | 2010 | Single-protocol | 2.0 July 25, 2012 | Proprietary |
| Fire | Eric Peyton | 1999-04-01 | Multi-protocol | 1.5.6 (February 16, 2006) [±] | GPL |
| Firetalk | Multitude Communications | 1997 -2001 | voice/music chat program | ? | GPL |
| Gadu-Gadu | Lukasz Foltyn | 2000-08 | Single-protocol | 10.5.2 build 13164 (July 9, 2011) | Clickwrap |
| Gajim | Yann Le Boulanger | 2004-05-21 | Single-protocol | 0.15.3 (March 17, 2013) [±] | GPL |
| Google Talk | Google, Inc. | 2005-08-24 | Dual-protocol | Plugin Windows: 3.19.1.13088 (May 14, 2013) [±] |
Clickwrap |
| Hularing | Farax Mobile | March 2013 | XMPP | Alpha | Free |
| IBM Lotus Sametime | IBM, Ubique | 1998 | Multi-protocol—proprietary T.120, SIP, XMPP | 8.5; December 2009 | Clickwrap |
| iCall | iCall, Inc. | 2012-05 | Multi-protocol | 7.1 (524) | Clickwrap |
| iChat | Apple Inc. | 2002-08 | Multi-protocol | 6.0.1 (1002) February 1, 2012 | Clickwrap |
| ICQ | Mirabilis (AOL) | 1996-11 | Single-protocol | 8.0.5977 ; December 14, 2012 | Clickwrap |
| IM+ | SHAPE GmbH | 2002 | Multi-protocol and proprietary | 2013 | Clickwrap |
| IMVU | Will Harvey | 2001-07 | Single-protocol | 3.0 | Clickwrap |
| Instantbird | Florian Quèze | 2007 | Multi-protocol | 1.3 (November 13, 2012) [±] | GPLv2 |
| Jitsi | Emil Ivov | 2003 | Multi-protocol | 2.2 (build.4603) (April 30, 2013) [±] | LGPL |
| Kadu | Kadu Team | 2001-08 | Multi-protocol | 0.12 .0 June 25, 2012 | GPLv2 |
| Kopete | Kopete Team | 2002-03-03 | Multi-protocol | 1.2.3 (May 4, 2012) [±][6] | GPL |
| Line | Naver, Japan | ||||
| MCabber | Mikael Berthe | 2005-06-07 | Single-protocol | 0.10.2 (December 2, 2012) [±] | GPL |
| Meetro | Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer | 2005 | Multi-protocol | 0.96 beta (Windows) 0.53 beta (OS X) |
Clickwrap |
| Messages (application) | Apple Inc. | 2012-07-25 | Multi-protocol | 7.0 July 25, 2012 | Clickwrap |
| Microsoft Lync | Microsoft Corporation | 2005 | Single-protocol | 2010 November 14, 2010 | Clickwrap |
| Miranda IM | Miranda IM project | 2000-02-06 | Multi-protocol | 0.10.13[7] (20 May 2013) [±] | GPL |
| MySpaceIM | MySpace | 2006-05-09 | Single-protocol | 1.0.754.0 (February 7, 2008) | Clickwrap |
| naim | Daniel Reed | 1998-10-05 | Multi-protocol | 0.11.8.3.1 (2007-07-09) | GPL |
| Nimbuzz | Evert Jaap Lugt and Martin Smink | 2006 | Multi-protocol | Microsoft Windows: 2.4.0 October 23, 2012; Blackberry: 1.4.1 October 12, 2012; iOS: 2.5.1 August 21, 2012; Android: 2.2.2 August 1, 2012; Mac OS X: 2.2.1 April 24, 2012; Windows Phone: 1.1.1 November 13, 2012; Symbian: 3.4.0 August 1, 2012 | Clickwrap |
| Palringo | Palringo Ltd | 2006 | Single-protocol | Microsoft Windows: 2.7.9 July 4, 2012; Windows Mobile: 2.6.6 March 30, 2012; iOS: 4.12 August 6, 2012; Android: 5.2.8 August 1, 2012; Mac OS X: 4.6.4 July 24, 2012; Windows Phone: 0.11.0.0 February 14, 2012; | Clickwrap |
| Paltalk | Jason Katz | 1998-09-04 | Multi-protocol | Version 10.2 Build 455 | Clickwrap |
| Pidgin | Mark Spencer | 1998-11 | Multi-protocol | 2.10.7 (February 13, 2013) [±] | GPL |
| Psi | Justin Karneges | 2001 | Single-protocol | 0.15 (October 3, 2012) [±] | GPL |
| Qnext | Qnext Corp. | 2010-06 | Multi-protocol | 4.0.4 Windows, Macintosh, Linux (June, 2010) 1.0.0.61 iOS (June, 2010) 2.0.1.55 Mobile Web (June, 2010) |
Clickwrap |
| QIP | Ilgam Zyulkorneev | 2004 | Multi-protocol | QIP 2012 version 4.0 (build 8866) (27 November 2012) [±] | Clickwrap |
| QuteCom | QuteCom | 2004 | Multi-protocol | 2.2.1 (June 22, 2011[8]) [±] | GPL |
| Skype | Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis | 2003 | Single-protocol |
Android |
Clickwrap |
| TerraIM | George Vulov | 2002-09 | Single-protocol | 1.2.6 (July 15, 2008) [±] | GPL |
| Threema | Kasper Systems GmbH | 2012-12-11 | ? | iOS 1.4 March 19, 2012 | ? |
| Tkabber | Alexey Shchepin | 2002-07-03 | Single-protocol | 0.11.1 | GPL |
| Trillian | Cerulean Studios | 2000-07-01 | Multi-protocol | Windows: 5.3 (build 14) (January 30, 2013) [±] Mac OS X: iOS: BlackBerry: Android: Web-Based: |
Clickwrap |
| WhatsApp Inc. | ? | Single-protocol | Android, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, iOS, Series 40, Symbian and Windows Phone | Proprietary | |
| Windows Live Messenger | Microsoft Corporation | 1999-07 | Dual-protocol | 2012 (Build 16.4.3503.728) (Windows XP/Vista/7/8) August 7, 2012 | Clickwrap |
| Xfire | Xfire Inc. | 2004 | Dual-protocol | 1.155 (March 20, 2013) [±] | Clickwrap |
| Yahoo! Messenger | Yahoo! | 1999-06-21 | Dual-protocol | 11.5.0.228 (Windows) 3.0.1 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix) |
Clickwrap |
| Zephyr | Project Athena | 1987 | Single-protocol | 2.0 | MIT |
| Client | Author, creator | First public release date | Type | Latest stable version | License |
Operating system support [edit]
The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.
| Desktop | Mobile | Other | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Client | Windows | OS X | Unix-like | Haiku | Amiga | Windows Phone | Android | BlackBerry | iOS | Symbian | MeeGo | Java ME | WebOS | Web | Palm | VGCs |
| Adium | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| AIM | Yes | Yes | Dropped | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| aMSN | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Ayttm | Dropped | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitlBee | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Bombus | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Centericq | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| climm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Coccinella | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| eBuddy | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| emesene | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Empathy | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| FaceTime | No | Included | No | No | No | No | No | No | Included | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fire | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Gadu-Gadu | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Gajim | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Google Talk | Yes | Yes | Partial[a] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| IBM Lotus Sametime | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| iCall | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| iChat | No | Included | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ICQ | Yes | Dropped | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| IMVU | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| IM+ | Partial[b][20] | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Dropped | Yes | Dropped | No |
| Instantbird | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Jitsi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Kadu | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Kopete | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MCabber | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| meebo | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Meetro | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Microsoft Lync | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Miranda IM | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MySpaceIM | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| naim | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Palringo | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Paltalk | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Pidgin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| PlayXpert | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Psi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| QIP | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Qnext | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| QuteCom | Yes | Coming soon | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Skype | Yes | Yes | Partial[a] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | PSP |
| Tencent QQ | Yes | Yes | Partial[a] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Tkabber | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Trillian | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Windows Live Messenger | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Xbox |
| Xfire | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Yahoo! Messenger | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Zephyr | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | OS X | Unix-like | Haiku | Amiga | Windows | Android | BlackBerry | iOS | Symbian | MeeGo | Java ME | WebOS | Web | Palm | VGCs |
| Desktop | Mobile | Other | ||||||||||||||
Protocol support [edit]
| WLM[a] | Y!M | AIM/ICQ | XMPP[b] | IRC | IBM Lotus Sametime | Novell GroupWise Messenger | Bonjour[c] | Gadu-Gadu | Xfire | Skype | MySpaceIM | Others | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Partial[d] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Partial[e] | Yes | MobileMe, Yahoo! Japan, Zephyr, NateOn, Tlen |
| AIM | No | No | Yes[f] | Yes[g] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| aMSN | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Ayttm | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitlBee | Yes | Depends[h] | Yes | Yes | N/A[i] | Depends[h] | ||||||||
| Centericq | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| climm | No | No | Yes[j] | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| eBuddy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| emesene | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Empathy | Yes | Depends[h] | Yes | Yes | Depends[h] | Yes | Depends[h] | |||||||
| Fire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Google Talk | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| IBM Lotus Sametime | No | Yes/No[k] | Yes/No[k] | Yes/No[k] | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | SIP |
| iCall | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | SIP |
| iChat | No | Yes | Yes[f] | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | MobileMe |
| ICQ | No | No | Yes[j] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| IMVU | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | IMVU |
| IM+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[b] | No | No | No | No | Depends[l] | No | No | Yes | Dropped | Yahoo! Japan, Sina Weibo, Fetion, Renren, VK, Mail.Ru |
| Instantbird | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Netsoul, SIMPLE, Yahoo! Japan, MySpaceIM |
| Jitsi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | SIP |
| Kadu | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Kopete | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[e] | No | Yahoo! Japan, SILC, WinPopup |
| meebo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | MyYearbook |
| Meetro | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Miranda IM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[m] | Yes | Partial[e] | Yes | Tlen |
| naim | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Lily |
| QuteCom | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | SIP |
| Palringo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Paltalk | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Pidgin | Partial[n] | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[e] | Yes | Blizzard Battle-Net Chat, SIPE, NateOn, SILC, Tlen, Zephyr (with plugins) |
| PlayXpert | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Sony Station Friends |
| QIP | No | No | Yes[21] | Yes[21] | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | OSCAR,[21] MRA,[21] SIP,[21] POP3, IMAP |
| Qnext | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Qnext |
| Skype | Depends[o] | No | No | Depends[o][p] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Tencent QQ | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| TerraIM | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Trillian | Yes | Yes[q] | Yes | Yes | Yes[q] | No | Yes[q] | Yes[q] | Yes[m][q] | Yes[m][q] | Yes[q] | Yes[22][q] | Yes | LinkedIn,[q] Foursquare,[q] ASTRA, VZ,[q] IRC,[q] IMAP,[q] POP3[q] |
| Windows Live Messenger | Yes | Yes | No | Partial[r][p] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Yahoo! Messenger | Partial[d] | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Zephyr | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Zephyr |
| WLM | Y!M | AIM/ICQ | XMPP | IRC | IBM Lotus Sametime | Novell GroupWise Messenger | Bonjour | Gadu-Gadu | Xfire | Skype | MySpaceIM | Others | ||
- ^ Formerly named MSN Messenger or .NET Messenger protocol
- ^ a b Commonly termed Jabber, used in Google Talk, Facebook, LiveJournal, Tweeter, Identi.ca, etc.
- ^ Formerly named Rendezvous.
- ^ a b Via Yahoo! Messenger account only.
- ^ a b c d Needs running official Skype client.
- ^ a b Via AIM account only.
- ^ Limited to Google Talk.
- ^ a b c d e Supported via Pidgin back-end, depends on its version
- ^ Bitlbee is accessed via IRC.
- ^ a b Via ICQ account only.
- ^ a b c Feature is missing from client, but can be used via IBM Sametime Gateway.
- ^ Available on iOS and Android only.
- ^ a b c Available as plugin.
- ^ Via WLM account OR Yahoo! Messenger account.
- ^ a b Partial support in Skype 6.
- ^ a b Supports importing Facebook contacts and allows to send messages to and receive from Facebook IM users.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Not supported in versions for Android (checked 12 november 2012 in latest version 1.2.0.11)
- ^ Supports the following specifications: RFC6120: XMPP: Core; RFC6121: XMPP: Instant Messaging and Presence. Roster management is not supported; XEP-0054: vcard-temp. The Messenger XMPP service supports fetching vCards, but doesn't support updating vCards; XEP-0085: Chat State Notifications; XEP-0203: Delayed Delivery. Full details of the XMPP Support.
[edit]
| Client | Transports[a] | File transfer (XEP-0096)[b] |
Multi-user chat | Jingle | Encryption | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File transfer[b] | Voice calls | Video calls | OpenPGP | OTR | ||||
| Adium | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No[23] | Yes |
| BitlBee | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Bombus[24] | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| climm | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Coccinella[25] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Empathy[26] | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Coming soon |
| Gajim[27] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes/No[c] | Yes/No[c] | Yes | Yes/No[c] |
| Google Talk | No | No | No | Yes | Partial[d] | Partial[d][e] | No | No |
| iCall | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| iChat | No | Yes | Partial[f] | No | No | No | No | No |
| IM+ | No | No | Coming soon | No | No | No | No | Depends[g] |
| Jitsi | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Kadu | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Kopete | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCabber[28] | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Pidgin [29] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes/No[c] | Yes/No[c] | Yes | Yes |
| Psi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Tkabber[30] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Trillian | No | Yes | Yes/No[h] | No | No | No | No | Yes |
- ^ Transport support means the ability to set up transports. Once transport is set up, any client can use it to manage contacts and communicate with them.
- ^ a b The difference between XEP-0096 (legacy) and XEP-0234 (Jingle) file transfer is that the latter works behind NAT (e.g., from home and corporate networks).
- ^ a b c d e Feature unavailable on Windows.
- ^ a b Incompatible with XEPs.
- ^ Feature unavailable in standalone client.
- ^ Multi-user chats can be joined but not started
- ^ Available on iOS and Android only.
- ^ Feature available on Windows only.
Features [edit]
Information on what features each of the clients support.
| Client | Number of features included | Toolkits or SDKs | Encryption | File transfer | Proxy-server | Graphic emoticons | Unicode (UTF-8) | Built-in games | Themes, skins | Plugin system | Third party add-ons | Scripting | Message logging | Voice messaging | Voice mail | Webcam support | Offline messaging | Remote desktop application assistance | Whiteboard | Right-to-left texting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | 11 | Cocoa | Yes[a] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| AIM | 11 | W32/Cocoa | Yes/No[b] | Yes | Yes/No[b] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes/No[b] | Yes/No[b] | Yes/No[b] | No | Yes | Yes/No[b] | No | Yes/No[b] | Yes/No[b] | No | No | No |
| aMSN | 14 | Tcl/Tk | Yes[c] | Yes | http, socks5, msn gateway | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Ayttm | 9 | GTK2 | Yes | No | http, socks4/5 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial | Partial | No | No | No |
| BitlBee | 3 | N/A | Yes | Yes[d] | Yes | No | Yes | No | N/A | Yes | No | No | N/A | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Bombus | 10 | Java ME | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Centericq | 5 | ncurses | Partial[e] | Partial | ? | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| climm | 7 | line based | Yes 5,[a] | 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 | ? |
| eBuddy | 6 | No | Yes | Partial | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Empathy | 12 | GTK2 | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Fire | 9 | Cocoa | Yes[f] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Gadu-Gadu | 8 | Qt | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Gajim | 7 | GTK2 | Yes[e] | Yes | http | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Google Talk | 8 | W32 | No | Yes | ? | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Third party plugin | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| IBM Lotus Sametime | 15 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| iCall | 11 | Javascript | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| iChat | 11 | Cocoa | Partial[g] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[c] | ? |
| ICQ | 12 | W32 | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| IMVU | 6 | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Partial[h] | No | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| IM+ | 10 | ? | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial[i] | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Kadu | 10 | Qt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Kopete | 13 | Qt/KDE | Yes[e][a] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | With plugin | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| MCabber | 4 | Curses | Yes [a] | No | ? | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Meetro | 4 | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Miranda IM | 12 | W32 | Yes[a][e][c] | Yes | Yes, socks4/5, http(s) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[c] | No | Partial[c] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| QuteCom | 6 | Qt | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Palringo | 3 | ? | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Partial (picture capture only) | ? | No | No | ? |
| Paltalk | 9 | N/A | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Pidgin | 7 | GTK2 | Partial[a] | Partial | Yes, http, socks4/5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial (XMPP in Linux) | No | Yes (XMPP in Linux) | Yes | No | Partial | Yes |
| Psi | 6 | KDE/Qt | Yes[e] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial (Icon sets only) | Not Yet | No | No | Yes | Partial (Linux & Unix) | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| QIP | 10 | W32, VCL | Yes | Yes | Yes, http(s), socks4/4A/5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Qnext | 15 | Swing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tencent QQ | 11 | W32 | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| TerraIM | 4 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Skype | 12 | Qt/KDE, W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes/No[c][b] | Yes |
| Tkabber | 13 | Tcl/Tk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
| Trillian | 12 | W32, Cocoa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Windows Live Messenger | 15 | W32 | No | Yes | Yes, http, socks4/5, | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Xfire | 6 | 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 | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | Yes |
| Client | Number of features included | Toolkits or SDKs | Encryption | File transfer | Proxy-server | Graphic emoticons | Unicode (UTF-8) | Built-in games | Themes, skins | Plugin system | Third party add-ons | Scripting | Message logging | Voice messaging | Voice mail | Webcam support | Offline messaging | Remote desktop application assistance | Whiteboard | Right-to-left texting |
- ^ a b c d e f Off-the-Record Messaging encryption.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Feature only supported on Windows
- ^ a b c d e f Supported with plugin
- ^ Feature is implemented with libpurple back-end
- ^ a b c d e OpenPGP encryption (XEP-0027).
- ^ Incompatible to other clients.
- ^ Limited to official service users.
- ^ While IMVU does not allow add-ons to extend the client, registered accounts can create new content for use inside the simulation.[clarification needed]
- ^ Available on iOS and Android only.
| Client | Handwriting mode | Dockable | Multiaccount | Spell check | User-defined graphic emoticons | Animations | OAuth for client authorization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Yes, receive only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | ? |
| AIM | No | Yes | No | No | ? | Partial | ? |
| aMSN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Ayttm | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
| BitlBee | No | N/A | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Centericq | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| climm | N/A | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Coccinella | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Empathy | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Fire | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Gajim | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Google Talk | Yes/No[a] | Yes | Yes/No[b] | No | No | Yes/No[b] | No |
| iCall | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| iChat | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| ICQ | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes, tZer | ? |
| IMVU | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| IM+ | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[c], emoticons, themes | ? |
| Kadu | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes, emoticons | No |
| Kopete | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, emoticons | No |
| Meetro | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Miranda IM | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| MySpaceIM | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| naim | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| QuteCom | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Paltalk | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Pidgin | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, emoticons, user icons | ? |
| Psi | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Qnext | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes, animated user icons, emoticons, themes | ? |
| QIP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, emoticons | ? |
| Tencent QQ | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Skype | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes, animated emoticons | ? |
| Trillian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, animated emoticons | ? |
| Windows Live Messenger | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, animated emoticons, winks | ? |
| Yahoo! Messenger | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Client | Handwriting mode | Dockable | Multiaccount | Spell check | User-defined graphic emoticons | Animations | OAuth for client authorization |
- ^ The connection between the Google Talk client and the Google Talk server is encrypted, except when using Gmail's chat over HTTP, a federated network that doesn't support encryption, or when using a proxy like IMLogic. - Google
- ^ a b Feature unavailable in standalone version.
- ^ Available on iOS and Android only.
See also [edit]
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
- Comparison of LAN messengers
- LAN messenger
- Windows Messenger service
References [edit]
- ^ Ayttm: Universal Instant Messaging Client
- ^ Initial revision
- ^ XMPP Software: Clients
- ^ Voice over IP (VoIP) Questions
- ^ Peters, Frederic (2013-05-16), "GNOME 3.8.2 Release", gnome-announce mailing list, retrieved 2013-05-17
- ^ "KDE Update Announcement".
- ^ "Miranda IM v0.10.13 Released". Miranda IM. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
- ^ Announcement: QuteCom 2.2.1
- ^ Liive, Raul (27 Febuary 2013). "Skype for Android now with calling to Messenger users". Skype Garage. Microsoft. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ "Skype - free IM & video calls - Android Apps on Google Play". Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ Microsoft (13 November 2012). "Skype". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ Microsoft (21 August 2012). "Skype for iPad". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ Park, Beom Soo (7 March 2013). "Skype 4.6 for iPhone & iPad with a new calling experience". Skype Garage Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ Cimmino, Marco (20 May 2013). "Skype for Linux 4.2". Skype Garage Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Guzik, Aga (13 May 2013). "Update to Skype 6.3 for Windows". Garage & Updates. Microsoft. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ Liive, Raul (22 February 2013). "Skype 1.5 for Windows 8 with file sharing". Skype Garage Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ Park, Beom Soo (10 April 2013). "Skype 6.3 for Mac Update". Skype Garage Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ Liive, Raul (2 February 2012). "Skype 2.1 update for Symbian: Support for Nokia 701 and 603". Skype Garage Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ Sabri, Sam (19 March 2013). "Skype for Windows Phone updated. Adds high definition video support and more". WPCentral.com. Mobile Nations. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ IM+ for Windows 8 product page
- ^ a b c d e Возможности QIP 2012 (rus)
- ^ "Trillian 5.1: Now plugged into Skype!". Official blog. Cerulean Studios. 2011-11-06. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ "GPG encryption", Adium, retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ "Список стандартов XMPP, поддерживаемых в Bombus", Bombus (in Russian), retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ "README-jabber", Coccinella, retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ "XEP status in gabble", [[Telepathy (software)|]] (freedesktop.org), retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ "GajimXEPSupport", Gajim, retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ Features, "Main Page", MCabber, retrieved 2011-12-13
- ^ Pidgin-GPG, retrieved 2013-05-18
- ^ "Protocol support", Tkabber, 2005-11-18, retrieved 2011-12-13
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