Comparison of instant messengers

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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messengers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. External links lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.

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

General information

Basic general information about the instant messengers: creator/company, license/price etc.

	Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license
Adium	Adam Iser	September, 2001	Multi-protocol	0.81	Free	GPL
AIM	AOL	May, 1997	Single protocol	5.9	Free Adware	Proprietary
aMSN	Alvaro J. Iradier Muro	May, 2002	Single protocol	0.94	Free	GPL
BitlBee	Wilmer van der Gaast	August 9, 2002	IRC Gateway, Multi-protocol	0.92	Free	GPL
Centericq	Konstantin Klyagin	?	Multi-protocol	4.20.0	Free	GPL
Fire	Eric Peyton	?	Multi-protocol	1.5.2	Free	GPL
Gaim	Mark Spencer	November, 1998	Multi-protocol	1.3.0	Free	GPL
Gajim	Yann Le Boulanger	May 21, 2004	Single protocol	0.6.1	Free	GPL
iChat	Apple Computer	August, 2002	Multi-protocol	3.0	Free	Proprietary
ICQ	Mirabilis	November, 1996	Single protocol	5	Free Adware	Proprietary
IM2	IM2 Limited	April, 2003	Multi-protocol	1.5	Free	Proprietary
JAJC	Mikel Ivanov	2002	Single protocol	0.0.8.113	Free	Proprietary
Kopete	Kopete Team	March 3, 2002	Multi-protocol	0.10.0	Free	GPL
mICQ	Mattew D. Smith (up to ICQv5); Rüdiger Kuhlmann	1997(?); 2001	Single protocol	0.5.0.1	Free	GPL v2
Miranda IM	Miranda IM project	February 6, 2000	Multi-protocol	0.4.0.0	Free	GPL
MSN Messenger	Microsoft	July, 1999	Single protocol	7.0.0813	Free Adware	Proprietary
Proteus	Justin Wood	?	Multi-protocol	4.09	$15	Proprietary
Psi	Justin Karneges	2001	Single protocol	0.9.3	Free	GPL
QQ	Tencent	February, 1999	Single protocol	2004 II	Free	Proprietary
Skype	Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis	2003	Single protocol	1.2.0.48 (Win) 1.0.0.24 (Mac) 1.0.0.20 (Linux) 1.1.0.4 (Pocket PC)	Free	Proprietary
Tkabber	Alexey Shchepin	2003	Single protocol	0.9.8	Free	GPL
Trillian	Cerulean Studios	July 1, 2000	Multi-protocol	3.1	Free	Proprietary
Trillian Pro	Cerulean Studios	September 10, 2002	Multi-protocol	3.1	$25	Proprietary
Yahoo! Messenger	Yahoo!	June 21, 1999	Single protocol	6.0 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac)	Free	Proprietary
YSM	rad2k	2001	Single protocol	2.9.6	Free	GPL
Zephyr	Project Athena	1987	Single protocol	2.0	Free	MIT
	Creator	First public release date	Type	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license

Operating system support

The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation.

	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix
Adium	No	Yes	No	No	No
AIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
aMSN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BitlBee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Centericq	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fire	No	Yes	No	No	No
Gaim	Yes	Yes ¹	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gajim	Yes	Yes ¹	Yes	Yes	Yes
iChat	No	Yes	No	No	No
ICQ	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
IM2	Yes	No	No	No	No
JAJC	Yes	No	No	No	No
Kopete	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
mICQ	Yes ²	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Miranda IM	Yes	No	No	No	No
MSN	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Proteus	No	Yes	No	No	No
Psi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
QQ	Yes	No	No	No	No
Skype	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Tkabber	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trillian	Yes	No	No	No	No
Trillian Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No
Y!M	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
YSM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zephyr	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix

Note 1: The Mac OS X version must be self compiled, and will only run with an X server and GTK+ installed.

Note 2: Requires ANSI terminal.

Protocol support

Information on the instant messaging protocols that each client can use.

	AIM	ICQ	MSN Messenger	Yahoo!	IRC	Jabber	Bonjour (was Rendezvous)	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Lotus Sametime	Gadu-Gadu	Skype	QQ	Others
Adium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
AIM	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	(none)
aMSN	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
BitlBee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
Centericq	Yes ⁶	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	No	No	?	?
Fire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Gaim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ¹	Yes	No	Yes ²	SILC, Zephyr
Gajim	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	Yes	No	No	No	No ³	No	?	?
iChat	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No	?	?
ICQ	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	(none)
IM2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
JAJC	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	Yes	No	No	No	No ³	No	?	?
Kopete	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
mICQ	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
Miranda IM	Yes ⁶	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ²	No	No	Yes	Partial ⁴	Yes ²	Tlen, LAN ⁵, Chat ⁵
MSN	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	(none)
Psi	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	Yes	No	No	No	No ³	No	?	?
Proteus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	?	?
QQ	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	(none)
Skype	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?
Tkabber	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	No ³	Yes	No	No	No	No ³	No	No	?
Trillian	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	(none)
Trillian Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Partial ⁴	?	(none)
Y!M	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	(none)
YSM	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
Zephyr	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Zephyr
	AIM	ICQ	MSN Messenger	Yahoo!	IRC	Jabber	Bonjour (was Rendezvous)	Novell GroupWise Messenger	Lotus Sametime	Gadu-Gadu	Skype	QQ	Others

Note 1: Plugin available [1]

Note 2: Plugin available

Note 3: Interoperability with proprietary protocols can be achieved using server-side gateways (so-called transports) in Jabber.

Note 4: Plugin available, but required Skype to be installed.

Note 5: LAN and chat protocols supported for Miranda include NetSend, WinPopup, Novell Netware NCP, BattleNet, Vypress Chat, Quick Chat, and Walla Chat.

Note 6: Uses AIM TOC protocol, which has limited features compare to Oscar protocol.

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

	Toolkit	Encryption	File transfer	Graphical smileys	In-built Games	Themes/skins	Plugin system ¹	Third-party addons ²
Adium	Cocoa	Yes ¹¹	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AIM	W32	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes
aMSN	Tcl/Tk	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
BitlBee	(IRC)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Centericq	ncurses	Partial ⁹	Partial	?	?	Yes	No	?
Fire	Cocoa	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gaim	GTK2	Yes ⁸	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gajim	GTK2	Yes ⁹	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
iChat	Cocoa	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
ICQ	W32	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
IM2	W32	Yes ⁴	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
JAJC	W32	Yes ⁹	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Kopete	KDE/Qt	Yes ⁹	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
mICQ	line based	Yes ⁵	Yes	?	?	Yes	No	No
Miranda IM	W32	Yes ¹⁰	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MSN	W32	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Proteus	Cocoa	?	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Psi	Qt/KDE	Yes ⁹	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
QQ	W32	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Skype	Qt/KDE	Yes (Skype-to-Skype)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Tkabber	Tcl/Tk	Yes ⁹	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trillian	W32	Yes ⁶	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Trillian Pro	W32	Yes ⁶	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Y!M	W32;Cocoa;Gtk	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
YSM	line based	Yes ⁷	No	?	?	No	No	No
	Toolkit	Encryption	File transfer	Graphical smileys	In-built Games	Themes/skins	Plugin system	Third-party addons

Note 1: Plug-in system to add/expand the default features for the application, or protocol. Such as (but not limited to) Trillian chat client – Plugins

Note 2: Third party add-ons which are usually not approved by the author of the application and are usually standalone. Such as (but not limited to) AOL Instant messenger – Third-party add-ons

Note 4: Proprietary; compatible only to itself

Note 5: SSL-encrypted direct connections; compatible to licq and SIM

Note 6: Proprietary; compatible only to itself

Note 7: Blowfish-encrypted direct connection; compatible only to itself

Note 8: Available as a plugin at http://gaim-encryption.sf.net. Compatible only to other gaim clients with the same plugin.

Note 9: Compatible with all Jabber clients implementing JEP-0027 (standard Jabber encryption).

Note 10: SecureIM plugin provides 192 bits AES Encryption, compatible only to itself.

Note 11: Encryption is 'Off The Record' (OTR) encryption, which is currently supported primarily as a system of plugins; see OTR Homepage

Advanced conferencing

Information on what advanced conferencing features each of the clients support.

	Audio chat	Multi-person audio chat	Video chat	Multi-person video chat	Whiteboard sharing	SMS (mobile) messaging
Adium	No	No	No	No	?	?
AIM	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
aMSN	No	No	No	No	?	?
BitlBee	No	No	No	No	?	?
Centericq	?	?	?	?	?	?
Fire	No	No	No	No	?	?
Gaim	Yes ²	?	Yes ²	?	?	Yes
Gajim	No	No	No	No	No	?
iChat	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
ICQ	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	Yes
IM2	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
JAJC	No	No	No	No	?	?
Kopete	No	No	No	No	?	?
mICQ	?	?	?	?	?	?
Miranda IM	Yes ¹	No	No	No	No	Yes
MSN	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Proteus	No	No	No	No	?	?
Psi	No	No	No	No	?	?
QQ	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Skype	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
Tkabber	No	No	No	No	?	?
Trillian	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
Trillian Pro	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
Y!M	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
YSM	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
	Audio chat	Multi-person audio chat	Video chat	Multi-person video chat	Whiteboard sharing	SMS (mobile) messaging

Note 1: MirandaComm plugin allows voice communcation between two Miranda users who have the plugin installed. Only tested with users of ICQ protocol.

Note 2: There is a project called gaim-vv aimed at adding voice and video functionality [2]

References

"HelpBytes." Yahoo! Messsenger 6.0. Accessed on May 1, 2005.