Comparison of instant messaging clients

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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.

An OpenOffice 1.0 spreadsheet with the information in this article (as of 29 March 2006) is available.

Contents 1 General information 2 Operating system support 3 Protocol support 4 Features 5 Features 2 6 See also

[edit] 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)	Software license
Adium	Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg	September, 2001	Multi-protocol	1.0.2  (March 25, 2007)	Free	GPL v2
Agile Messenger	Agilemobile.com Limited	?	Multi-protocol	3.70	Subscription	Proprietary
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)	AOL	May, 1997	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 Adware	Proprietary
aMSN	Alvaro J. Iradier Muro	May, 2002	Single protocol	0.96	Free	GPL
Ayttm	Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis	April, 2003	Multi-protocol	0.4.6-17	Free	GPL
BitWise IM	BitWise Communications, LLC	March 17, 2002	Single protocol/Encrypted	1.7.2	Free	Proprietary
BitlBee	Wilmer van der Gaast	August 9, 2002	IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol	1.0.3	Free	GPL
Centericq	Konstantin Klyagin	1999	Multi-protocol	4.21.0	Free	GPL
Coccinella	Mats Bengtsson	December 1, 1999	Single protocol	0.95.15	Free	GPL
Cspace	Cspace	July 28, 2006	Single protocol	1.26	Free	GPL
eMeSeNe	Luis Mariano Guerra	24 May 2006	Single protocol	0.2.2.1	Free	GPL
Exodus	Peter Millard	2002	Single protocol	0.9.1.0	Free	GPL
Fire	Eric Peyton	April 1, 1999	Multi-protocol	1.5.6  (February 15th, 2006)	Free	GPL
Gajim	Yann Le Boulanger	May 21, 2004	Single protocol	0.11.1	Free	GPL
GCN	Jason K. Resch	November 18, 2000	Single protocol	2.9.1	Free Adware	Proprietary
GOIM	Herbert Poul	August 16, 2005	Single protocol	1.1.0	Free	GPL
Goofey	Tim Mackenzie	Early 1990s	Single protocol	2.08	Free	?
Google Talk	Google, Inc.	August 24, 2005	Single protocol	1.0.0.104  (January 1, 2007)	Free	Proprietary
iChat	Apple Inc.	August, 2002	Multi-protocol	3.1.8 (v445)	Free	Proprietary
ICQ	Mirabilis	November, 1996	Single protocol	5.1	Free Adware	Proprietary
IM2	IM2 Ltd.	April, 2003	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
Instan-t	Interactive Networks Inc.	March, 2001	Multi-protocol	4.5	Free	Proprietary
Interaction Chat	Auriance	August, 2006	HTTP	1.0	Free	Proprietary
Jabbin	Jabbin Team	December 2005	Multi-protocol	2.0 beta2	Free	GPL v2
JMSN	sediah, xrath	2002	Single protocol	0.9.9b2	Free	BSD
Kadu	Kadu Team	August, 2001	Single protocol	0.5.0	Free	GPL v2
Konnekt	Stamina	2002	Multi-protocol	0.6.22.137	Free	Proprietary
Kopete	Kopete Team	March 3, 2002	Multi-protocol	0.12.4	Free	GPL
Licq	Graham Roff (up to v1.0) Jon Keating	June 22, 1998	Multi-protocol	1.3.2	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	1.8	Free	Proprietary
mICQ	Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann	1997(?); 2001	Single protocol	0.5.2	Free	GPL v2
MindSpring	Earthlink	April 3, 2006	Multi-protocol	1.0 (v53.0)	Free	Proprietary
Miranda IM	Miranda IM project	February 6, 2000	Multi-protocol	0.6.8	Free	GPL
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	Microsoft	???	Single protocol	6.0.2	Free	Proprietary
MySpaceIM	MySpace	May 09, 2006	Single protocol	1.0.673.0  (2007-4-9) (beta)	Free Adware	Proprietary
Naim	Daniel Reed	Oct 05, 1998	Multi-protocol	http://naim.n.ml.org/download	Free	GPL
OpenWengo	Wengo	2004	Single protocol	0.99	Free	GPL
Pandion	Dries Staelens, Sebastiaan Deckers	Jun 28, 2004	Single protocol	2.5	Free	Proprietary
Paltalk	Jason Katz	1998	Multi-protocol	9.0	Free	Proprietary
Pidgin	Mark Spencer	November, 1998	Multi-protocol	1.5.0  (August 12, 2005)	Free	GPL
pork	Ryan McCabe	December 6, 2006	AIM, IRC Gateway	0.99.8.1	Free	GPL v2
Proteus	Justin Wood, et al.	November 2001	Multi-protocol	4.15b6	Free	GPL
Psi	Justin Karneges	2001	Single protocol	0.10	Free	GPL
psyced	psyced.org Project	1997	IRC+XMPP Gateway, Multi-protocol	0.99	Free	GPL
QIP	Ilgam Zyulkorneev	2004	Single-protocol	8010	Free	Proprietary
Qnext		June 28, 2004	Multi-protocol	2.3.0.74	Free	Proprietary
QQ	Tencent	February, 1999	Single protocol	2006 Beta1	Free Adware	Proprietary
Retroshare	Team Retroshare.sf.net	March, 2007	Single protocol	2006 Beta1	Free	GPL
SIM	SIM project	?	Multi-protocol	0.9.4.3	Free	GPL
Skype	Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis / eBay	2003	Single protocol	3.1.0.152 (Windows), 1.3.0.53 (Linux), 2.5.0.85 (Mac OS X), 2.1.0.66 (Pocket PC)  (March 28, 2007)	Free	Proprietary
talk	Kipp Hickman	1982	Single protocol	1.7 (BSD version)	Free	BSD
Tkabber	Alexey Shchepin	2003	Single protocol	0.9.9	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	Proprietary
Trillian Astra	Cerulean Studios	Alpha	Multi-protocol	?	?	Proprietary
Windows Live Messenger	Microsoft	July, 1999	Dual protocol	8.0.812 (Windows XP/Vista)	Free Adware	Proprietary
Windows Messenger	Microsoft	?	?	5.1.0701 (Windows XP SP2)	Free	Proprietary
Xfire	Xfire.inc	2004	Single protocol	1.38	Free Adware	Proprietary
Yahoo! Messenger	Yahoo!	June 21, 1999	Dual protocol	8.1.0.244 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix)	Free Adware	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)	Software 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	?	?
Agile Messenger	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	?
AIM	Yes	Dropped (4.7.1333)	Dropped (1.5.286)	No	No	?	?
aMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
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	?	?
iChat	No	Included	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	?	?
JMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Kadu	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Kopete	Not Yet	Yes1	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Licq	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
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	?	?
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	?	?
OpenWengo	Yes	Yes5	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Pandion	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Paltalk	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Pidgin	Yes	Yes1	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
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	?	?
QQ	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Retroshare	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
SIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Skype	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	?
talk	Yes4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Tkabber	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Trillian	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Trillian Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Trillian Astra	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	?
Windows Messenger	Included (XP)	No	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.)

[edit] Protocol support

Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client supports.

	AIM	ICQ	Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger)	Yahoo! Messenger	IRC	XMPP (Google Talk and many other XMPP compatible services)	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Lotus Sametime	Gadu-Gadu	Skype	QQ	Others
Adium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes ? 10	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yahoo! Japan, .Mac, Zephyr, OTR
Agile Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	on request	Wireless Village (on request)
AIM	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
aMSN	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BitlBee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BitWise IM	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	BitWise IM
Centericq	Partial 6	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Coccinella	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	Partial 3
Exodus	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ? 10	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gajim	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	Yes 10	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	No
GCN	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	GCN
GOIM	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Google Talk	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
iChat	Yes	Yes	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	Yes	?	?	Partial 3	No	No	No
ICQ	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
IM2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
imeem	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
IMVU	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	IMVU
Instan-t	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Instan-t network
Interaction Chat	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
JMSN	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kadu	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Kopete	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 4	No	WinPopup
Licq	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
MECA Messenger	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
meebo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Meetro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Mercury Messenger	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	No
mICQ	Partial12	Yes	No	No	No	Partial12	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MindSpring	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Miranda IM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial 4	Yes	Tlen, LAN 5, Chat 5, OTR
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Paltalk	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pandion	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pidgin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ? 10	Yes	With plugin 1	Yes	No	Yes	SILC, Zephyr, XFire, OTR (with plugin)
pork	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Psi	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	No
Proteus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial 9	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yahoo! Japan
psyced	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	PSYC, TELNET, SMTP, HTTP, WAP
QIP	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Qnext	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Qnext
QQ	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
SIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	LiveJournal
Skype	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?
talk	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	ntalk, ytalk
Tkabber	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Partial 3	Yes	No	No	No	Partial 3	No	No	No
Trillian	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trillian Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ? 10	Yes	Yes	With plugin 1	With plugin 11	With plugin 1	XFire (with plugin)
Trillian Astra	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ? 10	Yes	Yes	With plugin 1	With plugin 11	With plugin 1	ASTRA, MySpace, XFire (with plugin)
Windows Live Messenger	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Windows Messenger	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP, EIM
Yahoo! Messenger	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
YSM	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
Zephyr	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Zephyr
	AIM	ICQ	Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger)	Yahoo! Messenger	IRC	XMPP (Google Talk and many other XMPP compatible services)	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	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 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 [2]

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: Plug-in available, but requires Skype to be installed and running.

Note 12: The support is optional, but disabled by default. Ut seems that the current state of feature is far from being usable.

[edit] 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	?	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	No	?	?	?
BitWise IM	W32, GTK2, Carbon	Yes 7	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	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	Yes	?	Yes
Exodus	W32	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	?	?
Fire	Cocoa	Yes 12	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	?	?
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	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
JMSN	Java	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
Kadu	Qt	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	?	?
Kopete	Qt/KDE	Yes 9	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
Licq	Qt	Yes 5	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
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	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?
Miranda IM	W32	Yes 10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial 15	?	Partial15	Yes	?	Yes
Microsoft Messenger for Mac	Carbon	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?
OpenWengo	Qt	No	No	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	GTK2	With plugin 8	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	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?
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	?	?	?
QQ	W32	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?
SIM	Qt/KDE	Yes 5 6	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	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	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Tkabber	Tcl/Tk	Yes 9	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	No	Yes	?	?
Trillian Basic 3.0	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	?
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
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	No	?	?	?	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	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 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: Available as a plugin at http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/ - the "Off-the-Record Messaging" (OTR) encryption system is open source and thus can in theory be used with any other instant messaging program (e.g. Miranda IM with OTR plugin), though it might be difficult to add support to closed-source clients. Also available as another plugin at http://gaim-encryption.sf.net. This plugin is compatible with Pidgin 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. Also available "Off The Record" (OTR) plugin at http://addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=2644

Note 11: Encryption is "Off The Record" (OTR) encryption, which is currently supported primarily as a system of plugins.

Note 12: GPG-encypted on a per-message basis. Requires GPG to be installed.

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.

[edit] Features 2

	Handwriting mode
Adium
Agile Messenger
AIM
aMSN	Yes
BitlBee
BitWise IM
Centericq
Coccinella
Exodus
Fire
Gajim
GCN
GOIM
Goofey6
Google Talk (standalone)
Google Talk (Gmail)
iChat
ICQ
IM2
IMVU
Instan-t
Interaction Chat
imeem
JMSN
Kadu
Kopete
Licq
MECA Messenger
meebo
Meetro
Mercury Messenger	Yes
mICQ
Miranda IM	Yes
Microsoft Messenger for Mac
MindSpring
MySpaceIM
Naim
OpenWengo
Pandion
Paltalk
Pidgin
pork
Proteus
Psi
psyced	No
QIP	Yes
Qnext
QQ
SIM
Skype
talk
Tkabber
Trillian	Yes
Trillian Pro	Yes
Trillian Astra	Yes
Windows Live Messenger	Yes
Windows Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger
YSM
Zephyr
	Handwriting mode

[edit] See also

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