The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messengers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. External links lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.
General information
Basic general information about the instant messengers: creator/company, license/price etc.
|
| Creator
| First public release date
| Type
| Latest stable version
| Cost (USD)
| Software license
|
| Adium
| Adam Iser
| September, 2001
| Multi-protocol
| 0.77
| Free
| GPL
|
| AIM
| AOL
| May, 1997
| Single protocol
| 5.9
| Free
Adware
| Proprietary
|
| aMSN
| Alvaro J. Iradier Muro
| May, 2002
| Single protocol
| 0.94
| Free
| GPL
|
| BitlBee
| Wilmer van der Gaast
| August 9, 2002
| IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol
| 0.92
| Free
| GPL
|
| Centericq
| Konstantin Klyagin
| ?
| Multi-protocol
| 4.20.0
| Free
| GPL
|
| Fire
| Eric Peyton
| ?
| Multi-protocol
| 1.5.1
| Free
| GPL
|
| Gaim
| Mark Spencer
| November, 1998
| Multi-protocol
| 1.2.1
| Free
| GPL
|
| iChat
| Apple Computer
| August, 2002
| Multi-protocol
| 2.1
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| ICQ
| Mirabilis
| November, 1996
| Single protocol
| 5
| Free
Adware
| Proprietary
|
| IM2
| IM2 Limited
| April, 2003
| Multi-protocol
| 1.5
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| JAJC
| Mikel Ivanov
| 2002
| Single protocol
| 0.0.8.113
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| Kopete
| Kopete Team
| March 3, 2002
| Multi-protocol
| 0.10.0
| Free
| GPL
|
| mICQ
| Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann
| 1997(?); 2001
| Single protocol
| 0.5.0.1
| Free
| GPL v2
|
| Miranda IM
| Miranda IM project
| February 6, 2000
| Multi-protocol
| 0.4.0.0
| Free
| GPL
|
| MSN Messenger
| Microsoft
| July, 1999
| Single protocol
| 7.0.0777
| Free
Adware
| Proprietary
|
| Proteus
| Justin Wood
| ?
| Multi-protocol
| 4.09
| 15 USD
| Proprietary
|
| Psi
| Justin Karneges
| 2001
| Single protocol
| 0.9.3
| Free
| GPL
|
| QQ
| Tencent
| ?
| Single protocol
| 2004II
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| Skype
| Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis
| 2003
| Single protocol
| 1.2.0.48 (Win)
1.0.0.24 (Mac)
1.0.0.20 (Linux)
1.1.0.4 (Pocket PC)
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| Tkabber
| Alexey Shchepin
| 2003
| Single protocol
| 0.9.8
| Free
| GPL
|
| Trillian
| Cerulean Studios
| July 1, 2000
| Multi-protocol
| 3.1
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| Trillian Pro
| Cerulean Studios
| September 10, 2002
| Multi-protocol
| 3.1
| 25 USD
| Proprietary
|
| Yahoo! Messenger
| Yahoo!
| June 21, 1999
| Single protocol
| 6.0 (Win)
2.5.3 (Mac)
| Free
| Proprietary
|
| YSM
| rad2k
| 2001
| Single protocol
| 2.9.6
| Free
| GPL
|
|
| Creator
| First public release date
| Type
| Latest stable version
| Cost (USD)
| Software license
|
Operating system support
The Operating systems the clients can run on without emulation.
Note 1: The Mac OS X version must be self compiled, and will only run with an X server and GTK+ installed.
Note 2: Requires ANSI terminal.
Protocol support
Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client can use.
|
| AIM
| ICQ
| MSN
Messenger
| Yahoo!
| IRC
| Jabber
| Bonjour
| Novell
GroupWise
Messenger
| Lotus
Sametime
| Gadu-Gadu
| Skype
| QQ
| Others
|
| Adium
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| AIM
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| (none)
|
| aMSN
| No
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| BitlBee
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Centericq
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| ?
| ?
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Fire
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Gaim
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes 1
| Yes
| No
| Yes 2
| SILC, Zephyr
|
| iChat
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| ?
| ?
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| ICQ
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| (none)
|
| IM2
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| JAJC
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No 3
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Kopete
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| mICQ
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Miranda IM
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes 2
| No
| No
| Yes
| Partial 4
| Yes 2
| Tlen, LAN 5, Chat 5
|
| MSN
| No
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| (none)
|
| Psi
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No 3
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Proteus
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| ?
| ?
| Yes
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| QQ
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| (none)
|
| Skype
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| No
| ?
|
| Tkabber
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| No 3
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No 3
| No
| No
| ?
|
| Trillian
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
| Trillian Pro
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| ?
| Rendezvous
|
| Y!M
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| (none)
|
| YSM
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| ?
| ?
|
|
| AIM
| ICQ
| MSN
Messenger
| Yahoo!
| IRC
| Jabber
| Bonjour
| Novell
GroupWise
Messenger
| Lotus
Sametime
| Gadu-Gadu
| Skype
| QQ
| Others
|
Note 1: Plugin available [1]
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 required Skype to be installed.
Note 5: LAN and chat protocols supported for Miranda include NetSend, WinPopup, Novell Netware NCP, BattleNet, Vypress Chat, Quick Chat, and Walla Chat.
Features
Information on what features each of the clients support.
|
| Toolkit
| Encryption
| File transfer
| Graphical smileys
| In-built Games
| Voice and webcam conversations
| Themes/skins
| Plugin system 1
| Third-party addons 2
|
| Adium
| Cocoa
|
| Partial
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| AIM
| W32
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Partial
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
| aMSN
| Tcl/Tk
|
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| BitlBee
| (IRC)
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
|
| Centericq
| ncurses
| Yes 9
| Partial
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| Yes
| No
| ?
|
| Fire
| Cocoa
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Gaim
| Gtk
| Yes 8
| Partial
| Yes
| No
| No 3
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| iChat
| Cocoa
|
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
|
| ICQ
| W32
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
| IM2
| W32
| Yes 4
| Partial
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
|
| JAJC
| W32
| Yes 9
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|
| Kopete
| KDE/Qt
| No
| Partial
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| Yes
|
| mICQ
| line based
| Yes 5
| Yes
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| Yes
| No
| No
|
| Miranda IM
| W32
| Yes 10
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Partial (only voice) 11
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| MSN
| W32
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
| Proteus
| Cocoa
|
| Partial
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Psi
| Qt/KDE
| Yes 9
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No (scheduled)
| No
| No
| No
|
| QQ
| W32
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
| Skype
| Qt/KDE
| Yes (Skype-to-Skype)
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes (only voice)
| No
| No
| No
|
| Tkabber
| Tcl/Tk
| Yes 9
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Trillian
| W32
| Yes 6
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
| Trillian Pro
| W32
| Yes 6
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Y!M
| W32;Cocoa;Gtk
|
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| No
|
| YSM
| line based
| Yes 7
| No
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| No
| No
| No
|
|
| Toolkit
| Encryption
| File transfer
| Graphical smileys
| In-built Games
| Voice and webcam conversations
| Themes/skins
| Plugin system
| Third-party addons
|
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: There is a project called gaim-vv aimed at adding voice and video functionality [2]
Note 4: Proprietary; compatible only to itself
Note 5: SSL-encrypted direct connections; compatible to licq and SIM
Note 6: Proprietary; compatible only to itself
Note 7: Blowfish-encrypted direct connection; compatible only to itself
Note 8: Available as a plugin at http://gaim-encryption.sf.net. Compatible only to other gaim clients with the same plugin.
Note 9: Compatible with all Jabber clients implementing JEP-0027 (standard Jabber encryption).
Note 10: SecureIM plugin provides 192 bits AES Encryption, compatible only to itself.
Note 11: MirandaComm plugin allows voice communcation between two Miranda users who have the plugin installed. Only tested with users of ICQ protocol.
References
See also
