Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients
The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols.[1] The following table compares general and technical information for cross-platform instant messaging clients in active development, each of which have their own wikipedia page that provide further information.
Clients
Client | Developer | First public release | Monthly active users | Registration requirement | License | Operating system | E2EE 2-user chat | E2EE group chat | File transfer | Voice recording | Client | Voice chat | Video chat | Read receipts | Editing sent messages | Deleting sent messages | Custom | Stickers | Self-destructing messages | Lock screen | Screenshot protection (Android only)[1] | App screenshot notification | User screenshot notification[2] | Local encrypted | Themes / skins | Plugins | Peer-to-peer text chat | Open source servers | Federated servers | Privacy law compliant | Client | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows | macOS | Linux | Web | Android | iOS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discord | Discord Inc. | March 6, 2015 | 250 million (2019)[2] | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Discord | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discord | |
eBuddy | Paulo Taylor | March 9, 2003 | Phone number | Proprietary Freeware | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | eBuddy | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | eBuddy | |
Facebook Messenger | Facebook, Inc. | August 9, 2011 | 1300 million (2019)[2] | Facebook account | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | No | Yes | Yes | Facebook Messenger | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Facebook Messenger |
FireChat | Open Garden | March 2014 | Proprietary Freeware | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Optional | Yes | Yes | Yes | FireChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Optional | Yes | Yes | No | FireChat | ||
Gadu-Gadu | Łukasz Foltyn / GG Network S.A. | August 15, 2000 | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Gadu-Gadu | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Gadu-Gadu | ||||||||||||
Gajim | Yann Le Boulanger | May 21, 2004 | GPL | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Optional | Plug-in | Yes | No | Gajim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Gajim | ||||||
ICQ | Mail.Ru | November 1996 | Phone number | Apache license | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ICQ | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ICQ | ||||||||||
Jami | Savoir-faire Linux Inc. | 2014 | N/A | GPLv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[3] | No groupchat | Yes | Yes | Jami | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | N/A | N/A | Yes | Jami | |
Jitsi | Emil Ivov | 2003 | LGPL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | Yes | Yes | Jitsi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Jitsi | ||||||||
Kadu | Kadu Team | August 2001 | GPLv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Kadu | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | Kadu | ||||||||||
KakaoTalk | Kakao Corp. | March 18, 2010 | 49 million (2018)[4] | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Optional | Optional | Yes | KakaoTalk | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | KakaoTalk | ||||||||||||
Keybase | Keybase | February 8, 2017;
3 years ago |
Nothing required | New BSD License | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Keybase | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, on by default but optional | No | No | ? | Yes, only 2 official skins | No | No | No | No | Yes | Keybase | ||
Kik Messenger | Medialab | October 2010 | 15 million (2017)[5] | Proprietary Freemium adware | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Kik Messenger | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Kik Messenger | ||||||||||||
Line | LINE Corporation | March 2012 | 203 million (2018)[4] | Phone number | Proprietary Freemium | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes[6] | Yes | Yes | Line | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Line |
Mattermost | Mattermost Inc | 2015 | AGPLv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Plug-in | Mattermost | Plug-in | Plug-in | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Mattermost | ||
MCabber | Mikael Berthe | June 7, 2005 | GPL | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | MCabber | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | MCabber | ||||||||||||
Messages | Apple Inc. | July 25, 2012 | Part of macOS and iOS | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Optional | Optional | Yes | Messages | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | N/A | N/A | Messages | ||||||||
Movim | Timothée Jaussoin | March 3, 2011 | Nothing required | AGPLv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Movim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Movim | |||
Palringo | Palringo Ltd | 2006 | N/A | Proprietary Freemium | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Palringo | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Palringo | |||||||||
Paltalk | AVM Software, Inc | June 1998 | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Paltalk | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Paltalk | |||||||||||
Pidgin | Mark Spencer | November 1998 | GPL | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Optional | No | No | Pidgin | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Optional | Yes | Yes | Pidgin | |||||||||
Psi | Psi and Psi+ developers | 2001 | GPL | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Psi | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Psi | ||||||||||
RetroShare | Cyril Soler, Gioacchino Mazzurco | 2006 | GPL | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | RetroShare | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | N/A | N/A | RetroShare | ||||||||||||||
Ricochet | Invisible.im | June 2014 | BSD | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Ricochet | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | N/A | N/A | Ricochet | ||||||||||||||||
Element | New Vector Limited | July 2016 | N/A | Apache License | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | Optional | Yes | No | Element | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Element | ||
Sicher | SHAPE GmbH | June 2014 | Phone number | Proprietary Freeware | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sicher | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Sicher | ||||||||||||
Signal | Signal Messenger | July 2014 | Phone number | GPLv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Signal | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | No | Yes[7] | No | Yes | Signal | |
Silent Phone | Silent Circle | January 16, 2013 | N/A | Proprietary commercial software | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[8] | Yes | Silent Phone | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Silent Phone | |||||||||||
Skype | Skype Technologies, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation | 2003 | 300 million (2018)[4] | Proprietary Freemium adware | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | No | Yes | Yes | Skype | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | No | Skype | |||||||
Slack | Slack Technologies | August 2013 | Proprietary Freemium | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Slack | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Slack | ||||||||||||
Snapchat | Snap Inc. | November 2011 | 294 million (2019)[2] | Email / Phone number | Proprietary Freeware | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Snapchat | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | No | Snapchat | |
Surespot | Surespot LLC | 2013 | N/A | GPLv3 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No groupchat | Yes | Yes | Surespot | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | Surespot | |||||||
Telegram | Telegram Messenger LLP | 2013 | 400 million (2020)[9] | Phone number | GPLv2, GPLv3[10] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional | No | Yes | Yes | Telegram | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes*only in secret chats | Yes*only in secret chats | Yes*only in secret chats | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Telegram |
Tencent QQ | Tencent Holdings | February 1999 | 823 million (2019)[2] | Proprietary Adware | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Tencent QQ | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Tencent QQ | |||||||
Threema | Threema GmbH | December 2012 | Proprietary commercial software | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Threema | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Threema | |||||||||||||
Trillian | Cerulean Studios | July 1, 2000 | N/A | Proprietary Freemium adware | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Partial | Trillian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Trillian | |||||||
Viber | Rakuten Viber | December 2, 2010 | 260 million (2019)[2] | Phone number | Proprietary Freemium | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Optional | Optional | Yes | Yes | Viber | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes*only in secret chats | Yes*only in secret chats | Yes*only in secret chats | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Viber | |
Tencent Holdings Limited | January 21, 2011 | 1112 million (2019)[2] | Phone number / QQ number | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | |||||||||||
WhatsApp Inc., a subsidiary of Facebook | January 2009 | 2000 million (2020)[11] | Phone number | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
Wickr | Wickr Inc. | June 2012 | N/A | Proprietary Trialware | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wickr | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[12] | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | Yes[13] | No | Yes | Wickr | ||||
Wire | Wire Swiss GmbH | December 3, 2014 | Email / Phone number | GPLv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes[14] | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Yes[15] | No | Wire | ||
Client | Developer | First public release | Monthly active users | Registration requirement | License | Windows | macOS | Linux | Web | Android | iOS | E2EE 2-user chat | E2EE group chat | File transfer | Voice recording | Client | Voice chat | Video chat | Read receipts | Editing sent messages | Deleting sent messages | Custom | Stickers | Self-destructing messages | Lock screen | Screenshot protection | App screenshot notification | User screenshot notification | Local encrypted | Themes / skins | Plugins | Peer-to-peer text chat | Open source servers | Federated servers | Privacy law compliant | Client |
Operating system |
- 1: Apple iOS doesn't allow screenshot protection.
- 2: Wickr Screenshot Detection
gollark: <@!221881745182687232> Not at all.
gollark: Why is someone streaming a bizarre barcodey thing?
gollark: Hypothetically, if I *was* transmitting a file over this, it would probably be nearly done now.
gollark: Goodbye. Unfortunately, I need """"sleep" now.
gollark: Why are there no ringworld earth theorists?
See also
References
- "History of Instant Messaging". The top 6 best Instant Message client apps on any platform. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- "Most popular messaging apps 2019 - Statista". Statista.
- "About Ring". Savoir-faire Linux Inc. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
Your communications will be encrypted without any exception with the most advanced current techniques (see our page dedicated to security). Ring stores your secrets (private key for encryption and identity) only on the machine that runs it.
- "Most popular messaging apps 2018 - Statista". Statista.
- Ponciano, Jonathan. "Billion-Dollar Kik Taps $125 Million Token Offering To Energize User Base".
- Shin, Ki Bin (11 August 2016). "The next step for even safer messaging: Letter Sealing". Line Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- "Signal · GitHub". 26 February 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- "Silent Phone 6.0 is Here!". Silent Circle. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- "Telegram Blog". telegram.org. 2020-04-24.
- "Telegram license info". Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- "WhatsApp". WhatsApp.com.
- "Why don't you disable screen capture?". Wickr Inc.
- "GitHub - WickrInc/wickr-crypto-c: An implementation of the Wickr Secure Messaging Protocol in C". 26 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- "Safe and tidy with Timed Messages". Wire Swiss. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- "Wire server code now 100% open source – the journey continues". Medium. Wire Swiss GmbH. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
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