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 1.5.10.4 (April 27, 2017 (2017-04-27)) [±] 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 3.5.1 (30 January 2017 (2017-01-30)) [±] 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
Discord Hammer & Chisel 2015-03-06 Voip and IM 03.30.2017; (March 30, 2017) Proprietary
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 3.12.12[1] (May 13, 2016 (2016-05-13)) [±] GPL
Facebook Messenger Facebook, Inc. 2011-08-09 Single-protocol Freeware
FaceTime Apple Inc.
  • iOS: (June 24, 2010)
  • macOS: (February 24, 2011)
 Single-protocol
  • iOS: 10.3.3 (stable) (July 19, 2017)
  • macOS: 4.0 (3080) (July 24, 2017)
  • Other Environments: N/A
 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 0.16.8 (June 4, 2017 (2017-06-04)) [±] GPL
Google Allo Google, Inc. 2016-09-21 Single-protocol
Android 16.0.024 / August 14, 2017 (2017-08-14)[2]
iOS 15.0 / August 9, 2017 (2017-08-09)[3]
 Clickwrap
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))[4]
  • 2.6.2.0 (Windows Phone, July 23, 2014 (2014-07-23))[5]
  • 2.6.2 (BlackBerry, May 7, 2014 (2014-05-07))[6]
  • 2.6.0 (iOS, August 12, 2014 (2014-08-12))[7]
  • 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 Mail.Ru 1996-11 Single-protocol 8.0.5977 (January 14, 2016) Apache license
IMVU Will Harvey 2001-07 Multiple-protocol 3.0 Clickwrap
Instantbird Florian Quèze 2007 Multi-protocol 1.5 (December 17, 2013 (2013-12-17)) [±] GPLv2
Jeti Esdeboer ? Single-protocol 0.7.7 GPL
Jitsi Emil Ivov 2003 Multi-protocol 2.10 (build.5550) (February 5, 2017 (2017-02-05)) [±] LGPL
Kadu Kadu Team 2001-08 Multi-protocol 4.1 (December 2, 2016) 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)) [±][8] 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 1.1.0 (June 4, 2017 (2017-06-04)) [±] 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 0.10.72[9] (3 August 2017 (2017-08-03)) [±] GPL
Mysms sms.at mobile internet services gmbh 2011 Single-protocol ? Proprietary
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)) [±][10]

iOS: 4.1.0
(28 July 2015 (2015-07-28)) [±][11]

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

Windows Phone: 1.1.8.1
(16 April 2014 (2014-04-16)) [±][13]

 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 2.12.0 (March 9, 2017 (2017-03-09)[14]) [±] GPL
Psi Justin Karneges 2001 Single-protocol 1.2 (July 26, 2017 (2017-07-26)) [±] 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)[15]) [±] GPL
Ricochet Invisible.im 2014-06 Single-protocol 1.1.4 (November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08)[16]) [±] BSD
SafeSwiss SafeSwiss Secure Communication AG 2016-12 Single-protocol Proprietary
Sicher SHAPE GmbH 2014-06 Single-protocol 1.1 Freeware
Signal Open Whisper Systems 2014-07 Single-protocol Android 4.8.1 (August 7, 2017 (2017-08-07)[17]) [±]

iOS 2.15.2 (August 7, 2017 (2017-08-07)[18]) [±]

 GPLv3
Skype Skype Technologies, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation 2003 Single-protocol
Windows, UWP 11.19.820.0 / 18 July 2017 (2017-07-18)[19]
Windows, desktop 7.39.0.102 / 1 August 2017 (2017-08-01)[20]
macOS 7.56 / 28 June 2017 (2017-06-28)[21]
Linux 5.0.0.0 / 1 March 2017 (2017-03-01)[22]
Android 8.2.0.49163 / 19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)[23]
iOS & watchOS 8.1.2 / 29 June 2017 (2017-06-29)[24]
BlackBerry 10 6.1.0.16424 / 14 September 2015 (2015-09-14)[25]
 Freemium (Adware)
Spark (XMPP client) Ignite Realtime 2006-09 Single-protocol 2.7.7 (April 24, 2016 (2016-04-24)) [±] Apache License
Surespot Surespot LLC 2013 Single-protocol iOS 11 (September 24, 2015 (2015-09-24)[26]) [±]

Android 63 (October 9, 2015 (2015-10-09)[27]) [±]

 GPLv3
Telegram Telegram Messenger LLP 2013 Single-protocol
Android 4.2.2 (1059) / 4 August 2017 (2017-08-04)[28]
iOS 4.2.1 (65343) / 3 August 2017 (2017-08-03)[29]
Windows Phone 2.4 / 30 July 2017 (2017-07-30)[30]
Windows, macOS, Linux 1.1.19 / 1 August 2017 (2017-08-01)[31]
macOS (Mac App Store version) 3.1.2 (101771) / 30 July 2017 (2017-07-30)[32]
 GPLv2, GPLv3[33]
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
2.10.0 (May 15, 2017 (2017-05-15)) [±] [34]

Android
3.15 (July 17, 2017 (2017-07-17)) [±] [35]

Windows Phone
1.9.0 (May 15, 2017 (2017-05-15)) [±] [36]

 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:

6.0 (build 61) (July 24, 2017 (2017-07-24)) [±]

Mac OS X:
6.0 (build 4) (March 27, 2017 (2017-03-27)) [±]

Linux:
6.0 (build 1) (May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)) [±]

Android:
6.0.0.3 (March 17, 2017 (2017-03-17)) [±]

iOS:
6.0.1 (March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31)) [±]

BlackBerry:
1.1.0.45 (October 25, 2011 (2011-10-25)) [±]

Web-Based:
4.2.0.10d (August 30, 2016 (2016-08-30)) [±]

Server:
6.0 (build 10) (July 24, 2017 (2017-07-24)) [±]

 Clickwrap
Tuenti Tuenti 2006 Multi-protocol Proprietary
Upptalk Upptalk 2010 Dual-protocol iOS 2.4 (November 26, 2014 (2014-11-26)[37]) [±]

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)[38]) [±]

 Freeware
Viber Talmon Marco, Igor Megzinik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha 2010-12-02 Single-protocol
  • Android:
    6.9.5.9 (June 13, 2017 (2017-06-13)[39]) [±]
  • iOS:
    6.9.5 (June 13, 2017 (2017-06-13)[40]) [±]
  • Windows Mobile:
    4.5.4 (December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)[41]) [±]
  • BlackBerry 10 OS:
    4.3.0.728 (April 23, 2014 (2014-04-23)[42]) [±]
 Freemium
RingID Ring Inc. 2015 Multi-protocol
  • 4.1.4 (Android, March 16, 2016 (2016-03-16))[43]
  • 4.1.1.4 (Windows Phone, March 9, 2016 (2016-03-09))[44]
  • 4.2.2 (iOS, March 19, 2016 (2016-03-19))[45]
 Freeware
WeChat Tencent Holdings 2011-01 Single-protocol
iOS 6.5.6 / March 27, 2017 (2017-03-27)[46][47]
macOS 2.2.1 / March 23, 2017 (2017-03-23)[48]
Android 6.5.4 / March 8, 2017 (2017-03-08)[49]
Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8 6.0.8[50]
Symbian V3 4.2 / February 4, 2013 (2013-02-04)[51]
Symbian V5 4.2 / January 17, 2013 (2013-01-17)[52]


 Clickwrap
WhatsApp WhatsApp Inc. 2009-08 Single-protocol
iOS 2.17.42 / August 7, 2017 (2017-08-07)[53]
Android 2.17.296 / August 9, 2017 (2017-08-09)[54]
Windows Phone 8, Windows 10 Mobile 2.17.214[55]
Symbian 2.16.57[56]
BlackBerry 2.17.2 / June 26, 2016 (2016-06-26)[57]
 Proprietary
Wickr Wickr Inc. 2012-06 Single-protocol
  • Android:
    2.6.3 (March 1, 2016 (2016-03-01)) [±]
  • iOS:
    2.6.3 (March 1, 2016 (2016-03-01)) [±]
  • Windows:
    2.6.0 [±]
  • Mac OS X:
    2.6.0 [±]
  • Linux:
    2.6.0 [±]
 Proprietary
Windows Live Messenger Microsoft Corporation 1999-07 Dual-protocol 2012 (v16.4.3508.205) (April 8, 2013 (2013-04-08)) [±] Clickwrap
Wire Wire Swiss GmbH 2014-12-03 Single-protocol
  • iOS: 2.2
  • Android: 2.3
  • OS X: 2.5
  • Windows: 2.6ch
  • Web: 2016-04-08
 GPLv3
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
Discord Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 1]No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes 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
Facebook Messenger Yes No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No Yes 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 2] Partial[lower-alpha 2] Partial[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 1] 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
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
Kik No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Kopete Yes[lower-alpha 3][58] 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
SafeSwiss Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Signal No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No In beta[59] No
Snapchat No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No
Surespot No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No
Skype Yes Yes No[lower-alpha 1] No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes PSP PSV XB1
SOMA No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No
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 No[60] Yes No No No No Yes No
Telegram (secret chats) Yes Yes/No[lower-alpha 5] Yes/No[lower-alpha 6] 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
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 7][lower-alpha 1] 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 Yes Yes[61] No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
RingID Yes[62] No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No
WhatsApp Yes[63] Yes[63] No No No Yes Yes To be discontinued in 2017[64] Yes To be discontinued in 2017[64] No No No Yes 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
Wire Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No
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
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 4 The only supported desktop Unix-like platform is Linux.
  2. 1 2 3 Only available as Google Chrome/Chromium plugin. No native application available.
  3. ↑ May not be the final version suitable for everyday use.
  4. ↑ Runs under Java, no native installer for latest version
  5. ↑ Secret chats supported only in native application Telegram. Cross-platform application Telegram Desktop does not support them.
  6. ↑ Secret chats supported only in the third-party applications Cutegram and Telegram CLI. Cross-platform application Telegram Desktop does not support them.
  7. ↑ Currently in beta testing.

Protocol support

Client WLM[lower-alpha 1] Y!M AIM/ICQ[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] XMPP[lower-alpha 4] IRC IBM Lotus Sametime Novell GroupWise Messenger Gadu-Gadu QQ Xfire Skype[lower-alpha 2] MySpaceIM SIP Others
Adium Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 5] Yes No MobileMe, NateOn, Steam IM, Telegram, Tlen, Tox, Zephyr
AIM No No Yes[lower-alpha 6] 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 7] Depends[lower-alpha 8] No Depends[lower-alpha 8]
Centericq Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No No No
climm No No Yes[lower-alpha 9] 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 8] Yes Yes Depends[lower-alpha 8] Yes Depends[lower-alpha 8]
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 10] Yes/No[lower-alpha 10] Yes/No[lower-alpha 10] No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
ICQ No No Yes[lower-alpha 9] 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 Yes 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 Telegram
Kopete Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 5] No No SILC, WinPopup
Messages No Yes Yes[lower-alpha 6] Yes No No No No No No No No No MobileMe
Miranda IM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes[lower-alpha 11] 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[lower-alpha 12] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 11] Yes No 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 13] 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 11] 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 14] Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 14] No Yes[lower-alpha 14] Yes[lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 14] Yes[lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 14] Yes[lower-alpha 14] No[65][lower-alpha 14] Yes No LinkedIn,[lower-alpha 14] Foursquare,[lower-alpha 14] ASTRA, VZ[lower-alpha 14]
Windows Live Messenger Yes Yes No Partial[lower-alpha 13] No No No No No No No No No No
Yahoo! Messenger Partial[lower-alpha 15] 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. ↑ AOL is ending AIM access to cryptographically insecure MD5 authentication.
  4. ↑ Commonly termed Jabber, used in Facebook, LiveJournal, Tweeter, Identi.ca, etc.
  5. 1 2 Needs running official Skype client.
  6. 1 2 Via AIM account only.
  7. ↑ Bitlbee is accessed via IRC.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Supported via Pidgin back-end, depends on its version
  9. 1 2 Via ICQ account only.
  10. 1 2 3 Feature is missing from client, but can be used via IBM Sametime Gateway.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Available as plugin.
  12. ↑ Requires Pidgin 2.12
  13. 1 2 Supports importing Facebook contacts and allows to send messages to and receive from Facebook IM users.
  14. 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)
  15. ↑ Via Yahoo! Messenger account only.
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[66] No Yes Yes No No No No
climm No Yes No No No No No
Coccinella[67] Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Conversations No No Yes No Yes No No
Telepathy-based[lower-alpha 3][68] No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gajim[69] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Except Windows
Jeti ? Yes Yes ? ? Beta ?
Jitsi No Yes Yes Yes No 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[70] No No Yes No No No No
Miranda IM Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Nimbuzz Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Pidgin[71] Yes Yes Yes Yes No Except Windows[lower-alpha 5] Except Windows[lower-alpha 5]
Psi Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Spark (XMPP client) ? Yes Yes ? ?Yes[lower-alpha 6] Yes[lower-alpha 6]
Tkabber[72] 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 Toolkits or SDKs File transfer Editing sent messages 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 Offline Remote desktop assistance Whiteboard RTL texting
Adium Cocoa Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes ? ? ?
AIM 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 Tcl/Tk Yes ? http, socks5, msn gateway Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Ayttm GTK2 No ? http, socks4/5 Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No Partial Partial No No No
BitlBee N/A Yes ? Yes No Yes No N/A Yes No No N/A ? ? No Yes ? ? ?
Bombus Java ME Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No ?
Centericq ncurses Partial ? ? No ? No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No No Yes ? ? ?
climm line based Yes ? ? N/A Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes N/A N/A N/A Yes N/A No ?
Coccinella Tcl/Tk Yes ? http, socks4/5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes ?
Discord Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? No Partial No No ?
eBuddy No Partial ? ? Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No ?
Empathy GTK3 Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes ? ? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Facebook Messenger ? Yes No ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
Fire Cocoa Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gadu-Gadu Qt Yes ? ? Yes Yes No ? No Yes No Yes Yes ? ? Yes No No ?
Gajim GTK2 Yes ? http Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No Yes
Google Talk W32 Yes No ? Partial Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Third party plugin Yes Yes No Yes
IBM Lotus Sametime Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes available Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
ICQ W32 Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
IMVU ? No ? ? Yes Yes Partial Yes No Partial[lower-alpha 2] No Yes No ? No Yes ? ? ?
Jitsi Java Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Kadu Qt Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No Partial Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes No No Yes No No ?
Kopete Qt/KDE Yes ? No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes With plugin Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
Line Line SDK ? No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes ?
Messages Cocoa Yes ? ? Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Partial[lower-alpha 3] ?
MCabber Curses No ? ? No Yes No ? ? No ? Yes No No No Yes No No ?
Miranda IM 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 ? No ? ? Yes ? No Yes No No No No Yes No Partial (picture capture only) ? No No ?
Paltalk N/A Yes ? ? Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? No ?
Pidgin 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 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 W32, VCL Yes ? Yes, http(s), socks4/4A/5 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No ?
QuteCom Qt Yes ? ? Yes Yes No Yes No No ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Skype Qt/KDE, W32 Yes 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 W32 Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Telegram Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes No Yes Yes
Tkabber Tcl/Tk Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No
Tox Many [lower-alpha 4] Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Up to clients [lower-alpha 4] Up to clients [lower-alpha 4] Up to clients [lower-alpha 4] Up to clients [lower-alpha 4] Up to clients [lower-alpha 4] Yes Yes No Yes Partial [73] Yes No Yes
Trillian W32, Cocoa Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes
WhatsApp No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No Yes
Wickr No Yes ? Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No ?
Windows Live Messenger W32 Yes ? Yes, http, socks4/5, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Xfire W32 Yes ? ? No Yes No Yes Partial Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No ?
Yahoo! Messenger W32, Cocoa, GTK Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Partial Yes
Yuilop ? Yes ? No Yes ? No No No No ? Yes Yes No No Yes No Partial ?
Client Toolkits or SDKs File transfer Editing sent messages 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
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tox is a communications protocol and a library implementing that protocol. Applications can bring features of their own.
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 ? ? ?
Discord No ? ? No Yes Yes Yes
Empathy No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Facebook Messenger No Yes No No ? ? ?
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 ? ? ? ?
Signal ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Snapchat ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Skype No No No No ? Yes, animated emoticons ?
Telegram (standard messages) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Telegram (secret chats) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 ?
WhatsApp No ? No No No No No
Windows Live Messenger Yes No Yes No Yes Yes, animated emoticons, winks ?
Yahoo! Messenger ? ? ? No ? ? ?
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

Messengers with client-to-client encryption

The following table is an overview of instant messaging clients that provide end-to-end encryption. Some of the listed client applications do not provide end-to-end encryption by default. These clients may require that users install a separate plugin, turn on a setting, or use an optional mode. In these cases, the encryption-related information in this table is only applicable when the encryption is enabled.

Client name Encrypted by default Development status Open source client[lower-alpha 1] Decentralized[lower-alpha 2] Servers Contact verification[lower-alpha 3] Encryption ciphers Forward secrecy[lower-alpha 4] Multiple encryption[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6] Encrypted groupchat[lower-alpha 7] Encrypted file transfer[lower-alpha 7] Public key and IP unrelated[lower-alpha 8] Proxy /Tor[lower-alpha 9] Transport[lower-alpha 10] Asynchronous encryp. communication[lower-alpha 11] Encrypted client data[lower-alpha 12] Screenshot protection[lower-alpha 13] Self-destructing messages[lower-alpha 13]
Open source Distributed Federated Symmetric[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 14] Asymmetric[lower-alpha 15] Asym. key size[lower-alpha 16] TCP UDP SCTP
McEliece RSA DSA ECC NTRU El Gamal Default Max.
Briar Yes Active, public beta Yes Yes N/A N/A N/A Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? ? ? No ? ? No
ChatSecure allows unencrypted Active Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[74] Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] Optional ? ? ? Optional ? ? ? No ? ? No
Conversations allows unencrypted Active Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Depends Optional Optional Yes Optional Optional ? ? ? Optional ? ? No
Cryptocat Yes Active Yes No ? ? No Yes[75] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[75] Yes[75] No groupchat Yes[75] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FireChat[76] allows unencrypted[lower-alpha 18] Active No Yes N/A N/A N/A ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No ? ? No ? ? ? Yes ? ? No
iMessage[77] allows unencrypted[lower-alpha 19] Active No[77] No No ? No No[74] ? ? Yes[78] ? ? ? ? ? ? No[77] ? Depends[79] Yes[80] ? No ? ? ? Yes ? No No
Line[81][82] Yes Active No No No ? No No ? ? ? ? Yes[83] ? ? ECC-256[83] N/A No ? Yes[82] ? ? No ? ? ? Yes No No No
RetroShare Yes Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes N/A N/A N/A Yes[74] Yes ? Yes ? ? No No ? ? Yes[74] Yes Yes Yes Optional Optional Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? ?
Ricochet Yes Active Yes Yes N/A N/A N/A No[84] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[84] No[84] No groupchat No Yes Yes ? ? ? No No[84] No No
SafeSwiss Yes Active No No No No No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? AES 256K ECDH ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sicher Yes Active No[lower-alpha 20] No No ? No ? Yes ? Yes ? ? No No RSA-2048[85] N/A No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No ? Yes ? Yes
Signal Yes[lower-alpha 21] Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] No Yes Yes[86] No[87] Yes[74] Yes ? ? No Yes No No ECC-256[88] N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes[lower-alpha 22] Yes Yes
Silent Phone Yes Active Viewable source[89] No No ? No Yes[74] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[74] Yes[90] No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
Surespot Yes Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] No No ? No Yes[74] Yes ? No ? Yes[91] No No ECC-521[91] N/A Yes No No groupchat No No ? Yes No No ? ? ? No
Threema Yes Active Partially[lower-alpha 23][92] No No ? No Yes[74] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No[lower-alpha 24] ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ? No
Tox Yes Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes N/A N/A N/A No Yes ? Yes ? ? No No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Viber allows unencrypted[lower-alpha 25][93] Active No No No ? No Yes[94] ? ? ? ? Yes[94] ? ? ECC-256[94] N/A Yes[94] ? Depends[94][95] Yes[94] ? No ? ? ? Yes[94] ? No No
WhatsApp Yes Active Partially[lower-alpha 23][96] No No Yes No Yes[96] Yes[96] ? ? ? Yes[96] ? ? ECC-256[96] N/A Yes[96] Yes[96] Yes[96] Yes[96] Yes[96] No ? ? ? Yes[96] No No No
Wickr Messenger Yes Active No No No ? No Yes[74] Yes[97] ? Yes[97] Yes[97] Yes[97] No No ECC-256[97] N/A Yes[74] Yes[97] ? ? ? No Yes ? ? Yes Yes[97] ? Yes
Wickr Professional Yes Active Partially viewable source[98] No No ? No ? ? ? ? ? Yes[99] No No ECC-521[99] N/A Yes Yes[99] Yes ? ? No Yes ? ? Yes Yes[99] ? Yes
Wire Yes Active Yes[100] No Partially[101] ? No Yes[102] Yes[103] ? ? ? Yes[103] ? ? ECC-256[103] N/A Yes Yes Yes ? ? No Yes[103] Yes[103] ? Yes Yes No Yes[104]
TextSecure Yes Discontinued[lower-alpha 26] Yes[lower-alpha 20][105] Partially[lower-alpha 27] Yes[lower-alpha 27] Yes Yes, briefly[lower-alpha 27] Yes[74] Yes ? ? No Yes No No ECC-256[88] N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes[106] Yes Yes No
WASTE Yes Discontinued Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes N/A N/A N/A No Yes ? ? ? No No ? ? No No No Yes No No Yes No No ? ? ? ?
Adium No Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? No No No No
Google Allo (incognito mode)[107] No Active Partially[lower-alpha 23] No No Yes[108] No ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ECC-256 N/A Yes Yes No ? ? No ? ? ? Yes ? ? Yes
Facebook Messenger (secret conversations)[109] No Active Partially[lower-alpha 23][110] No No Yes[111] No Yes[110] Yes[110] ? ? ? Yes[110] ? ? ECC-256[110] N/A Yes[110] Yes No[112] ? ? No ? ? ? Yes Yes[110] ? Yes[110]
Gajim No Active Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] Optional Optional[lower-alpha 28] Yes ? No ? ? ? Optional ? ? No
Jitsi No Active Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[74] Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? No ? No No
KakaoTalk (secret chats)[113] No Active No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Kopete[lower-alpha 29] No Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? No Yes[lower-alpha 17] ? ? ? ? ? No No ? ?
Miranda IM No Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes ? ? ? Yes[114] Yes[115] ? Optional[lower-alpha 28][116] ? ? ? ? ECC-192[116] ? ? ? ? Yes[117] ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pidgin No Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[74] Yes[lower-alpha 17][118] ? Optional[lower-alpha 28][119] ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes[lower-alpha 17][118] ? ? Yes[118] ? ? Yes ? ? Optional[lower-alpha 30] ? ? ?
Telegram (secret chats) No Active Yes[lower-alpha 20] No No Yes No Yes[74] Yes ? Yes ? No No No RSA-2048[120] N/A Sort of[lower-alpha 31] Yes No Yes No No Yes No ? No Optional Yes, warning Yes

Messengers with client-to-server encryption

The following table is an overview of those Instant Messenger clients which provide client-to-server encryption. It does not include clients that also provide end-to-end encryption.

Client name Encryption protocol
AIM[74] ?
BlackBerry Messenger[74] ?
eBuddy[74] ?
Gadu-Gadu TLS
Google Hangouts[74] TLS[121]
Kik Messenger[74] ?
Skype[74][122] TLS[123]
Snapchat[74] ?
Tencent QQ[74] A custom protocol[74]
Yahoo! Messenger[74] ?

Messengers with no encryption

The following is a list of those Instant Messenger clients which do not provide client-to-server encryption:

Notes
  1. ↑ 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. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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)
  5. 1 2 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).
  6. ↑ Multiple encryption is the process of encrypting an already encrypted message one or more times, either using the same or a different algorithm.
  7. 1 2 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)
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Proxies and Tor might prevent an IP from being related to the public key.
  10. ↑ Not all messengers support the same transport protocols like TCP, UDP and SCTP.
  11. ↑ Lets users exchange encrypted messages asynchronously, i.e. participants do not have to be online at the same time.
  12. ↑ Lets users set a passphrase that encrypts the local message database. The messages are protected if the device is e.g. lost or stolen.
  13. 1 2 Screenshot protection and self-destructing messages provide only basic protection against casual/inadvertent logging of messages by users.
  14. ↑ Off-the-Record Messaging encryption uses the AES symmetric algorithm and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It allows forward secrecy and encrypted file transfers.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ The key size describes the length of the needed mathematical operation. Simply spoken, the longer the key, the longer it takes to crack it.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 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.
  18. ↑ Only one-to-one messages are end-to-end encrypted. Public chatrooms are not end-to-end encrypted.
  19. ↑ iMessage allows users to send instant messages to other iMessage users, as well as SMS/MMS messages to contacts who are not iMessage users. Only instant messages sent to other iMessage users are end-to-end encrypted. iMessage also contains an optional setting that allows fallback to unencrypted SMS/MMS messaging if the user or an iMessage contact is offline.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 See: Comparison of instant messaging clients#General information.
  21. ↑ Signal contains a setting that allows users to send unencrypted SMS/MMS messages to contacts who do not have Signal. This setting is not enabled by default. Users can also enable a setting that allows fallback to unencrypted SMS/MMS messaging if the user or a Signal contact is offline.
  22. ↑ On iOS, the local message database is encrypted by the operating system if the user has a password on their lock screen.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Only the encryption related source code is open.
  24. ↑ Only on the network connection, not on the end-to-end layer.
  25. ↑ Only messages between Viber users with the latest version for Android, iOS, Desktop or Windows 10 are end-to-end encrypted. The Windows Phone and BlackBerry versions are not supported.
  26. ↑ Merged with RedPhone to become Signal.
  27. 1 2 3 The TextSecure server architecture was partially decentralized between December 2013 and February 2016, when it federated with servers run by the developers of CyanogenMod.
  28. 1 2 3 Supported with plugin
  29. ↑ OpenPGP encryption (XEP-0027).
  30. ↑ 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).
  31. ↑ 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ANNOUNCE: Empathy 3.12.12". 13 May 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Google Allo". APKMirror. Android Police. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Google Allo". App Store. Apple Inc. August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ "hike messenger". Play Store. Google. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ "hike messenger". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  6. ↑ "hike messenger". BlackBerry World. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  7. ↑ "hike messenger". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  8. ↑ "KDE Update Announcement". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Miranda IM v0.10.72 Released". Miranda IM. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Nimbuzz Messenger on Google Play". Google Play Store. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Nimbuzz Messenger". iTunes Store. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "BlackBerry World - Nimbuzz Messenger". BlackBerry World. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Nimbuzz". Windows Phone. Nimbuzz B.V. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  14. ↑ Kramlich, Gary (2017-03-09). "Pidgin 2.12.0 released". Announce. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  15. ↑ "Announcement: QuteCom 2.2.1". Archived from the original on 2 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Releases". ricochet.im. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  17. ↑ Open Whisper Systems (7 August 2017). "Signal – Private Messenger". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  18. ↑ Open Whisper Systems (7 August 2017). "Signal - Private Messenger". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Skype". Microsoft Store. Microsoft. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  20. ↑ Support, Skype (1 August 2017). "What's new in Skype for Windows desktop?". Skype Help. Microsoft. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "What's new in Skype for Mac?". Skype Support. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  22. ↑ "Skype for Linux Beta version 5.0 is now available for download". Skype Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  23. ↑ The Skype Team (26 June 2016). "Skype - free IM & video calls - Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play Store. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  24. ↑ "Skype for iOS". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  25. ↑ "Skype". BlackBerry World. BlackBerry. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  26. ↑ surespot llc (24 September 2015). "surespot encrypted messenger". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  27. ↑ surespot (9 October 2015). "surespot encrypted messenger". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  28. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (4 August 2017). "Telegram". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  29. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (3 August 2017). "Telegram". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  30. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (30 July 2017). "Telegram Messenger". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  31. ↑ telegramdesktop (1 August 2017). "Telegram Desktop". telegramdesktop. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  32. ↑ Telegram Messenger LLP (30 July 2017). "Telegram". Mac App Store. Apple. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  33. ↑ "Telegram license info". Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  34. ↑ Threema GmbH (2017-05-15). "Threema". Apple App Store. Apple.
  35. ↑ Threema GmbH (2017-07-17). "Threema". Play Store. Google.
  36. ↑ Threema GmbH (2017-05-15). "Threema". Windows Phone Store. Microsoft.
  37. ↑ http://www.mod-gadget.com/upptalk-app-updated-ipad/
  38. ↑ "yuilop - Free texts and SMS". Amazon. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  39. ↑ Viber Media S.à r.l. (13 June 2017). "Viber - Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Google. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  40. ↑ Viber Media, Inc (13 June 2017). "Viber On the App Store on iTunes". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  41. ↑ Viber Media (2015-12-18). "Viber". Windows Phone Marketplace. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  42. ↑ Viber Media (23 April 2014). "Viber 10 - BlackBerry World". BlackBerry App World. Research In Motion (RIM). Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  43. ↑ "ringID". Play Store. Google. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  44. ↑ "ringID". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  45. ↑ "ringID". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  46. ↑ Tencent Inc. (June 25, 2014). "WeChat". App Store. Apple. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  47. ↑ Note:
    1. App Store has been noted 12+, which means download only for twelve years and older (for Apple ID holder).
    2. iOS version available in iPhone only but user can run in iPad.
  48. ↑ Tencent Inc. (March 17, 2014). "WeChat". Mac App Store. Apple. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  49. ↑ Tencent Inc. (August 12, 2013). "WeChat". Google Play. Google. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  50. ↑ Tencent Inc. (June 26, 2015). "WeChat". Windows Phone Marketplace. Microsoft. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  51. ↑ Tencent Inc. "WeChat 4.2 for S60v3 Release". WeChat. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  52. ↑ Tencent Inc. "WeChat 4.2 for S60v5 Release". WeChat. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  53. ↑ WhatsApp Inc. (7 August 2017). "WhatsApp Messenger". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  54. ↑ WhatsApp Inc. (4 August 2017). "WhatsApp Messenger". APKMirror. Android Police. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
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