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-sided 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	Cost (USD)	License
Adium	Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg	September 2001	Multi-protocol	1.2.5  (April 29, 2008) (Mac OS X)	Free	GPL v2
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)	AOL	May 1997	Single protocol	6.5.9.1 (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	Clickwrap license
aMSN	Alvaro J. Iradier Muro	May 2002	Single protocol	0.97	Free	GPL
A-Talk	Robert Edworthy	2006	Single protocol	1.0.3	Free	GPL
Ayttm	Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis	April 2003	Multi-protocol	0.5.0-10 (Linux) 0.4.6-17 (Windows)	Free	GPL
BitWise IM	BitWise Communications, LLC	2002-03-17	Single protocol/Encrypted	1.7.2	Free	Clickwrap license
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
climm	Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann	1997(?); 2001	Dual protocol	0.6.2	Free	GPL v2
Coccinella	Mats Bengtsson	1999-12-01	Single protocol	0.96.8  (April 30, 2008)	Free	GPL v3
Cspace	Cspace	2006-07-28	Single protocol	1.26	Free	GPL
Digsby	Steven Shapiro	Jan 2008	Multi-protocol	Beta	Free	Clickwrap license
Ebuddy	Paulo Taylor	2003-03-09	Multi-protocol	Beta v5.0.1	Free	Clickwrap license
EQO	EQO Communications	2006-02-06	Multi-protocol	1.4	Free	Clickwrap license
emesene	Luis Mariano Guerra	2006-05-24	Single protocol	1.0 Beta	Free	GPL
Exodus	Peter Millard	2002	Single protocol	0.9.1.0	Free	GPL
Fire	Eric Peyton	1999-04-01	Multi-protocol	1.5.6  (February 15th, 2006)	Free	GPL
Fring			Multi-protocol		Free	Clickwrap license
Gabtastik	Mesa Dynamics, LLC	May 2008	SSB	0.2	Free	Clickwrap license
Gadu-Gadu	Łukasz Foltyn		Single protocol	7.7	Free	Clickwrap license (?)
Gajim	Yann Le Boulanger	2004-05-21	Single protocol	0.11.4  (December 6, 2007)	Free	GPL
GCN	Jason K. Resch	2000-11-18	Single protocol	2.9.1	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
GOIM	Herbert Poul	2005-08-16	Single protocol	1.1.0  (July 2, 2006)	Free	GPL
Goofey	Tim Mackenzie	1990s (Early 1990s)	Single protocol	2.08	Free	Clickwrap license
Google Talk	Google, Inc.	2005-08-24	Dual protocol	1.0.0.104  (January 1, 2007)	Free	Clickwrap license
iChat	Apple Inc.	August 2002	Multi-protocol	4.0 (601)  (October 26, 2007)	Free	Clickwrap license
IBM Lotus Sametime	IBM, Ubique	1998	Multi-protocol -- proprietary T.120, SIP, XMPP	8.0; March 2008	depends	Clickwrap license
ICQ	Mirabilis (AOL)	November 1996	Single protocol	6.0	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
IMVU	Will Harvey	?	Single-protocol	beta	Free	Clickwrap license
Instantbird	Florian Quèze and Quentin Castier	2007	Multi-protocol	0.1.1	Free	GPL v2
Interaction Chat	Auriance	August 2006	HTTP	1.0	Free	Clickwrap license
Jabbin	Jabbin Team	December 2005	Multi-protocol	none	Free	GPL v2
Kadu	Kadu Team	August 2001	Single protocol	0.6.0	Free	GPL v2
Konnekt	Stamina	2002	Multi-protocol	0.6.22.137	Free	Clickwrap license
Kopete	Kopete Team	2002-03-03	Multi-protocol	0.50.2	Free	GPL
Licq	Graham Roff (up to v1.0) Jon Keating	1998-06-22	Multi-protocol	1.3.2	Free	GPL
Mail.ru Agent	Mail.ru	May 2003	Single-protocol	5.0 (Windows) 1.0 (Windows Mobile) 2.1 (J2ME)	Free	Clickwrap license
MCabber	Mikael Berthe	2005-06-07	Single-protocol	0.9.7  (April 17, 2008)	Free	GPL
MECA Messenger		?	Multi-protocol	5.2	Free	Clickwrap license
meebo	Meebo, Inc.	2005	Multi-protocol, Web-based	alpha v19	Free	Clickwrap license
Meetro	Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer	2005	Multi-protocol	0.96 Beta (Win) 0.53 Beta (Mac OS X)	Free	Clickwrap license
Mercury Messenger	Danny	2003	Multi-protocol	1.9 Final  (October 20, 2007)	Free	Clickwrap license
MindSpring	Earthlink	2006-04-03	Multi-protocol	1.0 (v53.0)	Free	Clickwrap license
Miranda IM	Miranda IM project	2000-02-06	Multi-protocol	0.7.6	Free	GPL
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	Microsoft	?	Single protocol	7.0	Free	Clickwrap license
MySpaceIM	MySpace	2006-05-09	Single protocol	1.0.754.0 (February 7, 2008)	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
Naim	Daniel Reed	1998-10-05	Multi-protocol	0.11.8.3.1 (2007-07-09)	Free	GPL
OpenWengo	Wengo	2004	Multi-protocol	2.1.2	Free	GPL
Pandion	Dries Staelens, Sebastiaan Deckers	2004-06-28	Single protocol	2.5  (2006-01-07)	Free	Clickwrap license
Paltalk	Jason Katz	1998	Multi-protocol	9.0	Free	Clickwrap license
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	Mark Spencer	November 1998	Multi-protocol	2.4.2  (May 17, 2008)	Free	GPL
pork	Ryan McCabe	2006-12-06	AIM, IRC Gateway	0.99.8.1	Free	GPL v2
Proteus	Justin Wood, et al.	November 2001	Multi-protocol	4.20  (June 08, 2008)	Free	GPL
Psi	Justin Karneges	2001	Single protocol	0.11  (October 15, 2007)	Free	GPL
psyced	psyced.org Project	1997	IRC+XMPP+PSYC Gateway, Multi-protocol	0.99	Free	GPL
QIP	Ilgam Zyulkorneev	2004	Single-protocol	8050 (Windows) 1020 (Windows Mobile) 1040 (Symbian S60 and UIQ3)	Free	Clickwrap license
QIP infium	Ilgam Zyulkorneev	2007	Multi-protocol	9000	Free	Clickwrap license
Qnext	Qnext Corp.	2004-06-28	Multi-protocol	3.0.1.36 (Beta)(March 1, 2007)	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
Tencent QQ	Tencent	February 1999	Single protocol	2008 贺岁版	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
RealTimeQuery	realtimequery.com	2005-2007	Single protocol	v3.0 - 2007	$99.95	Clickwrap license
SIM	SIM project	?	Multi-protocol	0.9.4.3  (March 5, 2007)	Free	GPL
Solixa	www.solixa.com	?	Single-protocol	Template:Latest stable release/Solixa	Free	GPL
Skype	Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis / eBay	2003	Single protocol	3.8.0.139 (Windows), 2.7.0.330 (Mac OS X), 2.0.0.68 (Linux x86), 2.2.0.37 (Windows Mobile)  (April 29, 2008 (Windows), May 14, 2008 (Mac OS X), April 3, 2008 (Linux), May 9, 2008 (Windows Mobile))	Free	Clickwrap license
talk	Kipp Hickman	1982	Single protocol	1.7 (BSD version)	Free	BSD
Trillian	Cerulean Studios	2000-07-01	Multi-protocol	3.1.10.0 (May 20, 2008)	Free	Clickwrap license
Trillian Pro	Cerulean Studios	2002-09-10	Multi-protocol	3.1.10.0 (May 20, 2008)	$25	Clickwrap license
Trillian Astra	Cerulean Studios	?	Multi-protocol	Alpha	?	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)	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
Windows Messenger	Microsoft	2001-10-25	Multi-protocol	5.1.0701 (Windows XP SP2)	Free	Clickwrap license
Xfire	Xfire Inc.	2004	Single protocol	1.92	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
Yahoo! Messenger	Yahoo!	1999-06-21	Dual protocol	8.1.0.244 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix)	Free Ad-supported	Clickwrap license
Zephyr	Project Athena	1987	Single protocol	2.0	Free	MIT
BigAnt Instant Messenger	BigAntSoft	2008-02-20	Single protocol	2.4	$14	Commercial license
	Author / Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	License

[edit] 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
AIM	Yes	Dropped (4.7.1333)	Dropped (1.5.286)	No	No	Yes	?	Palm
aMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Nokia N770, N800
A-Talk	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ayttm	Old version	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
BitlBee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	AmigaOS
BitWise IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
Centericq	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
climm	Yes2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	AmigaOS
Coccinella	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Digsby	Yes	0TBA	0TBA	No	No	No	No
Ebuddy	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	iPhone/Sony PSP/Nintendo DS/Palm/Mobile Phones
EQO	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Symbian S40/S60/S80, Java mobile
Exodus	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Fire	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?
fring	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Symbian OS
Gadu-Gadu	Yes	No	No	No	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	?
IBM Lotus Sametime	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	[1], Nokia Eseries / Symbian OS, Sony Ericcson M600/P900/P1i Series
iChat	No	Included	No	No	No	No	No
ICQ	Yes	Dropped (3.4.23)	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
IMVU	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Instantbird	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?
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	?	?
Mail.ru Agent	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Java Mobile
MCabber	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
MECA Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
meebo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	iPhone
Meetro	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	?
Mercury Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (Unofficially, Java)	Yes (Unofficially, Java)	?	?
Miranda IM	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	?
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	No3	Yes	No3	No3	No3	No	No
MindSpring	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
MySpaceIM	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Naim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
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	No	No	AmigaOS
pork	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Proteus	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?
Psi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
psyced	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
QIP	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	S60 and UIQ3 on Symbian OS
QIP infium	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Qnext	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
QQ	Yes	Yes (beta)	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	No	S60 on Symbian OS
Windows Messenger	Included (XP)	Yes8	No	No	No	Yes	?
Xfire	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Yahoo! Messenger	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	Yes
Zephyr	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
BigAnt Instant Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	Windows Mobile	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
• A-Talk
• BitWise IM
• Gale Messaging
• Google Talk
• Interaction Chat
• Kadu (instant messenger) - GG
• Mail.ru Agent
• Microsoft Messenger for Mac - MSNP
• Tencent QQ
• TerraIM
• Skype
• Zephyr (software)
• Mercury Messenger - MSNP
• BigAnt Instant Messenger

[edit] Jabber Clients without any multi-protocol transports

• Exodus (instant messaging client)
• GOIM
• MindSpring
• Pandion (software)

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

• Coccinella (software)
• Gajim
• Global Communications Network
• Google Talk
• iChat
• MCabber
• Psi (instant messaging client)
• psyced

[edit] Multiprotocol clients

Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client supports.

	Number of Supported Protocols	AIM	ICQ	Windows Live Messenger /previously MSN Messenger	Yahoo! Messenger	IRC	XMPP /Jabber, Google Talk, etc	Bonjour /formerly Rendezvous	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Lotus Sametime	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	Others
Adium	17	Yes	Yes	Yes 16	Yes	No	Yes	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	LiveJournal, Yahoo! Japan, .Mac, Zephyr; extendable through plugins
AIM	02	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	With proxy	No
Ayttm	06	Partial6	Partial6	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BitlBee	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes 20	No
Centericq	06	Partial6	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
climm	02	Partial12	Yes	No	No	No	Partial13	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Digsby	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	MySpace, Facebook
Ebuddy	05	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	MySpace IM
EQO	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	no
Fire	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes 10	No	No	No	No	No	No
Funpidgin	14	Yes	Yes	Yes 16	Yes	Yes	Partial15	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	SILC, XFire, Zephyr, Blizzard Battle-Net Chat (with plugins)
IBM Lotus Sametime	03	Yes 18	No	No	Yes 18	No	Yes18	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	SIP
iChat	04	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	.Mac
ICQ	02	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
imeem	04	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
IMVU	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	IMVU
Instantbird	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Jabberwocky	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kopete	010	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial15	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Skype (deprecated), WinPopup
Licq	03	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
MECA Messenger	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
meebo	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Livejournal (via jabber)
Meetro	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	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	Skype, Tlen, LAN,5 Chat,5
Naim	03	Yes	Partial	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Lily
OpenWengo	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP/SIMPLE
Paltalk	03	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	14	Yes	Yes	Yes 16	Yes	Yes	Partial15	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	SILC, XFire, Zephyr, Blizzard Battle-Net Chat (with plugins), Skype (with plugin)19, Facebook (with plugin)22
pork	02	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Proteus	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial9	No	Yes	Yes	No	With proxy	Yahoo! Japan
QIP	02	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
QIP infium	05	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Mail.ru Agent, Phoning
Qnext	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Qnext
SIM	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	LiveJournal
talk	02	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	ntalk, ytalk
Trillian	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian Pro	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial14, 15	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	With plugin1	With plugin1	Skype, XFire (with plugin)
Trillian Astra	09	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial14, 15	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	With plugin1	With plugin1	No	Skype, ASTRA, MySpace, XFire (with plugin)
Windows Live Messenger	02	No	No	Yes 16	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Windows Messenger	03	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP, EIM
Yahoo! Messenger	03	No	No	Yes	Yes 17	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
	Number of Supported Protocols	AIM	ICQ	Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger)	Yahoo! Messenger	IRC	XMPP /many compatible services, including Google Talk	Bonjour /formerly Rendezvous	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Lotus Sametime	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	Others

Note 1: Plugin available [2]

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 [3]

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: Plugin available, but requires Skype to be installed and running.

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: can send/receive to Yahoo! Messenger from a Windows Live Messenger account.

Note 17: Windows Live Messenger interoperability: can 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. [4]

Note 19: With plug-in, requires Skype to be running, no video or voice support. [5]

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. [6]

Note 22: Facebook Chat plugin for Pidgin

[edit] Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

	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
Adium	Cocoa	Yes 11	Partial		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	?	?	?
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	?	?
climm	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	Tcl/Tk	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Ebuddy	?	Yes	No		Yes	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No	No	No	Yes	?	?
EQO	n/a	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No
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	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gadu-Gadu	W32	?	Yes		Yes	No	No	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No
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	Third party plugin	Yes	No	No
IBM Lotus Sametime	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	available	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iChat	Cocoa	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 3
ICQ	W32	No	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	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	?	?
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	No	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial (with plugin)	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
Licq	Qt	Yes 5	Yes	https	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
MCabber	Curses	Yes 11	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	?	?
Miranda IM	W32	Yes 10,11	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 15	No	Partial15	Yes	No	Yes
	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
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	Carbon	No	Yes		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	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	No	Partial	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 (Icon sets 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	No	No
QIP	W32, VCL	Yes	Yes	http(s), socks4, 4A, 5	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	?	?	?
QQ	W32	No	Yes		Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RealTimeQuery	N/A	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 only)	Yes		Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes (Skype only)	?	Yes (Skype only)	No	?	?
talk	curses	No	No		No	No	No	No	No	No	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
Xfire	W32	No	Yes		No	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Yahoo! Messenger	W32, Cocoa, GTK	No	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
	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

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.

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: 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.

[edit] Features 2

	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	Animations
Adium	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
AIM	?	?	No	?	?	?
aMSN	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BitlBee	No	?	?	?	?	?
BitWise IM	?	?	?	?	?	?
Centericq	?	?	?	?	?	?
climm	N/A	?	Yes	?	?	?
Coccinella	?	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
iChat	?	?	?	?	?	?
ICQ	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes: tZer
IMVU	?	?	?	?	?	?
Interaction Chat	?	?	?	?	?	?
imeem	?	?	?	?	?	?
Jabberwocky	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Kadu	?	?	?	?	?	?
Kopete	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
Licq	?	?	?	?	?	?
MECA Messenger	?	?	?	?	?	?
meebo	?	?	?	?	?	?
Meetro	?	?	?	?	?	?
Mercury Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
Miranda IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	?	?	?	?	?	?
MindSpring	?	?	?	?	?	?
MySpaceIM	?	?	?	?	?	?
Naim	No	?	?	?	?	?
OpenWengo	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Pandion	?	?	?	?	?	?
Paltalk	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
pork	?	?	?	?	?	?
Proteus	?	?	?	?	?	?
Psi	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
psyced	No	No	No	No	?	?
Qnext	?	?	?	?	?	?
QIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes:smileys
QQ	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?
RealTimeQuery	No	?	Yes	?	?	?
SIM	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Skype	No	No	No	No	?	?
talk	?	?	?	?	?	?
Trillian	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Trillian Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Trillian Astra	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes: Animoticons
Windows Messenger	No	No	No	No	?	?
Yahoo! Messenger	?	?	?	No	?	?
Zephyr	?	?	?	?	?	?
	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	Animations

[edit] See also

• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
• Comparison of LAN messengers

[edit] References

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

v • d • e Instant messaging clients (and comparison of clients and protocols) Proprietary and/or single protocol AIM  · Baidu Hi  · Gadu-Gadu  · IBM Lotus Sametime  · Microsoft Messenger for Mac  · MSN Messenger  · MySpaceIM  · NateOn  · Skype  · Tencent QQ  · Windows Live Messenger  · Xfire  · Yahoo! Messenger Multi-protocol: Adium  · aMSN  · Ayttm  · Digsby  · Empathy  · IBM Lotus Sametime  · Instantbird  · Kopete  · meebo  · Miranda IM  · Pidgin  · Qnext  · QIP Infium  · SIM  · Trillian Jabber/XMPP: Coccinella  · Exodus  · Gajim  · Google Talk  · IBM Lotus Sametime  · JAJC  · Psi  · Tkabber ICQ: ICQ · QIP 2005