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. External links may lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.

General information

Client Author, creator First public release Type Latest stable version License
Adium Adam Iser, Evan Schoenberg 2001-09 Multi-protocol 1.5.10 (May 20, 2014 (2014-05-20)) [±] GPLv2
aMSN The aMSN team 2002-05 Single-protocol 0.98.4 GPL
AIM AOL 1997-05 Single-protocol 8.0.8.1 (April 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)) [±] Clickwrap
Ayttm Colin Leroy and Philip Tellis 2003-04 Multi-protocol
  • Linux: 0.6.1
  • Windows: 0.4.6-17
 GPL
BBM BlackBerry Limited 2006 Single-protocol 10.5.5.38 (BlackBerry 10) (31 October 2014 (2014-10-31)) [±]

8.5.1.8 (BlackBerry) (3 August 2014 (2014-08-03)) [±]

2.5.0.36 (Android) (10 November 2014 (2014-11-10)) [±]

2.5.0.26 (iOS) (31 October 2014 (2014-10-31)) [±]

Proprietary
BitlBee Wilmer van der Gaast 2002-08-09 Multi-protocol IRC gateway 3.4.1 (16 June 2015 (2015-06-16)) [±] GPL
Bombus Eugene Stahov 2005-01-05 Single-protocol v0.6 (2008) GPL
Centericq Konstantin Klyagin 1999 Multi-protocol 4.21.0 (September 2, 2005 (2005-09-02)) [±] GPL
Coccinella Mats Bengtsson 1999-12-01 Single-protocol 0.96.16 (December 1, 2009) GPLv3
eBuddy Paulo Taylor 2003-03-09 Multi-protocol 2011 Clickwrap
emesene Luis Mariano Guerra 2006-05-24 Multi-protocol 2.12.5 GPL
Empathy The GNOME Project 2007-05 Multi-protocol 3.12.11[1] (October 14, 2015 (2015-10-14)) [±] GPL
FaceTime Apple Inc. 2010 Single-protocol 2.0 (July 25, 2012) Proprietary
Fire Eric Peyton 1999-04-01 Multi-protocol 1.5.6 (February 16, 2006) [±] GPL
Firetalk Multitude Communications 1997 -2001 voice/music chat program GPL
Gadu-Gadu Łukasz Foltyn / GG Network S.A. 2000-08-15 Single-protocol
  • Modern UI: 2.0.0.179
  • Desktop: 12.0.49.11103 (December 13, 2013)
 Clickwrap
Gajim Yann Le Boulanger 2004-05-21 Single-protocol 0.16.5 (December 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)) [±] GPL
Google Hangouts Google, Inc. 2013-05-15 Single-protocol Clickwrap
Hookt Hookt, Inc. 2011-09-14 Single-protocol Proprietary
Hike Bharti SoftBank 2012-12-12 Single-protocol
  • 3.2.0 (Android, August 12, 2014 (2014-08-12))[2]
  • 2.6.2.0 (Windows Phone, July 23, 2014 (2014-07-23))[3]
  • 2.6.2 (BlackBerry, May 7, 2014 (2014-05-07))[4]
  • 2.6.0 (iOS, August 12, 2014 (2014-08-12))[5]
  • 2.6.0 (Symbian)
 Freeware
IBM Lotus Sametime IBM, Ubique 1998 Multi-protocol — proprietary T.120, SIP, XMPP 9.0.0 (September 20, 2013) Clickwrap
iChat Apple Inc. 2002-08 Multi-protocol 6.0.1 (1002) (February 1, 2012), replaced by Messages Clickwrap
ICQ Mirabilis (AOL) 1996-11 Single-protocol 8.0.5977 (December 14, 2012) Clickwrap
IMVU Will Harvey 2001-07 Multiple-protocol 3.0 Clickwrap
Indoona Tiscali S.p.A. 2009 Single-protocol 3+ Proprietary
Instantbird Florian Quèze 2007 Multi-protocol 1.5 (December 17, 2013 (2013-12-17)) [±] GPLv2
Jitsi Emil Ivov 2003 Multi-protocol 2.8 (build.5426) (March 19, 2015 (2015-03-19)) [±] LGPL
Kadu Kadu Team 2001-08 Multi-protocol 2.0 (February 21, 2015) GPLv2
KakaoTalk Kakao Corp. 2010-03-18 single-protocol
  • iOS: 5+
  • Android: 4+
  • Windows Phone: 2+
  • BlackBerry: 3+
  • Windows 8
 Proprietary
Kik Messenger Kik Interactive 2010-10 Multi-protocol 6.2 Freeware
Kopete Kopete Team 2002-03-03 Multi-protocol 1.7.2 (October 13, 2015 (2015-10-13)) [±][6] GPL
Libon Orange S.A. 2012-11-21 Proprietary
Line LINE Corporation 2011
  • iOS: 3.8.2
  • Android: 3.8.5
  • Windows Phone: 2.6.0.137
  • BlackBerry: 1.8.23
  • Windows 8
 Proprietary
MCabber Mikael Berthe 2005-06-07 Single-protocol 1.0.1 (January 27, 2016 (2016-01-27)) [±] GPL
Meetro Paul Bragiel & Samuel Stauffer 2005 Multi-protocol
  • Windows: 0.96 beta
  • OS X: 0.53 beta
 Clickwrap
Messages Apple Inc. 2012-07-25 Multi-protocol 8.1.3 (January 27, 2015) Clickwrap
Microsoft Lync Microsoft Corporation 2005 Single-protocol 2013 (October 2, 2012) Clickwrap
Miranda IM Miranda IM project 2000-02-06 Multi-protocol 0.10.45[7] (28 January 2016 (2016-01-28)) [±] GPL
MySpaceIM MySpace 2006-05-09 Single-protocol 1.0.754.0 (February 7, 2008) Clickwrap
naim Daniel Reed 1998-10-05 Multi-protocol 0.11.8.3.1 (July 9, 2007) GPL
Nimbuzz Evert Jaap Lugt 2006 Multi-protocol Android: 3.7.1
(23 July 2015 (2015-07-23)) [±][8]

iOS: 4.1.0
(28 July 2015 (2015-07-28)) [±][9]

BlackBerry OS: 4.0
(10 December 2013 (2013-12-10)) [±][10]

Windows Phone: 1.1.8.1
(16 April 2014 (2014-04-16)) [±][11]

 Clickwrap
Palringo Palringo Ltd 2006 Single-protocol
  • Windows: 2.7.9 (July 4, 2012)
  • Windows Mobile: 2.6.6 (March 30, 2012)
  • iOS: 4.12 (August 6, 2012)
  • Android: 5.2.8 (August 1, 2012)
  • OS X: 4.6.4 (July 24, 2012)
  • Windows Phone: 0.11.0.0 (February 14, 2012)
 Clickwrap
Paltalk 1998-06 Multi-protocol Version 10.2 Build 455 Clickwrap
Pidgin Mark Spencer 1998-11 Multi-protocol 2.10.12 (January 2, 2016 (2016-01-02)) [±] GPL
Psi Justin Karneges 2001 Single-protocol 0.15 (October 3, 2012 (2012-10-03)) [±] GPL
QIP Ilgam Zyulkorneev 2004 Multi-protocol QIP 2012 version 4.0 (build 8866) (27 November 2012 (2012-11-27)) [±] Clickwrap
QuteCom QuteCom 2004 Multi-protocol 2.2.1 (22 June 2011 (2011-06-22)[12]) [±] GPL
Ricochet Invisible.im 2014-06 Single-protocol 1.1.2 (February 13, 2016 (2016-02-13)[13]) [±] BSD
Sicher SHAPE GmbH June 2014 Single-protocol 1.1 Freeware
Signal Open Whisper Systems 2014-07 Single-protocol iOS 2.2 (November 10, 2015 (2015-11-10)[14]) [±]

Android 3.10.0 (February 3, 2016 (2016-02-03)[15]) [±]

 GPLv3
Skype Skype Technologies, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation 2003 Single-protocol Freemium (Adware)
Spark (XMPP client) Ignite Realtime 2006-09 Single-protocol 2.7.4 (December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)) [±] Apache_License
Surespot Surespot LLC 2013 Single-protocol iOS 11 (September 24, 2015 (2015-09-24)[30]) [±]

Android 63 (October 9, 2015 (2015-10-09)[31]) [±]

 GPLv3
Telegram Telegram Messenger LLP 2013 Single-protocol Android 3.5.1 (February 13, 2016 (2016-02-13)[32]) [±]

iOS 3.5 (February 12, 2016 (2016-02-12)[33]) [±]
Windows Phone 1.20 (January 4, 2016 (2016-01-04)[34]) [±]
Web Application 0.5.2 (November 29, 2015 (2015-11-29)[35]) [±]
OS X 2.00 (January 4, 2016 (2016-01-04)[36]) [±]
Desktop 0.9.19 (January 5, 2016 (2016-01-05)[37]) [±]

 GPLv2, GPLv3[38]
Tencent QQ Tencent Holdings 1999-02 Single-protocol See current releases Clickwrap
TextSecure Open Whisper Systems 2010-05 Single-protocol Discontinued (merged with RedPhone to become Signal) GPLv3
Threema Threema GmbH 2012-12 Single-protocol iOS
2.6.0 (February 1, 2016 (2016-02-01)) [±] [39]

Android
2.6 (January 21, 2016 (2016-01-21)) [±] [40]

Windows Phone
1.5.0 (February 3, 2016 (2016-02-03)) [±] [41]

 Proprietary commercial software
Tkabber Alexey Shchepin 2002-07-03 Single-protocol 1.1.2 (May 10, 2015) GPL
Tox Tox Foundation 2013 Single-protocol GPLv3
Trillian Cerulean Studios 2000-07-01 Multi-protocol Windows:

5.6 (build 5) (May 27, 2015 (2015-05-27)) [±]

Mac OS X:
3.3 (build 24) (December 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)) [±]

Linux:
2.0 (build 6) (December 31, 2015 (2015-12-31)) [±]

Android:
3.1.0.12 (August 20, 2015 (2015-08-20)) [±]

iOS:
3.1.0.36 (October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)) [±]

BlackBerry:
1.1.0.45 (October 26, 2011 (2011-10-26)) [±]

Web-Based:
4.2.0.8d (February 1, 2016 (2016-02-01)) [±]

Server:
2.0 (build 25) (December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)) [±]

 Clickwrap
Tuenti Tuenti 2006 Multi-protocol Proprietary
Upptalk Upptalk 2010 Dual-protocol iOS 2.4 (November 26, 2014 (2014-11-26)[42]) [±]

Android 2.0.2 (February 12, 2014 (2014-02-12)) [±]
Windows Phone 7.x 1.0.1.7 (September 12, 2013 (2013-09-12)) [±]
Windows Phone 8.x 1.0.0.4 (September 18, 2013 (2013-09-18)) [±]
BlackBerry OS 1.0.1 (May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31)) [±]
Kindle Fire 2.0 (December 19, 2013 (2013-12-19)[43]) [±]

 Freeware
Viber Talmon Marco, Igor Megzinik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha 2010-12-02 Single-protocol
  • Android:
    5.7.1.405 (January 12, 2016 (2016-01-12)[44]) [±]
  • iOS:
    5.7.1 (January 10, 2016 (2016-01-10)[45]) [±]
  • BlackBerry OS:
    3.1.16 (November 19, 2013 (2013-11-19)[46]) [±]
  • Windows Phone:
    4.5.0.0 (March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)[47]) [±]
 Freemium
WeChat Tencent Holdings 2011-01 Single-protocol iOS 6.3.8 (December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)[48][49]) [±]

OS X 1.2.2 (August 18, 2015 (2015-08-18)[50]) [±]
Android 6.3.5 (June 3, 2015 (2015-06-03)[51]) [±]
Windows Phone 6.0.4 (June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26)[52]) [±]
Symbian V3 4.2 (February 4, 2013 (2013-02-04)[53]) [±]
Symbian V5 4.2 (January 17, 2013 (2013-01-17)[54]) [±]
BlackBerry OS 3.6 (May 30, 2014 (2014-05-30)[55]) [±]
BlackBerry 10 1.0.1.16 (July 30, 2013 (2013-07-30)[55]) [±]
Windows 1.1 (May 6, 2015 (2015-05-06)[56]) [±]

 Clickwrap
WhatsApp WhatsApp Inc. 2009-08 Single-protocol Android: 2.12.451[57] (February 11, 2016 (2016-02-11)[58]) [±]

BlackBerry: 2.12.1423 (December 3, 2015 (2015-12-03)[59]) [±]
iOS: 2.12.13 (January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)[60]) [±]
Symbian: 2.12.345[61] [±]
Nokia S40 devices: 2.12.68 [±]
Windows Phone: 2.12.184 (June 24, 2015 (2015-06-24)) [±]

 Proprietary
Wickr Wickr Inc. 2012-06 Single-protocol
  • Android:
    2.6.2 (November 22, 2015 (2015-11-22)) [±]
  • iOS:
    2.6.1 (August 31, 2015 (2015-08-31)) [±]
  • Windows:
    2.3.5 [±]
  • Mac OS X:
    2.3.5 [±]
  • Linux:
    2.3.5 [±]
 Proprietary
Windows Live Messenger Microsoft Corporation 1999-07 Dual-protocol 2012 (v16.4.3508.205) (April 8, 2013 (2013-04-08)) [±] Clickwrap
Xfire Xfire Inc. 2004 Dual-protocol 1.155 (March 20, 2013 (2013-03-20)) [±] Clickwrap
Yahoo! Messenger Yahoo! 1999-06-21 Dual-protocol
  • Windows: 11.5.0.228
  • OS X: 3.0.2
  • Unix: 1.0.4
 Clickwrap
Zephyr Project Athena 1987 Single-protocol 2.0 MIT
Client 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
Windows OS X Unix-like Haiku Amiga Windows Phone Android BlackBerry OS iOS Symbian MeeGo Java ME WebOS Web VGCs
Adium No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
BBM No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
AIM YesYes Dropped No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No
aMSN Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes No No No No
Ayttm Yes Yes Yes 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
Bombus No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No
Centericq Yes Yes Yes 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
Coccinella Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
eBuddy No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No
emesene Yes Yes Yes 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
FaceTime No Included No No No No No No Included No No No No No No
Fire No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Gadu-Gadu Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No
Gajim Yes YesYes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Google Hangouts Partial[lower-alpha 1] Partial[lower-alpha 1] Partial[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No
Hookt Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No
Hike No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
IBM Lotus Sametime Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
ICQ Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
IMVU Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
Indoona No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No
Instantbird Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Jitsi Yes Yes Yes No No No Unstable Unstable No No No No No No No
KakaoTalk Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Kadu Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No
Kopete Yes[lower-alpha 3][62] Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Line Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Messages No Included No No No No No No Included No No No No No No
MCabber No Yes Yes 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
Miranda IM Yes 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
naim Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Nimbuzz Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Palringo Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Paltalk Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes No
Pidgin Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No
Psi Yes Yes Yes Yes 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
QuteCom Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Signal No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Coming soon No
Surespot No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Skype Yes Yes No[lower-alpha 2] No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes PSP PSV XB1
Spark (XMPP client) Yes Yes[lower-alpha 4] Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Telegram (standard messages) Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Coming soon[63] Yes No No No No Yes No
Telegram (secret chats) Dropped Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Tencent QQ Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
TextSecure No No No No No No Discontinued (merged with RedPhone to become Signal) No No No No No No No No
Threema No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Tkabber Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Tox Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Trillian Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 2] No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes No
Tuenti No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No
Viber Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
WeChat No Yes[64] No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
WhatsApp No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[65] No No Yes[66] No
Wickr Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Windows Live Messenger Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Xbox
Xfire Yes 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 Yes No No No Yes No
Yuilop No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Zephyr Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Snapchat No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No
Client Windows OS X Unix-like Haiku Amiga Windows Phone Android BlackBerry OS iOS Symbian MeeGo Java ME WebOS Web VGCs
Desktop Mobile Other
  1. 1 2 3 Only available as Google Chrome/Chromium plugin. No native application available.
  2. 1 2 3 The only supported desktop Unix-like platform is GNU/Linux.
  3. ↑ May not be the final version suitable for everyday use.
  4. ↑ Runs under Java, no native installer for latest version
  5. ↑ Currently in beta testing.

Protocol support

Client WLM[lower-alpha 1] Y!M AIM/ICQ[lower-alpha 2] XMPP[lower-alpha 3] IRC IBM Lotus Sametime Novell GroupWise Messenger Gadu-Gadu QQ Xfire Skype[lower-alpha 2] MySpaceIM SIP Others
Adium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Partial[lower-alpha 4] Yes No MobileMe, Zephyr, NateOn, Tlen
AIM No No Yes[lower-alpha 5] No No No No No No No No No No No
aMSN Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Ayttm Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No
BitlBee Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A[lower-alpha 6] Depends[lower-alpha 7] No Depends[lower-alpha 7]
Centericq Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No No No
climm No No Yes[lower-alpha 8] Partial No No No No No No No No No No
eBuddy Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes No No
emesene Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Empathy Yes Depends[lower-alpha 7] Yes Yes Depends[lower-alpha 7] Yes Depends[lower-alpha 7]
Fire Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No
Gajim No No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
IBM Lotus Sametime No Yes/No[lower-alpha 9] Yes/No[lower-alpha 9] Yes/No[lower-alpha 9] No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
ICQ No No Yes[lower-alpha 8] No No No No No No No No No No No
IMVU Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No IMVU
Instantbird Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Netsoul
Jitsi Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No
Kadu No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No
KDE Telepathy No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No KDE Talk, Telegram
Kopete Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 4] No No SILC, WinPopup
Messages No Yes Yes[lower-alpha 5] Yes No No No No No No No No No MobileMe
Miranda IM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes[lower-alpha 10] Yes Yes Yes No Tlen
naim No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No Lily
Nimbuzz Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No Yes Twitter, Facebook chat, Google Talk
Palringo Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No ? ? ? No ?
Paltalk No Yes Yes No No No No No No ? ? ? No ?
Pidgin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 10] Yes Yes Battle.net, NateOn, SILC, Tlen, Zephyr
QIP No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes No MRA, XIMSS
QuteCom Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No
Skype Partial No No Partial[lower-alpha 11] No No No No No No Yes No No No
Spark (XMPP client) No No No Yes No No No No No No No No Yes[lower-alpha 10] No
Tencent QQ No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No
Tkabber No No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Trillian Yes Yes[lower-alpha 12] Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 12] No Yes[lower-alpha 12] Yes[lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 12] Yes[lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 12] Yes[lower-alpha 12] No[67][lower-alpha 12] Yes No LinkedIn,[lower-alpha 12] Foursquare,[lower-alpha 12] ASTRA, VZ[lower-alpha 12]
Windows Live Messenger Yes Yes No Partial[lower-alpha 11] No No No No No No No No No No
Yahoo! Messenger Partial[lower-alpha 13] Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
Upptalk No No 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 No Zephyr
WLM Y!M AIM/ICQ XMPP IRC IBM Lotus Sametime Novell GroupWise Messenger Gadu-Gadu QQ Xfire Skype MySpaceIM SIP Others
  1. ↑ Formerly named MSN Messenger or .NET Messenger protocol
  2. 1 2 Supports messaging to a phone number (text messaging service).
  3. ↑ Commonly termed Jabber, used in Facebook, LiveJournal, Tweeter, Identi.ca, etc.
  4. 1 2 Needs running official Skype client.
  5. 1 2 Via AIM account only.
  6. ↑ Bitlbee is accessed via IRC.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Supported via Pidgin back-end, depends on its version
  8. 1 2 Via ICQ account only.
  9. 1 2 3 Feature is missing from client, but can be used via IBM Sametime Gateway.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Available as plugin.
  11. 1 2 Supports importing Facebook contacts and allows to send messages to and receive from Facebook IM users.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not supported in versions for Android (checked 12 november 2012 in latest version 1.2.0.11)
  13. ↑ Via Yahoo! Messenger account only.

XMPP-related features

Client Transports[lower-alpha 1] File transfer
(XEP-0096)[lower-alpha 2]		 Multi-user
chat		 Link-local
(XEP-0174)		 Jingle
File transfer[lower-alpha 2] Voice calls Video calls
Adium Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
BitlBee Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Bombus[68] No Yes Yes No No No No
climm No Yes No No No No No
Coccinella[69] Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Telepathy-based[lower-alpha 3][70] No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gajim[71] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jitsi No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kadu No Yes No No No No No
Kopete Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Messages No Yes Only join[lower-alpha 4] Yes Yes No No
MCabber[72] No No Yes No Yes No No
Nimbuzz Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Pidgin[73] Yes Yes Yes Yes No Except Windows[lower-alpha 5] Except Windows[lower-alpha 5]
Psi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Spark (XMPP client) ? Yes Yes ? ?Yes[lower-alpha 6] Yes[lower-alpha 6]
Tkabber[74] Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Trillian No Yes Only Windows[lower-alpha 7] Only Windows[lower-alpha 7] No No No
  1. ↑ 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.
  2. 1 2 The difference between XEP-0096 (legacy) and XEP-0234 (Jingle) file transfer is that the latter works behind NAT (e.g., from home and corporate networks).
  3. ↑ Both Empathy and KDE Telepathy are based on Telepathy framework and share same properties in regard of XMPP features support.
  4. ↑ Multi-user chats can be joined but not started
  5. 1 2 Feature unavailable on Windows.
  6. 1 2 Supported via plugin.
  7. 1 2 Feature available on Windows only.

Features

Information on what features each of clients support.

Client Number of features included Toolkits or SDKs File transfer Proxy server Graphical emoticons 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 assistance Whiteboard RTL texting
Adium 11 Cocoa Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes ? ? ?
AIM 11 W32/Cocoa Yes Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] Yes Yes No Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] No Yes Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] No Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] No No No
aMSN 14 Tcl/Tk Yes http, socks5, msn gateway Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Ayttm 9 GTK2 No http, socks4/5 Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No Partial Partial No No No
BitlBee 3 N/A Yes Yes No Yes No N/A Yes No No N/A ? ? No Yes ? ? ?
Bombus 10 Java ME Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No ?
Centericq 5 ncurses Partial ? No ? No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No No Yes ? ? ?
climm 7 line based 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 http, socks4/5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes ?
eBuddy 6 No Partial ? Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No ?
Empathy 12 GTK3 Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes ? ? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Fire 9 Cocoa Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gadu-Gadu 8 Qt Yes ? Yes Yes No ? No Yes No Yes Yes ? ? Yes No No ?
Gajim 12 GTK2 Yes http Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No Yes
Google Talk 8 W32 Yes ? Partial Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Third party plugin Yes Yes No Yes
IBM Lotus Sametime 15 Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes available Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
ICQ 12 W32 Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
IMVU 6 ? No ? Yes Yes Partial Yes No Partial[lower-alpha 2] No Yes No ? No Yes ? ? ?
Jitsi 12 Java Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Kadu 10 Qt Yes Yes Yes Yes No Partial Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes No No Yes No No ?
Kopete 13 Qt/KDE Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes With plugin Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
Messages 11 Cocoa Yes ? Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 3] ?
MCabber 4 Curses No ? No Yes No ? ? No ? Yes No No No Yes No No ?
Miranda IM 12 W32 Yes Yes, socks4/5, http(s) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 3] No Partial[lower-alpha 3] Yes No Yes Yes
Palringo 3 ? No ? Yes ? No Yes No No No No Yes No Partial (picture capture only) ? No No ?
Paltalk 9 N/A Yes ? Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ?
Pidgin 7 GTK2 Partial Yes, http, socks4/5 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial (XMPP in Linux) No Yes (XMPP in Linux) Yes No Partial Yes
Psi 6 KDE/Qt 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 ?
QuteCom 6 Qt Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes No No ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Skype 12 Qt/KDE, W32 Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes/No[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 1] Yes
Surespot ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? ? ?
Tencent QQ 11 W32 Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Telegram 12 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Tkabber 13 Tcl/Tk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No
Tox 7 Qt, GTK, Ncurses, WPF Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Trillian 12 W32, Cocoa Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes
Wickr 7 No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No ?
Windows Live Messenger 15 W32 Yes Yes, http, socks4/5, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Xfire 6 W32 Yes ? No Yes No Yes Partial Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No ?
Yahoo! Messenger 11 W32, Cocoa, GTK Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Partial Yes
Yuilop 7 ? Yes No Yes ? No No No No ? Yes Yes No No Yes No Partial ?
Client Number of features included Toolkits or SDKs File transfer Proxy server Graphical emoticons 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 assistance Whiteboard RTL texting
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Feature only supported on Windows
  2. ↑ While IMVU does not allow add-ons to extend the client, registered accounts can create new content for use inside the simulation.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Supported with plugin
Client Handwriting mode Dockable Multiaccount Spell check User-defined graphic emoticons Animations OAuth
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 ? ? ? ?
Centericq ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
climm N/A ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Coccinella ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
Empathy No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fire ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gajim ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Google Talk Yes/No[lower-alpha 1] Yes Yes/No[lower-alpha 2] No No Yes/No[lower-alpha 2] No
iChat No ? Yes Yes ? ? ?
ICQ No Yes No Yes No Yes, tZer ?
IMVU ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Jitsi No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Kadu No Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes, emoticons No
Kopete No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, emoticons No
Miranda IM No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
MySpaceIM ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
naim No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Paltalk ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pidgin No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, emoticons, user icons ?
Psi No ? Yes Yes Yes ? ?
QIP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, emoticons ?
QuteCom ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Skype No No No No ? Yes, animated emoticons ?
Tencent QQ No Yes Yes No Yes Yes ?
Tkabber No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, animated emoticons No
Trillian Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes, animated emoticons ?
Windows Live Messenger Yes No Yes No Yes Yes, animated emoticons, winks ?
Yahoo! Messenger ? ? ? No ? ? ?
Telegram (standard messages) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Telegram (secret chats) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Signal ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Snapchat ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Client Handwriting mode Dockable Multiaccount Spell check User-defined graphic emoticons Animations OAuth for client authorization
  1. ↑ The connection between the Google Talk client and the Google Talk server is encrypted, except when using Gmail's chat over HTTP, a federated network that doesn't support encryption, or when using a proxy like IMLogic. - Google
  2. 1 2 Feature unavailable in standalone version.

Secure messengers

The table describes an overview of those Instant Messenger Clients which send encrypted messages.

Client name Development status Open source client[lower-alpha 1] Client-
side encryption[lower-alpha 2]		 Decentralized[lower-alpha 3] Contact verification[lower-alpha 4] Encryption ciphers Forward secrecy[lower-alpha 5] Multiple encryption[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 7] Encrypted groupchat[lower-alpha 8] Encrypted file transfer[lower-alpha 8] Public key and IP unrelated[lower-alpha 9] Proxy /Tor[lower-alpha 10] TCP[lower-alpha 11] UDP[lower-alpha 11] SCTP[lower-alpha 11] Asynchronous encryp. communication[lower-alpha 12] Encrypted client data[lower-alpha 13] Screenshot protection[lower-alpha 14] Self-destructing messages[lower-alpha 14]
Symmetric[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 15] Asymmetric[lower-alpha 16] Asym. key size[lower-alpha 17]
RSA DSA ECC NTRU El Gamal Default Max.
Adium Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Optional Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? No No No No No
BitlBee Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19][lower-alpha 20] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No No
ChatSecure Active Yes Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 21] Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] Optional ? ? ? Optional ? ? ? No ? ? No
Conversations Active Yes Optional Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] Optional ? Optional ? No ? ? ? Optional ? ? No
climm ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gajim[lower-alpha 22] Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19][lower-alpha 23] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iMessage Active No[lower-alpha 24] Yes[lower-alpha 21][lower-alpha 24] No No[lower-alpha 21] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No[lower-alpha 24] ? ? ? ? No ? ? ? Yes ? No No
Jitsi Active Yes Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 21] Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? No ? No No
Kik Active No[lower-alpha 18] No No No[lower-alpha 21] N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No[lower-alpha 21] No No ? N/A No Yes ? No N/A No No No
Kopete[lower-alpha 22] Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Optional Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? No Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? No No ? ?
MCabber[lower-alpha 22] Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Miranda IM[lower-alpha 22][lower-alpha 23] Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pidgin Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Optional Optional Optional[lower-alpha 21] Optional[lower-alpha 19][75] Optional[lower-alpha 23][76] ? ? ? ? ? 4096 Optional[lower-alpha 19][75] ? ? Optional[75] ? ? Yes ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 25] ? ? ?
Psi[lower-alpha 22] ? Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RetroShare Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes Yes ? ? No No 2048 4096 Yes[lower-alpha 21] No Yes Yes No Optional Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? ?
Ricochet Active Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? No No
Sicher Active No[lower-alpha 18] Yes No ? Yes Yes ? ? No No 2048 2048 No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No ? ? ? ?
Signal Active Yes[lower-alpha 18][lower-alpha 26] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Partially[lower-alpha 28] Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] No Yes[lower-alpha 27] No No 2048 2048 Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] No Yes No No Yes[lower-alpha 29] Yes[lower-alpha 30] Yes No
Snapchat Active No[lower-alpha 21] No[lower-alpha 21] No No[lower-alpha 21] N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No[lower-alpha 21] No No No N/A No ? ? ? N/A No Yes, warning Yes
Surespot Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Yes No Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes No Yes[lower-alpha 31] ? No No 1024 2048 Yes No No No No ? Yes No No ? ? ? ?
Telegram (standard messages) Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] No No No[lower-alpha 21] N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No No No No N/A ? ? No No N/A Optional No No
Telegram (secret chats) Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Yes No Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes Yes ? No No No 1024 2048 Sort of[lower-alpha 32] No No No No ? Yes No No No Optional Yes, warning Yes
TextSecure Discontinued[lower-alpha 33] Yes[lower-alpha 18][lower-alpha 26] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Partially[lower-alpha 28] Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] No Yes[lower-alpha 27] No No 2048 2048 Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] No Yes No No Yes[lower-alpha 29] Yes Yes No
Threema Active No[lower-alpha 21] Yes[lower-alpha 21] No Yes[lower-alpha 21] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 21] ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ?
Tkabber[lower-alpha 22] Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Tox Active Yes[lower-alpha 18] Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? ? No No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Trillian[lower-alpha 34] Not OpenPGP. Active No[lower-alpha 18] ? ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 19] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Optional; only on Windows, not supported[lower-alpha 19][lower-alpha 35] ? ? Optional; only on Windows, not supported[lower-alpha 19][lower-alpha 35] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
WASTE Discontinued Yes[lower-alpha 18] Yes Yes ? No Yes ? ? No No 1024 1024 No No No Yes No No Yes No No ? ? ? ?
WhatsApp Active No Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] No Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] ? Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] ? ? ? ? Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] No ? ? ? Work in progress[lower-alpha 36] No No No
Wickr Active No Yes[lower-alpha 21] No Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 21] Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? Yes
Client name Development status Open source client[lower-alpha 1] Client-
side encryption[lower-alpha 2]		 Decentralized[lower-alpha 3] Contact verification[lower-alpha 4] Encryption ciphers Forward secrecy[lower-alpha 5] Multiple encryption[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 7] Encrypted groupchat[lower-alpha 8] Encrypted file transfer[lower-alpha 8] Public key and IP unrelated[lower-alpha 9] Proxy /Tor[lower-alpha 10] TCP[lower-alpha 11] UDP[lower-alpha 11] SCTP[lower-alpha 11] Asynchronous encryp. communication[lower-alpha 12] Encrypted client data[lower-alpha 13] Screenshot protection[lower-alpha 14] Self-destructing messages[lower-alpha 14]
Symmetric[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 15] Asymmetric[lower-alpha 16] Asym. key size[lower-alpha 17]
RSA DSA ECC NTRU El Gamal Default Max.
Client Name Encryption OTR[lower-alpha 15]
AIM Yes[lower-alpha 37][lower-alpha 34][lower-alpha 21] ?
aMSN Yes[lower-alpha 34][lower-alpha 23] ?
Bombus[68] Yes[lower-alpha 34] Not OpenPGP. No
Coccinella[69] Yes[lower-alpha 34] Not OpenPGP. No
Centericq Yes[lower-alpha 22] ?
eBuddy Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
Fire Yes[lower-alpha 38] ?
Gadu-Gadu Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
IBM Lotus Sametime Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
IMVU ? ?
Kadu Yes[lower-alpha 34] Not OpenPGP. Yes
Paltalk Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
QIP Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
QuteCom Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?
Skype Sort of[lower-alpha 39][77] ?
Telepathy-based[lower-alpha 40][70] Yes/No[78][79] Not OpenPGP. ?
Yahoo! Messenger Yes[lower-alpha 34][lower-alpha 21] ?
Yuilop Yes[lower-alpha 34] ?

Messengers with no encryption

Client Name Encryption
Empathy[lower-alpha 40] No
Google Talk No
ICQ No
Mxit No[lower-alpha 21]
Nimbuzz No[80]
Palringo No
Tencent QQ No[lower-alpha 21]
Windows Live Messenger No
Xfire No
  1. 1 2 For transparency to the public, the source code of the encryption algorithms, and its implementation into a messenger, should be subject to public auditing—which may disclose flaws or implementation failures. Whereas, a company offering a messenger which does not reveal the source must be blindly trusted. In general it is recommended to not trust closed source encryption.
  2. 1 2 The client uses client-side encryption to encrypt the data before it is transmitted, with a key that is stored on the device of the user, not on a remote server on the internet.
  3. 1 2 If a messenger relies on a central server, the setup is closed and may be surveilled. To counter this, decentralized computing architectures have been developed via a peer-to-peer technology, open source chat servers (easily setup by anyone) and/or federated protocols. An architecture in which all the messages do not pass through a central server lessens a single point for surveillance.
  4. 1 2 The clients have a built-in method for users to verify the identity of correspondents they are speaking with and the integrity of the channel, even if the service provider or other third parties are compromised. Two possible ways of doing this are through:
    1. An interface for users to view the fingerprint (hash) of their correspondent's public keys as well as their own, which users can verify manually or out-of-band.
    2. A key exchange protocol with a short-authentication-string comparison. An example is the Socialist millionaire's protocol.
    The solution should verify a binding between the users and the cryptographic channel.
  5. 1 2 Forward secrecy describes the option to change the encryption key every session or even instant. This may be implemented by Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR)
  6. 1 2 3 4 In symmetric cryptography, the same key is used for encryption and decryption. Knowledge of this key needs to be limited to the two communication partners to ensure confidentiality. As asymmetric algorithms are relatively computationally costly in terms of speed, as compared to symmetric cryptography, the session key may be encrypted / decrypted by a asymmetric algorithm and use a much faster symmetric algorithm to encrypt and decrypt messages, reducing computational cost (increasing speed).
  7. 1 2 Multiple encryption is the process of encrypting an already encrypted message one or more times, either using the same or a different algorithm.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Some messengers offer Groupchat and file transfer. These features should transfer only encrypted bytes. Encrypted file transfer may be implemented by Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR)
  9. 1 2 Public keys are used to identify users. A user's IP address can in some cases be related to his or her public key. Messengers that do not relate the user's public key to the user's IP address are considered more secure. This offers more security because the IP cannot be targeted to gain access to the private key. If an attacker knows the IP related to a public key, he or she can try to get on the remote machine, download and decrypt the private key and thus decrypt all encrypted communication.
  10. 1 2 Proxies and Tor might prevent an IP from being related to the public key.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not all messengers support the same transport protocols like TCP, UDP and SCTP.
  12. 1 2 Lets users exchange encrypted messages asynchronously, i.e. participants do not have to be online at the same time.
  13. 1 2 Lets users set a passphrase that encrypts the local message database. The messages are protected if the device is e.g. lost or stolen.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Screenshot protection and self-destructing messages provide only basic protection against casual/inadvertent logging of messages by users.
  15. 1 2 3 Off-the-Record Messaging encryption uses the AES symmetric algorithm and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It allows forward secrecy and encrypted file transfers.
  16. 1 2 The critical advantage in an asymmetric key system is that copies of keys do not need to be sent between communicators. This prevents a third party from copying a key while it is in transit, and preventing the third party from spying on all future messages. In addition, if one key was copied by a third party, only messages to the holder of the key would be compromised, not the messages to the other party in the communication. However, asymmetric algorithms are relatively computationally costly in terms of speed, as compared to symmetric cryptography. The most common asymmetric cryptography algorithm is the RSA Algorithm. Alternative asymmetric algorithms are Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), ElGamal and NTRU. NTRU is regarded not vulnerable to decryption by quantum computing.
  17. 1 2 The key size describes the length of the needed mathematical operation. Simply spoken, the longer the key, the longer it takes to crack it. Today a key size of 2048 for asymmetric keys is recommended.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 See: Comparison of instant messaging clients#General information.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Implements Off-the-Record Messaging encryption which uses the AES symmetric algorithm and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It allows forward secrecy and encrypted file transfers.
  20. ↑ Feature is implemented with libpurple back-end
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 "Secure Messaging Scorecard. Which apps and tools actually keep your messages safe?". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2014-11-04.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 OpenPGP encryption (XEP-0027).
  23. 1 2 3 4 Supported with plugin
  24. 1 2 3 Lee, Micah (2 March 2015). "You Should Really Consider Installing Signal, an Encrypted Messaging App for iPhone". The Intercept. First Look Media. Retrieved 12 January 2016. Apple’s iMessage ... employs strong encryption, but only when communicating between two Apple devices and only when there is a proper data connection. Otherwise, iMessage falls back on insecure SMS messaging. iMessage also lacks forward secrecy and inspectable source code.
  25. ↑ Supported when used with a protocol/service (e.g. Yahoo, MSN etc.) that supports offline messaging. Most protocols support offline messaging (see the features table, fourth from last column).
  26. 1 2 Open Whisper Systems. "TextSecure". GitHub. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Open Whisper Systems. "ProtocolV2". GitHub. Retrieved 17 January 2015. The TextSecure encrypted messaging protocol is an end-to-end encrypted messaging protocol with deniability guarantees and message-level forward secrecy, similar to OTR Messaging. [It] uses the no header keys variation of the axolotl ratchet and protobuf records.
  28. 1 2 Open Whisper Systems. "TextSecure-Server". GitHub. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  29. 1 2 Moxie Marlinspike (22 August 2013). "Forward Secrecy for Asynchronous Messages". Open Whisper Systems. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  30. ↑ On iOS, the local message database is encrypted by the operating system if the user has a password on their lock screen.
  31. ↑ "Everyday Usage Improvements #27". user:2fours, item 3: github.com. 2013-11-10.
  32. ↑ Encryption keys are only changed after a key has been used more than 100 times or has been in use for more than a week.
  33. ↑ Merged with RedPhone to become Signal.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Uses encryption; but the type isn't known at the time this client was added to this table.
  35. 1 2 Feature available on Windows only, not actively supported, not stable.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Open Whisper Systems has asserted that they have incorporated the protocol used in their TextSecure application into the latest WhatsApp client for Android and that support for other clients, group/media messages, and key verification would be coming soon. WhatsApp confirmed the partnership to reporters, but there was no announcement or documentation about the encryption feature on the official website, and further requests for comment were declined.
  37. ↑ Feature only supported on Windows
  38. ↑ Incompatible to other clients.
  39. ↑ Microsoft advertises proprietary "encryption" with Skype but it is not considered secure.
  40. 1 2 Both Empathy and KDE Telepathy are based on Telepathy framework and share same properties in regard of XMPP features support.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ANNOUNCE: Empathy 3.12.11". 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "hike messenger". Play Store. Google. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ "hike messenger". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ "hike messenger". BlackBerry World. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ "hike messenger". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  6. ↑ "KDE Update Announcement". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Miranda IM v0.10.45 Released". Miranda IM. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nimbuzz Messenger on Google Play". Google Play Store. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Nimbuzz Messenger". iTunes Store. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "BlackBerry World - Nimbuzz Messenger". BlackBerry World. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Nimbuzz". Windows Phone. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Announcement: QuteCom 2.2.1
  13. ↑ "Releases". ricochet.im. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Open Whisper Systems (10 November 2015). "Signal - Private Messenger". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Open Whisper Systems (3 February 2016). "Signal – Private Messenger". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Support, Skype (18 June 2015). "What's new in Skype for Windows desktop?". Skype Help. Microsoft. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "Messaging + Skype". Microsoft Store. Microsoft. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Tong, Karen (3 September 2014). "Skype 1.8 for Xbox One now has photo viewing and enhanced Snap experience". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  19. ↑ Kingwell, Lara (20 October 2014). "Drawing Comes to Skype for Windows Phone". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "Skype". Windows Phone Apps+Games Store. Microsoft. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  21. ↑ Guzik, Aga (12 August 2014). "Skype for modern Windows 3.1: now you can edit messages". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  22. ↑ The Skype Team (30 September 2015). "Skype 7.13 for Mac: now supports OS X El Capitan". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Cimmino, Marco (18 June 2014). "Skype 4.3 for Linux". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  24. ↑ The Skype Team (28 September 2015). "Skype 6.4 for Android: Manage Conversations from Android Wear". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  25. ↑ The Skype Team (23 November 2015). "Skype 6.6 for iPhone and iPad brings phone number, date and address detection, and improved multitasking". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  26. ↑ "Skype for iPhone". iTunes Preview. Apple Inc. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  27. ↑ The Skype Team (23 November 2015). "Skype 6.6 for iPhone and iPad brings phone number, date and address detection, and improved multitasking". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  28. ↑ "Skype for iPad". iTunes Preview. Apple Inc. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "Skype". BlackBerry World. BlackBerry. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  30. ↑ surespot llc (24 September 2015). "surespot encrypted messenger". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  31. ↑ surespot (9 October 2015). "surespot encrypted messenger". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  32. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (3 August 2015). "Telegram". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  33. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (1 December 2014). "Telegram". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  34. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (1 July 2015). "Telegram Messenger". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  35. ↑ Igor Zhukov (zhukov) (13 October 2015). "Webogram". Web application. GitHub. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  36. ↑ Mikhail Filimonov (14 October 2015). "Messenger for Telegram". Mac App Store. Apple. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  37. ↑ telegramdesktop (9 December 2015). "Telegram Desktop". telegramdesktop. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "Telegram license info". Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  39. ↑ Threema GmbH (2016-02-03). "Threema". Apple App Store. Apple.
  40. ↑ Threema GmbH (2016-02-03). "Threema". Play Store. Google.
  41. ↑ Threema GmbH (2016-02-03). "Threema". Windows Phone Store. Microsoft.
  42. ↑ http://www.mod-gadget.com/upptalk-app-updated-ipad/
  43. ↑ "yuilop - Free texts and SMS". Amazon. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  44. ↑ Viber Media S.à r.l. (2014-12-18). "Viber - Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  45. ↑ Viber Media, Inc (2015-09-30). "Viber On the App Store on iTunes". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  46. ↑ Viber Media (2013-11-19). "BlackBerry World - Viber". BlackBerry App World. Research In Motion (RIM). Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  47. ↑ Viber Media (2015-03-31). "Viber". Windows Phone Marketplace. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  48. ↑ Tencent Inc. (June 25, 2014). "WeChat". App Store. Apple. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  49. ↑ Note:
    1. App Store has been noted 17+, which means download only for seventeen years and older (for Apple ID holder).
    2. iOS version available in iPhone only but user can run in iPad.
  50. ↑ Tencent Inc. (March 17, 2014). "WeChat". Mac App Store. Apple. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  51. ↑ Tencent Inc. (August 12, 2013). "WeChat". Google Play. Google. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  52. ↑ Tencent Inc. (June 26, 2015). "WeChat". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  53. ↑ Tencent Inc. "WeChat 4.2 for S60v3 Release". WeChat. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  54. ↑ Tencent Inc. "WeChat 4.2 for S60v5 Release". WeChat. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
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