Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messenger programs and protocols used for communication between one or more people. Please see the individual products articles for further information.
General information
Basic general information about the browsers: creator/company, license/price etc.
| Creator | First public release date | Type | Current stable version | Cost | License | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Adam Iser | September 2001 | Multi-protocol | 0.71 | Free | GPL |
| AIM | AOL | ? | Single protocol | 5.9 | Free Adware |
Proprietary |
| Centericq | Konstantin Klyagin | ? | Multi-protocol | 4.12.0 | Free | GPL |
| Fire | Eric Peyton | ? | Multi-protocol | 1.0.4 | Free | GPL |
| Gaim | Mark Spencer | November 1998 | Multi-protocol | 1.1.0 | Free | GPL |
| iChat | Apple Computer | ? | Multi-protocol | 2.1 | Free | Proprietary |
| ICQ | Mirabilis | November 1996 | Single protocol | 4 | Free Adware |
Proprietary |
| Kopete | Kopete Team | .5 ? | Multi-protocol | .9 | Free | GPL |
| Miranda IM | Martin Öberg | 2000 | Multi-protocol | 0.3.3.1 | Free | GPL |
| MSN | Microsoft | ? | Single protocol | 6.2 | Free Adware |
Proprietary |
| Proteus | Defaultware | ? | Multi-protocol | 4.07 | Free | Proprietary |
| Psi | Justin Karneges | 2001 | Single protocol | 0.9.2 | Free | GPL |
| Trillian (Pro) | Cerulean Studios | ? (Pro: September 2002) | Multi-protocol | 0.74i (Pro: 2.0) | Free (Pro: $25 USD) | Proprietary |
| Yahoo| | Yahoo! | ? | Single protocol | 6.0 (Win) 2.5.3 (Mac) |
Free Adware |
Proprietary |
| Creator | First public release date | Type | Current stable version | Cost | License |
Network support
Information on the networks that each client can access.
| AIM | ICQ | MSN Messenger | Yahoo! | IRC | Jabber | Rendezvous | Novell GroupWise Messenger | Lotus Sametime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ?? | ?? |
| AIM | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Centericq | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ?? | ?? |
| Fire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ?? | ?? |
| Gaim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ?? | ?? |
| iChat | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | ?? | ?? |
| ICQ | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Kopete | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Miranda IM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ?? | ?? |
| MSN | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Psi | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | Yes | No | No | No |
| Proteus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ?? | ?? |
| Trillian (Pro) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Pro: Yes) | No (Pro: Yes) | No (Pro: Yes) | No (Pro: Yes) |
| Yahoo| | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| AIM | ICQ | MSN Messenger | Yahoo! | IRC | Jabber | Rendezvous | Novell GroupWise Messenger | Lotus Sametime |
- 1 Interoperability with proprietary protocols can be achieved using server-side gateways (so-called transports) in Jabber
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 |
| Centericq | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fire | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Gaim | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| iChat | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| ICQ | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Kopete | No | No | 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 |
| Trillian (Pro) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Yahoo| | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix |
Features
Information on what features each of the clients support.
| File transfer | Graphical smileys | In-built Games | Voice and webcam conversations | Themes/skins | Plugin system1 | Third-party addons2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adium | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AIM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Centericq | Partial | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
| Fire | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | Yes |
| Gaim | Partial | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ICQ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| iChat | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Kopete | Partial | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Miranda IM | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MSN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Proteus | Partial | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Psi | Yes | Yes | No | No (scheduled) | No | No | No |
| Trillian (Pro) | Yes | Yes | No (Pro: Yes) | Voice only (Pro: Yes) | Yes | No (Pro: Yes) | Yes |
| Yahoo| | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| File transfer | Graphical smileys | In-built Games | Voice and webcam conversations | Themes/skins | Plugin system1 | Third-party addons2 |
- 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
- 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
Protocols
Information on the Network protocols used to connected clients.
| Creator | First public release date | License | Identity (not inc. alias) | Asynchronous message relaying | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rendezvous | Apple Computer | ? | Proprietary | Username@hostname | No |
| Gadu-Gadu | ? | 1999 (?) | Proprietary | Unique number e.g. 12345678 |
Yes |
| IRC | Jarkko Oikarinen | August 1988 | Open standard | Username@hostname (or "hostmask") e.g. ~usr@a.b.com1 |
Yes |
| Jabber | Jeremie Miller | May 2000 | Open standard | JID e.g. usr@a.b.c/home2 |
Yes |
| .NET Messenger Service | Microsoft | ? | Proprietary | E-mail address (.NET Passport) | No |
| OSCAR protocol | AOL | ? | Proprietary | Username or UIN e.g. 12345678 |
Yes |
| YMSG12 | Yahoo | ? | Proprietary | Username | No |
| Creator | First public release date | License | Identity (not inc. alias) | Asynchronous message relaying |
- 1 In ~usr@a.b.com, the a.b.com part is known as the "hostmask" and can either be the server being connected from or a "cloak" granted by the server administrator; a more realistic example is ~myname@myisp.example.com.
- 2 In usr@a.b.c/home, the home part is a "resource", which distinguishes the same user when logged in from multiple locations, possibly simultaneously; a more realistic example is user@jabberserver.example.com/home