Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients: Difference between revisions
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! [[Ebuddy]] |
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| Paulo Taylor |
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| [[2003]]-03-09 |
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| Multi-protocol |
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| Beta v5.0.1 |
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| Free |
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| [[proprietary software|Proprietary]] |
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! [[eMeSeNe]] |
! [[eMeSeNe]] |
Revision as of 14:17, 27 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.
A spreadsheet with the information in this article (as of 29 March 2006) is available here.
General information
Basic general information about the instant messengers: creator/company, license/price, amongst others.
Author / Creator | First public release date | Type | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | License | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adium | Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg | 2001-09 | Multi-protocol | 1.5.10.4 (April 27, 2017[±] | )Free | GPL v2 | ||||||||||||
Agile Messenger | Agilemobile.com Limited | ? | Multi-protocol | 3.70 | Subscription | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) | AOL | 1997-05 | Single protocol | 6.1.32.1 (Windows) 1.0.2 Build 110 Beta (Pro (Win)) 1.3.30.1 (Triton (Win)) 4.7.1333 (Mac OS X) 1.5.286 (Linux) |
Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
aMSN | Alvaro J. Iradier Muro | 2002-05 | Single protocol | 0.96 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Ayttm | Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis | 2003-04 | Multi-protocol | 0.4.6-17 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
BitWise IM | BitWise Communications, LLC | 2002-03-17 | Single protocol/Encrypted | 1.7.2 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
BitlBee | Wilmer van der Gaast | 2002-08-09 | IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol | 1.0.3 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Centericq | Konstantin Klyagin | 1999 | Multi-protocol | 4.21.0 (September 2, 2005[±] | )Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Coccinella | Mats Bengtsson | 1999-12-01 | Single protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Coccinella | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Cspace | Cspace | 2006-07-28 | Single protocol | 1.26 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Ebuddy | Paulo Taylor | 2003-03-09 | Multi-protocol | Beta v5.0.1 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
eMeSeNe | Luis Mariano Guerra | 2006-05-24 | Single protocol | 0.2.2.1 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Exodus | Peter Millard | 2002 | Single protocol | 0.9.1.0 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Fire | Eric Peyton | 1999-04-01 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Fire | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Gajim | Yann Le Boulanger | 2004-05-21 | Single protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Gajim | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
GCN | Jason K. Resch | 2000-11-18 | Single protocol | 2.9.1 | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
GOIM | Herbert Poul | 2005-08-16 | Single protocol | Template:Latest stable release/GOIM | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Goofey | Tim Mackenzie | 1990s (Early 1990s) | Single protocol | 2.08 | Free | ? | ||||||||||||
Google Talk | Google, Inc. | 2005-08-24 | Single protocol | Windows Plugin: 3.19.1.13088 (May 14, 2013[±] ) |
Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
iChat | Apple Inc. | 2002-08 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/iChat AV | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
ICQ | Mirabilis (AOL) | 1996-11 | Single protocol | 6.0 | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
IM2 | IM2 Ltd. | 2003-04 | Multi-protocol | 2.0.0.268 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
imeem | IM2 Limited | 2003 | Multi-protocol | 1.24.14.17016 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
IMVU | Will Harvey | ? | Single-protocol | beta | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Inspeak | Mark Jaafar | 2005 | Single-protocol | 4.1.2.478 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Instan-t | Interactive Networks Inc. | 2001-03 | Multi-protocol | 4.5 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Interaction Chat | Auriance | 2006-08 | HTTP | 1.0 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Jabbin | Jabbin Team | 2005-12 | Multi-protocol | none | Free | GPL v2 | ||||||||||||
Kadu | Kadu Team | 2001-08 | Single protocol | 0.5.0 | Free | GPL v2 | ||||||||||||
Konnekt | Stamina | 2002 | Multi-protocol | 0.6.22.137 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Kopete | Kopete Team | 2002-03-03 | Multi-protocol | 0.12.5 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Licq | Graham Roff (up to v1.0) Jon Keating |
1998-06-22 | Multi-protocol | 1.3.2 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
MCabber | Mikael Berthe | 2005-06-07 | Single-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/MCabber | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
MECA Messenger | ? | Multi-protocol, Web-based | 5.2 | Free | Proprietary | |||||||||||||
meebo | Meebo, Inc. | 2005 | Multi-protocol, Web-based | alpha v19 | Free | ? | ||||||||||||
Meetro | Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer | 2005 | Multi-protocol | 0.96 Beta (Win) 0.53 Beta (MacOSX) |
Free | ? | ||||||||||||
Mercury Messenger | Danny | 2003 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Mercury Messenger | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
mICQ | Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann | 1997(?); 2001 | Dual protocol | 0.5.4 | Free | GPL v2 | ||||||||||||
MindSpring | Earthlink | 2006-04-03 | Multi-protocol | 1.0 (v53.0) | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Miranda IM | Miranda IM project | 2000-02-06 | Multi-protocol | 0.6.8 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Microsoft Messenger for Mac | Microsoft | ? | Single protocol | 6.0.3 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
MySpaceIM | MySpace | 2006-05-09 | Single protocol | Template:Latest preview release/MySpaceIM (beta) | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Naim | Daniel Reed | 1998-10-05 | Multi-protocol | http://naim.n.ml.org/download | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
OctroTalk | Octro Inc. (octro.com) | 2007 | Multi-protocol | 1.19 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
OpenWengo | Wengo | 2004 | Single protocol | 0.99 | Free |
GPL | ||||||||||||
Pandion | Dries Staelens, Sebastiaan Deckers | 2004-06-28 | Single protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Pandion | Free |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Paltalk | Jason Katz | 1998 | Multi-protocol | 9.0 | Free |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Pidgin (formerly Gaim) | Mark Spencer | 1998-11 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Pidgin | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
pork | Ryan McCabe | 2006-12-06 | AIM, IRC Gateway | 0.99.8.1 | Free | GPL v2 | ||||||||||||
Proteus | Justin Wood, et al. | 2001-11 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Proteus | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Psi | Justin Karneges | 2001 | Single protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Psi | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
psyced | psyced.org Project | 1997 | IRC+XMPP Gateway, Multi-protocol | 0.99 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
QIP | Ilgam Zyulkorneev | 2004 | Single-protocol | 8030 | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Qnext | Qnext Corp. | 2004-06-28 | Multi-protocol | 3.0.1.36 (Beta)(March 1, 2007) | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Tencent | 1999-02 | Single protocol | 2007 Beta2 | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | |||||||||||||
RealTimeQuery | realtimequery.com | 2005-2007 | Single protocol | v3.0 - 2007 | 99.95 No montly fees |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
SIM | SIM project | ? | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/SIM Instant Messenger | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Skype | Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis / eBay | 2003 | Single protocol |
|
Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
talk | Kipp Hickman | 1982 | Single protocol | 1.7 (BSD version) | Free | BSD | ||||||||||||
TaoTalk | ~2000 | 3.14 | Free | ? | ||||||||||||||
Trillian | Cerulean Studios | 2000-07-01 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Trillian | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Trillian Pro | Cerulean Studios | 2002-09-10 | Multi-protocol | Template:Latest stable release/Trillian | $25 | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Trillian Astra | Cerulean Studios | ? | Multi-protocol | Alpha | ? | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) | Microsoft | 1999-07 | Dual protocol | 8.1.0178 (Windows XP/Vista) | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Windows Messenger | Microsoft | 2001-10-25 | Multi-protocol | 5.1.0701 (Windows XP SP2) | Free | Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Xfire | Xfire.inc | 2004 | Single protocol | 1.38 | Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
Yahoo! Messenger | Yahoo! | 1999-06-21 | Dual protocol | 8.1.0.244 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix) |
Free Ad-supported |
Proprietary | ||||||||||||
YSM | rad2k | 2001 | Single protocol | 2.9.6 | Free | GPL | ||||||||||||
Zephyr | Project Athena | 1987 | Single protocol | 2.0 | Free | MIT | ||||||||||||
Author / Creator | First public release date | Type | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | License |
Operating system support
The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.
Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | Windows Mobile | BlackBerry | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adium | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Agile Messenger | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Symbian OS, Palm OS. |
AIM | Yes | Dropped (4.7.1333) | Dropped (1.5.286) | No | No | Yes | ? | Palm |
aMSN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Nokia N770, N800 |
BitlBee | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
BitWise IM | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | |
Centericq | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Coccinella | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Exodus | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Fire | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Gajim | Yes | Yes1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
GCN | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
GOIM | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | |
Goofey6 | No | Yes7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Google Talk (standalone) | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | |
Google Talk (Gmail) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | |
iChat | No | Included | No | No | No | No | No | |
ICQ | Yes | Dropped (3.4.23) | No | No | No | Yes | ? | |
IM2 | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
IMVU | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Instan-t | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Interaction Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
imeem | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Jabberwocky | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | AmigaOS, MorphOS |
Kadu | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Kopete | Not yet | Yes1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Licq | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
MCabber | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | |
MECA Messenger | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
meebo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Meetro | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Mercury Messenger | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Unofficially, Java) | Yes (Unofficially, Java) | ? | ? | |
mICQ | Yes2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | AmigaOS |
Miranda IM | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Microsoft Messenger for Mac | No3 | Yes | No3 | No3 | No3 | ? | ? | |
MindSpring | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
MySpaceIM | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Naim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
OctroTalk | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Symbian OS. |
OpenWengo | Yes | Yes5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Pandion | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Paltalk | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Pidgin (formerly Gaim) | Yes | Yes1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | AmigaOS |
pork | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Proteus | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Psi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
psyced | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
QIP | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
Qnext | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ||
RealTimeQuery | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
SIM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Skype | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | |
talk | Yes4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Trillian | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Trillian Pro | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Trillian Astra | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | iPhone |
Windows Live Messenger | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Template:Symbian | |
Windows Messenger | Included (XP) | Yes8 | No | No | No | ? | ? | |
Yahoo! Messenger | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | |
YSM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Zephyr | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | Windows Mobile | BlackBerry |
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 OS X within a Unix terminal session (Terminal.app, Xterm, iTerm, or similar.)
Note 8: It is called Messenger for Mac, currently version 6.
Features
Information on what features each of the clients support.
Toolkits or SDKs | Encryption | File transfer | 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/ Remote Application/ Remote Assistance | Whiteboard | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adium | Cocoa | Yes 11 | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
Agile Messenger | ? | ? | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
AIM | W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
aMSN | Tcl/Tk | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes 17 | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
BitlBee | n/a | No | No | No | Yes | No | Partial 19 | Yes | No | ? | Partial 19 | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
BitWise IM | W32, GTK2, Carbon | Yes 7 | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
Centericq | ncurses | Partial 9 | Partial | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Coccinella | Tcl/Tk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Exodus | W32 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Fire | Cocoa | Yes 6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Gajim | GTK2 | Yes 9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
GCN | W32 | Yes 4 | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
GOIM | Java/SWT | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Google Talk | W32 | No | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Template:Third-party plugin | Yes | ? | ? |
iChat | Cocoa | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial 3 |
ICQ | W32 | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
IM2 | W32 | Yes 4 | Partial | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
imeem | ? | No | Partial | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
IMVU | ? | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes 13 | No | Yes 14 | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Instan-t | W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Jabberwocky | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes 20 | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Kadu | Qt | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | ? |
Kopete | Qt/KDE | Yes 9,11 | Partial | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Licq | Qt | Yes 5 | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
MCabber | Curses | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
MECA Messenger | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Meetro | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Mercury Messenger | Swing | Yes 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
mICQ | line based | Yes 5,11 | Yes | — | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | Yes | — | No |
Miranda IM | W32 | Yes 10,11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial 15 | ? | Partial15 | Yes | ? | Yes |
Toolkits or SDKs | Encryption | File transfer | 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/ Remote Application/ Remote Assistance | Whiteboard | |
Microsoft Messenger for Mac | Carbon | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
OctroTalk | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
OpenWengo | Qt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Paltalk | n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Pandion | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Pidgin (formerly Gaim) | GTK2 | 8,11 | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | Partial | ? | ? |
pork | ncurses | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
Proteus | Cocoa | ? | Partial | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Psi | KDE/Qt | Yes 9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial (Iconsets only) | No (will be included in future release) | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
psyced | n/a | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
QIP | W32, VCL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Qnext | Swing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
W32 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
RealTimeQuery | — | Not yet | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Not yet | No | Not yet | Not yet | No | ? |
SIM | Qt/KDE | Yes 5,6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Skype | Qt/KDE, W32 | Yes (Skype-to-Skype) | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes (Skype-to-Skype) | ? | Yes (Skype-to-Skype) | No | ? | ? |
talk | curses | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Trillian Basic 3.0 | W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Trillian Pro 3.0 | W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Trillian Astra | W32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Windows Live Messenger
formerly MSN Messenger |
W32 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Messenger | W32 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial | No | ? | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
Yahoo! Messenger | W32, Cocoa, GTK | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
YSM | line based | Yes 7 | Yes 7 | ? | ? | ? | Yes 7 | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes 7 |
Toolkits or SDKs | Encryption | File transfer | 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/ Remote Application/ Remote Assistance | Whiteboard |
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 mICQ, licq and SIM.
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 http://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 (http://kopete-otr.follefuder.org/), Pidgin: Plugin (http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/), Miranda: Plugin (http://addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=2644), mICQ: built-in since 0.5.4, Trillian Pro: Plugin (http://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: Only voice clips are fully supported, not the audio conference feature.
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.
Features 2
Handwriting mode | Dockable | Multiaccount | Spell check | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adium | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Agile Messenger | ? | ? | ? | ? |
AIM | ? | ? | No | ? |
aMSN | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
BitlBee | No | ? | ? | ? |
BitWise IM | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Centericq | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Coccinella | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
Exodus | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Fire | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Gajim | ? | ? | ? | ? |
GCN | ? | ? | ? | ? |
GOIM | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Goofey6 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Google Talk (standalone) | No | ? | No | ? |
Google Talk (Gmail) | No | ? | ? | ? |
iChat | ? | ? | ? | ? |
ICQ | ? | Yes | No | ? |
IM2 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
IMVU | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Instan-t | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Interaction Chat | ? | ? | ? | ? |
imeem | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Jabberwocky | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Kadu | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Kopete | No | ? | Yes | ? |
Licq | ? | ? | ? | ? |
MECA Messenger | ? | ? | ? | ? |
meebo | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Meetro | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Mercury Messenger | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
mICQ | — | ? | Yes | ? |
Miranda IM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Microsoft Messenger for Mac | ? | ? | ? | ? |
MindSpring | ? | ? | ? | ? |
MySpaceIM | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Naim | No | ? | ? | ? |
OctroTalk | ? | ? | ? | ? |
OpenWengo | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Pandion | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Paltalk | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Pidgin (formerly Gaim) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
pork | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Proteus | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Psi | No | ? | ? | ? |
psyced | No | ? | ? | ? |
Qnext | ? | ? | ? | ? |
QIP | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
No | Yes | Yes | No | |
RealTimeQuery | No | ? | Yes | ? |
SIM | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Skype | No | ? | ? | ? |
talk | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Trillian | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
Trillian Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Trillian Astra | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
Windows Live Messenger | Yes | ? | ? | No |
Windows Messenger | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Yahoo! Messenger | ? | ? | ? | No |
YSM | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Zephyr | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Handwriting mode | Dockable | Multiaccount | Spell check |
See also
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
- Comparison of LAN messengers
References
- ^ a b c d "Release Notes for Skype for Windows, Mac and Linux". Skype Support. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ a b "Release Notes for Skype on Mobile". Skype Support. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
- ^ "Skype". Google Play. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
- ^ "Skype for iPhone". App Store. Retrieved 2024-05-20.