Comparison of instant messaging clients

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.

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

General information

Basic general information about the real time communication services: creator/company, license/price, amongst others.

	Author / Creator	First public release	Type	Latest stable version	License
Adium	Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg	2001-09	Multi-protocol	1.4.4 (December 5, 2011; 2 months ago (2011-12-05)) (Mac OS X)	GPL v2
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)	AOL	1997-05	Multi-protocol	7.5.8.2 (Windows) 7.5.5.7 Beta 2 (Win) 2.2.429 (Mac OS X) 1.5.286 (Linux)	Clickwrap license
aMSN	The aMSN team	2002-05	Single protocol	0.98.4	GPL
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	IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol	3.0.4 (4 December 2011; 2 months ago (2011-12-04))	GPL
Bombus	Eugene Stahov	2005-01-05	Single-protocol	2008 (v0.6)	GPL
Brosix	Brosix, Inc.	2006-06	Single protocol/Encrypted	3.1.1 (January 2011)	Clickwrap license
Centericq	Konstantin Klyagin	1999	Multi-protocol	4.21.0 (September 2, 2005; 6 years ago (2005-09-02))	GPL
climm	Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann	1997(?); 2001	Dual protocol	0.7.1 (March 2010)	GPL v2
Coccinella^[3]^[4]	Mats Bengtsson	1999-12-01	Single protocol	0.96.16 (1 December 2009)	GPL v3
Digsby	Steven Shapiro	2008-01	Multi-protocol	2011 Beta	Clickwrap license
eBuddy	Paulo Taylor	2003-03-09	Multi-protocol	2011	Clickwrap license
eM Client	E&S Software Ltd.	2006-11	Single protocol	2.5	Free
emesene	Luis Mariano Guerra	2006-05-24	Multi-protocol	2.11.9	GPL
Empathy	GNOME	2007-05	Multi-protocol	3.2.2 (16 November 2011; 2 months ago (2011-11-16))^[5]	GPL
EQO	EQO Communications	2006-02-06	Multi-protocol	1.4	Clickwrap license
FaceTime	Apple Inc.	2010	Single protocol	0.9- Beta	Proprietary
Fire	Eric Peyton	1999-04-01	Multi-protocol	1.5.6 (February 15, 2006)	GPL
Gadu-Gadu	Łukasz Foltyn	2000-08	Single protocol	10.0 build 10784 (Now Gadu-Gadu)	Clickwrap license
Gajim	Yann Le Boulanger	2004-05-21	Single protocol	0.14.4 (July 22, 2011; 6 months ago (2011-07-22))	GPL
GCN	Jason K. Resch	2000-11-18	Single protocol	2.9.1	Clickwrap license
GOIM	Herbert Poul	2005-08-16	Single protocol	1.1.0 (July 2, 2006)	GPL
Goofey	Tim Mackenzie	1990 (Early 1990s)	Single protocol	2.08	Clickwrap license
Google Talk	Google, Inc.	2005-08-24	Dual protocol	1.0.0.105 (21 November 2007; 4 years ago (2007-11-21))	Clickwrap license
Gyachi	?	2006-01-26	Single protocol	1.2.10 (2010-07-25)	GPL
IBM Lotus Sametime	IBM, Ubique	1998	Multi-protocol—proprietary T.120, SIP, XMPP	8.5; December 2009	Clickwrap license
iChat	Apple Inc.	2002-08	Multi-protocol	6.0 (927)	Clickwrap license
ICQ	Mirabilis (AOL)	1996-11	Single protocol	7.6; August 14, 2011	Clickwrap license
imo.im	imo	2007	Multi-protocol	?	Clickwrap license
IMVU	Will Harveyfq	2001-07	Single protocol	3.0	Clickwrap license
InSpeak Communicator	Mark Jaafar GLobal Unicom, LLC	2004	Multi-protocol	9.1.1	Clickwrap license
Instantbird	Florian Quèze	2007	Multi-protocol	1.1 (18 October 2011; 3 months ago (2011-10-18))	GPL v2
Jitsi	Emil Ivov	2003	Multi-protocol	v1.0-alpha6	LGPL
Kadu	Kadu Team	2001-08	Multi-protocol	0.10.1	GPL v2
Konnekt	Stamina	2002	Multi-protocol	0.6.22.137	Clickwrap license
Kopete	Kopete Team	2002-03-03	Multi-protocol	1.0.80	GPL
LiveProfile	?	?	?	?	?
Mail.ru Agent	Mail.ru	2003-05	Multi-protocol	5.0 (Windows) 1.0 (Windows Mobile) 2.1 (Java ME)	Clickwrap license
MCabber	Mikael Berthe	2005-06-07	Single protocol	0.10.1 (December 1, 2010; 14 months ago (2010-12-01))	GPL
meebo	Meebo, Inc.	2005	Multi-protocol, web-based	alpha v19	Clickwrap license
Meetro	Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer	2005	Multi-protocol	0.96 Beta (Win) 0.53 Beta (Mac OS X)	Clickwrap license
Miranda IM	Miranda IM project	2000-02-06	Multi-protocol	0.9.40 (31 December 2011; 46 days ago (2011-12-31))	GPL
Microsoft Lync	Microsoft Corporation	2005	Single protocol	2007 R2 (Windows)	Clickwrap license
MySpaceIM	MySpace	2006-05-09	Single protocol	1.0.754.0 (February 7, 2008)	Clickwrap license
Naim	Daniel Reed	1998-10-05	Multi-protocol	0.11.8.3.1 (2007-07-09)	GPL
Palringo	Palringo Ltd	2006	Multi-protocol	?	Clickwrap license
Paltalk	Jason Katz	1998	Multi-protocol	9.0	Clickwrap license
Pandion	Dries Staelens, Sebastiaan Deckers	2002-08-05	Single protocol	2.6.106 (April 14, 2010; 21 months ago (2010-04-14))	GPL
Pidgin (formerly Gaim)	Mark Spencer	1998-11	Multi-protocol	2.10.1 (6 December 2011; 2 months ago (2011-12-06))	GPL
Proteus	Justin Wood, et al.	2001-11	Multi-protocol	4.2.1 (October 27, 2008)	GPL
Psi	Justin Karneges	2001	Single protocol	0.14 (December 2, 2009; 2 years ago (2009-12-02))	GPL
QIP	Ilgam Zyulkorneev	2004	Multi-protocol	9030 (Windows) 2120 (Windows Mobile) 2000 (Symbian S60 and UIQ3)	Clickwrap license
Qnext	Qnext Corp.	2010-06	Multi-protocol	4.0.4 Windows, Mac, Linux (June, 2010) 1.0.0.61 iPhone (June, 2010) 2.0.1.55 Mobile Web (June, 2010)	Clickwrap license
QuteCom	QuteCom	2004	Multi-protocol	2.1.2	GPL
Spark	Jive Software	2006	Multi-protocol	2.6.3 (2011-07-01)	Apache License 2.0
Skype	Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis	2003	Single protocol	5.6.0.110 (Windows) [6] (October 13, 2011; 4 months ago (2011-10-13)) 5.3.0.1093 (Mac OS X) (September 1, 2011; 5 months ago (2011-09-01)) 3.6.1 (iOS) (January 3, 2012; 43 days ago (2012-01-03)) 2.2.0.35 (Linux) (June 2, 2011; 8 months ago (2011-06-02)) 2.6.0.95 (Android) (December 16, 2011; 61 days ago (2011-12-16))	Clickwrap license
talk	Kipp Hickman	1982	Single protocol	1.7 (BSD version)	BSD
Tencent QQ	Ma Huateng (马化腾)	1999-02	Single protocol	QQ2011 Beta 2	Clickwrap license
Tkabber	Alexey Shchepin	2002-07-03	Single protocol	0.11.1	GPL
Trillian	Cerulean Studios	2000-07-01	Multi-protocol	5.1.0.18 (Windows) 1.1.0.7 (Mac OS X) 1.6.0.36 (iOS) 1.1.0.30 (BlackBerry) 1.1.0.221 (Android) 2.0.0.616 (Web-based) (20 December 2011; 57 days ago (2011-12-20) (Windows) 3 June 2011; 8 months ago (2011-06-03) (Mac OS X) 8 June 2011; 8 months ago (2011-06-08) (iOS) 25 February 2011; 11 months ago (2011-02-25) (BlackBerry) 6 July 2011; 7 months ago (2011-07-06) (Android) 8 December 2010; 14 months ago (2010-12-08) (Web-based))	Clickwrap license
VZOchat	Visicron Systems	2005-02-14	Single protocol	6.3.2 (Windows) (July 5, 2009) 1.2.8 (Windows Mobile) (May 14, 2009)	Clickwrap license
Windows Live Messenger	Microsoft Corporation	1999-07	Dual protocol	2011 (Build 15.4.3502.922) (Windows XP/Vista/7) 1.0.6141 (Windows Live for Nokia S60)	Clickwrap license
Xfire	Xfire Inc.	2004	Dual protocol	1.1.140 (october 12, 2011)	Clickwrap license
Yahoo! Messenger	Yahoo!	1999-06-21	Dual protocol	11.5.0.152 (Windows) 3.0.1 (Mac) 1.0.4 (Unix)	Clickwrap license
Zephyr	Project Athena	1987	Single protocol	2.0	MIT
Sococo	Social Communications Company	2008	Multi protocol	0.77.2.409	Clickwrap license
	Author / Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	License

Operating system support

The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.

Client	Desktop					Mobile								Other
Client	Windows	Mac OS X	UNIX-like	Haiku	Amiga	Windows	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
Brosix	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Carrier	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	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
Digsby	Yes	Coming soon	Coming soon	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
eM Client	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	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
EQO	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
FaceTime	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	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
GCN	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
GOIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Goofey	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Google Talk	Yes	No	Yes^{[note 1]}	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Gyachi	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
IBM Lotus Sametime	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	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	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
imo.im	No	No	No	No	No	No	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
InSpeak Communicator	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Instantbird	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
JClaim	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
Konnekt	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kopete	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
LiveProfile	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Mail.ru Agent	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	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	Yes	No	No	No	No
Paltalk	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pandion	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	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
Proteus	No	Yes	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	Yes^{[note 1]}	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes^{[note 2]}
talk	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Tencent QQ	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	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
VZOchat	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes^{[note 3]}
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	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Zephyr	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Client	Windows	Mac OS X	UNIX-like	Haiku	Amiga	Windows	Android	BlackBerry	iOS	Symbian	MeeGo	Java ME	WebOS	Web	Palm	VGCs
Client	Desktop					Mobile								Other

^ ^a ^b Only Linux binary, no source code available.
^ Available on PlayStation Portable.
^ Available on Xbox 360.

Protocol support

Single protocol clients

XMPP clients

Client	Transports^{[note 1]}	File transfer (XEP-0096)^{[note 2]}	Multi-user chat	Jingle			Encryption
Client	Transports^{[note 1]}	File transfer (XEP-0096)^{[note 2]}	Multi-user chat	File transfer^{[note 2]}	Voice calls	Video calls	OpenPGP	OTR
Adium	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No^[7]	Yes
Bombus^[8]	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
climm	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Coccinella^[9]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
eM Client	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Empathy^[10]	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Coming soon
Gajim^[11]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 3]}	Yes/No^{[note 3]}	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 3]}
Google Talk	No	No	No	Yes	Partial^{[note 4]}	Partial^{[note 4]}^{[note 5]}	No	Yes
iChat	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Jitsi	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Kadu	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kopete	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MCabber^[12]	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Pandion	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Pidgin	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes/No^{[note 3]}	Yes/No^{[note 3]}	No	Yes
Psi	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Tkabber^[13]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Trillian	No	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 6]}	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 (eg., from home and corporate networks).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Feature isn't available on Windows.
^ ^a ^b Incompatible with XEPs.
^ Feature isn't available in standalone client.
^ Feature is available only on Windows.

Multiprotocol clients

Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client supports.

	Supported Protocols	WLM (formerly MSN Messenger)	Y!M	AIM	ICQ	XMPP (Google Talk, etc.)	Jingle (voice)	Jingle (video)	IRC	IBM Lotus Sametime	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	LAN	Xfire	Skype	MySpaceIM	Facebook	LiveJournal	Others
Adium	17	Partial^{[note 1]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Partial^{[note 2]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileMe, Yahoo! Japan, Zephyr, NateOn, Tlen, Twitter
AIM	04	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes^{[note 3]}	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Ayttm	03	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	No	No	Yes	NoTri	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BitlBee	05	Depends^{[note 4]}						N/A^{[note 5]}	Depends^{[note 4]}
Carrier	11	Partial^{[note 1]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes^{[note 6]}	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Depends^{[note 4]}
Centericq	06	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
climm	02	No	No	Partial^{[note 7]}	Yes	Partial	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Digsby	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial^{[note 8]}	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Twitter
eBuddy	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
emesene	03	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Empathy	020	Yes	Depends^{[note 4]}			Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Depends^{[note 4]}		Yes	Depends^{[note 4]}		Coming soon	Depends^{[note 4]}				Yes	Yes	Depends^{[note 4]}
Fire	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
IBM Lotus Sametime	05	No	Yes/No^{[note 9]}	Yes/No^{[note 9]}	No	Yes/No^{[note 9]}	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP
iChat	06	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	MobileMe
ICQ	02	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
imo.im	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Hyves, Steam
IMVU	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	IMVU
Instantbird	016	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Netsoul, SIMPLE, Twitter, Yahoo! Japan
JClaim	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	SMS, Nate, Yahoo! Japan
Jitsi	010	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	SIP
Kadu	02	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Kopete	012	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	WinPopup
meebo	05	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Partial (via XMPP)	MyYearbook
Meetro (Discontinued)	04	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Miranda IM	19+	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes^{[note 6]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial^{[note 2]}	Yes	Yes^{[note 6]}	Yes	Twitter, Tlen
Naim	03	No	No	Yes	Partial	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Lily
QuteCom	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SIP
Palringo	06	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Paltalk	03	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pidgin	014	Partial^{[note 1]}	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes^{[note 10]}	Yes^{[note 10]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial^{[note 2]}	Yes	Yes	No	Blizzard Battle-Net Chat, SIPE, NateOn, SILC, Tlen, Zephyr (with plugins)
PlayXpert	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Sony Station Friends
Proteus	08	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No	With proxy	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yahoo! Japan
QIP	06	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Mail.ru Agent, Euroset, Phoning
Qnext	07	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Qnext
talk	02	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	ntalk, ytalk
Trillian	011	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes^{[note 6]}	Yes^{[note 6]}	No	No	Yes	Yes^[14]	Yes	Yes	No	Google Talk, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, ASTRA, VZ
Windows Live Messenger	03	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Yahoo! Messenger	03	Partial^{[note 1]}	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Supported Protocols	WLM (formerly MSN Messenger)	Y!M	AIM	ICQ	XMPP (Google Talk, etc.)	Jingle (voice)	Jingle (video)	IRC	IBM Lotus Sametime	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous)	Gadu-Gadu	QQ	OTR	LAN	Xfire	Skype	MySpaceIM	Facebook	LiveJournal	Others

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Via Yahoo! Messenger account only.
^ ^a ^b ^c Requires running official Skype client.
^ Limited to Google Talk.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Supported via Pidgin back-end, depends on its version
^ Bitlbee is itself accessed from IRC.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Available as plugin.
^ Via ICQ account only.
^ Does not support XMPP conferences.
^ ^a ^b ^c Feature is missing from client, but still can be used via IBM Sametime Gateway.
^ ^a ^b Not supported in Windows version.

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

Client	Number of Features Included	Toolkits or SDKs	Encryption	File transfer	Proxy-server	Graphical smileys	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	011	Cocoa	Yes^{[note 1]}	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?
AIM	11	W32/Cocoa	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	Yes	Yes	No	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	No	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	No	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	Yes/No^{[note 2]}	No	No	No
aMSN	14	Tcl/Tk	Yes^{[note 3]}	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, socks5	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial	Partial	No	No	No
BitlBee	03	N/A	Yes	Yes^{[note 4]}	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	?
Brosix	014	W32	Yes	Yes	https, socks4, 4A, 5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Centericq	05	ncurses	Partial^{[note 5]}	Partial	?	No	?	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	?
climm	07	line based	Yes ^5,^{[note 1]}	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	?
Digsby	09	?	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	?	?
eBuddy	06	No	Yes	Partial	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
eM Client	06	W32	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Empathy	012	GTK2	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
EQO	05	N/A	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Fire	09	Cocoa	Yes^{[note 6]}	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gadu-Gadu	08	Qt	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No	?
Gajim	07	GTK2	Yes^{[note 5]}	Yes	http	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
GCN	05	W32	Yes^{[note 6]}	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
GOIM	05	Java/SWT	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
Google Talk	08	W32	No	Yes	?	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Third party plugin	Yes	No	No	Yes
Gyachi	09	GTK2	Yes	Yes	https	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
IBM Lotus Sametime	15	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	available	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
iChat	11	Cocoa	Partial^{[note 7]}	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial^{[note 3]}	?
ICQ	12	W32	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
imo.im	010	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
InSpeak Communicator	09	N/A	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
IMVU	06	?	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Partial^{[note 8]}	No	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
JClaim	011	JDK (Java)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Kadu	10	Qt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Kopete	08	Qt/KDE	Yes^{[note 5]}^{[note 1]}	Partial	No	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	With plugin	Yes	With plugin (Partial)	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
MCabber	04	Curses	Yes ^{[note 1]}	No	?	No	Yes	No	?	?	No	?	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?
Meetro (Discontinued)	04	?	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Miranda IM	12	W32	Yes^{[note 1]}^{[note 5]}^{[note 3]}	Yes	Yes: socks4/5, HTTP(S)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial^{[note 3]}	No	Partial^{[note 3]}	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
QuteCom	06	Qt	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Palringo	03	?	No	No	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Partial (picture capture only)	?	No	No	?
Paltalk	09	N/A	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
Pandion	11	?	Yes	Yes	http	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Pidgin	07	GTK2	Partial^{[note 1]}	Partial	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (XMPP in Linux)	No	Yes (XMPP in Linux)	Partial	No	Partial	Yes
Proteus	05	Cocoa	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Psi	06	KDE/Qt	Yes^{[note 5]}	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	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	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Skype	12	Qt/KDE, W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes/No^{[note 3]}^{[note 2]}	Yes
talk	00	curses	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
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
VZOchat	7	W32	Yes	No	https, socks4, 4A, 5	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Windows Live Messenger	15	W32	No	Yes	Yes: socks4/5, HTTP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xfire	06	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	Graphical smileys	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 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).
^ ^a ^b 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.

Client	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	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	?	?	?	?
Brosix	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?
Centericq	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
climm	N/A	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Coccinella	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
Digsby	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
eM Client	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
Empathy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
EQO	n/a	n/a	Yes	No	No	No	?
Fire	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gajim	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
GCN	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
GOIM	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Goofey	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Google Talk	No	Yes	Yes/No^{[note 1]}	No	No	Yes/No^{[note 1]}	No
Gyachi	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?
iChat	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
ICQ	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes: tZer	?
InSpeak Communicator	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
IMVU	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
imo.im	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
JClaim	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?
Kadu	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes:smileys	No
Kopete	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys	?
Meebo	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Meetro (Discontinued)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Miranda IM	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
MySpaceIM	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Naim	No	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuteCom	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
Pandion	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?
Paltalk	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pidgin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys and user icons	?
Proteus	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Psi	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Qnext	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes: animated user icons, emoticons, themes	?
QIP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes:smileys	?
Tencent QQ	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
Skype	No	No	No	No	?	Yes:Animated emoticons	?
talk	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Trillian	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes:Animated emoticons	?
VZOchat	No	No	No	No	No	Yes: Animated user icons	?
Windows Live Messenger	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes: Animated emoticons, winks	?
Yahoo! Messenger	?	?	?	No	?	?	?
Client	Handwriting mode	Dockable	Multiaccount	Spell check	User-Defined Graphical Smileys	Animations	OAuth for Client Authorization

^ ^a ^b Feature not available in standalone version.

References

^ Ayttm: Universal Instant Messaging Client
^ Initial revision
^ XMPP Software: Clients
^ Voice over IP (VoIP) Questions
^ Piñeiro Iglesias, Alejandro (2011-11-16). "GNOME 3.2.2 released". gnome-announce mailing list. https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2011-November/msg00020.html.
^ "Skype 5.6 for Windows release notes". http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/10/skype_56_updated_for_windows_release_notes.html. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
^ "GPG encryption", Adium, http://trac.adium.im/ticket/559, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "Список стандартов XMPP, поддерживаемых в Bombus" (in Russian), Bombus, http://bombus-im.org/wiki/bombus/xeps, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "README-jabber", Coccinella, http://coccinella.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/coccinella/trunk/coccinella/READMEs/README-xmpp, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "XEP status in gabble", [[Telepathy (software)|]], http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Gabble%20XEP, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "GajimXEPSupport", Gajim, https://trac.gajim.org/wiki/GajimXEPSupport, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ Features, "Main Page", MCabber, http://wiki.mcabber.com/index.php/Main_Page#Features, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "Protocol support", Tkabber, 2005-11-18, http://tkabber.jabber.ru/protocols, retrieved 2011-12-13
^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://blog.trillian.im/?p=2366.

Instant messaging

Protocols (comparison)	XMPP Jingle GWFP IMPP .NET Messenger Service Skype protocol SIMPLE Yahoo! Messenger Protocol Zephyr OSCAR MSNP TOC/TOC2 IRC

See also	Mobile instant messaging Status message Buddy profile Contact list Instant message service center Instant messaging manager Presence information Chatterbot IM bot Internet Relay Chat File sharing Voice over IP Webcam Videoconferencing Backchannel Videophone SMS language Emoticon Chat log Web chat

Clients by protocol (comparison)

Single protocol	AIM Baidu Hi BlackBerry Messenger FaceTime Fetion Gadu-Gadu ICQ IMVU Lotus Sametime NateOn Qnext Skype Tencent QQ VZOchat Yahoo! Messenger

Multi-protocol	Adium Ayttm BitlBee Centericq Digsby eBuddy Empathy Fire iChat imo.im Jitsi Kopete Mail.ru Agent Meebo Miranda IM Microsoft Lync Nimbuzz IM Palringo Pidgin Trillian QIP 2010 Xfire

XMPP (Jabber)	Bombus Facebook Chat Gabber Gajim Gizmo5 Google Talk JWChat Psi Tkabber

.NET Messenger	aMSN emesene Microsoft Messenger for Mac Windows Live Messenger Windows Messenger