Comparison of LAN messengers - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

General information

Basic general information about the LAN messengers: creator/company, license/price, among others.

	Protocol	Author / Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... )	Software license	Programming language Programming language A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
AChat		Michal Hruby	2005	beta 7 (v0.150)		GNU/GPL	Delphi
Akeni LAN Messenger	Akeni Network Protocol	Akeni	2002	1.2.114	Shareware (16.95)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...	C++
BigAnt Messenger		BigAnt	2001	2.50	Shareware (20.00 + server)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
Bopup Messenger		B Labs	2001	5.4.7	Shareware (12.90 + server)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...	C++
BORGChat BORGChat BORGChat is a LAN messaging software program. It has achieved a relative state of popularity and it is considered to be a complete LAN chat program. It has been superseded by commercial products which allow voice chat, video conferencing, central monitoring and administration...		Ionut Cioflan	2002			Freeware Freeware Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
dMessage		MGI Consultants	2007	6.20	Shareware (6 to 20 depending on the number of stations)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
iChat IChat iChat is an instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging...	Bonjour IM Protocol Bonjour (software) In computing, Bonjour is Apple Inc.'s trade name for its implementation of Zeroconf, a group of technologies that includes service discovery, address assignment, and name resolution...	Apple Inc.	2003	5.0.3 (745),	Bundled with OS	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
iptux	Microsoft Messenger service	Jally, ManPT, others	2008	0.51		GNU/GPL
LAN Chat Enterprise		KGY Soft	2001	3.3,	Shareware (12.00)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
LinPopUp	Microsoft Messenger service	Jean-Marc Jacquet	2000	1.2.0 (Debian)		GNU/GPL	C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
Miranda IM Miranda IM Miranda IM is an open source multiprotocol instant messaging application, designed for Microsoft Windows. Miranda is free software distributed under GNU General Public License.- Architecture :...	Microsoft Messenger service	Roland Rabien	2000	0.9.3		GNU/GPL	C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.... /C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
Net-C		DGtalize	2008	0.2.0		GNU/GPL	Java Java (programming language) Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
Outlook LAN Messenger		Srimax Software System	2002	6.0.43	Shareware (9.80)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
Pichat		Piratson Technologies	2002	0.4.2		Freeware Freeware Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...	C++
PopNote		K5HUM	2003	3.6		Freeware Freeware Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...	HotBasic BASIC BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
Softros LAN Messenger		Softros Systems, Inc.	2000	4.4.1	Shareware (10.95)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
Squiggle LAN Messenger		Overroot	2010	2.7		Freeware Freeware Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...	C#
Vypress Chat	Vypress Chat network protocol	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2000	2.1.8	Shareware (19.00)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...	C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.... /C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
Vypress Messenger	Vypress instant messaging protocol	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2000	4.0	Shareware (19.90)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...	C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.... /C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
WinMessenger	Microsoft Messenger service	VyPRESS Research, LLC	2001	2.8.04	Shareware (14.00)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...	C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.... /C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
Winpopup LAN Messenger		Fomine Software	2002	5.3	Shareware (14.95)	Proprietary Proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
LAN Messenger v3		Ken Ballentine (Updated by Steven Cole)	2006	3.4		Freeware Freeware Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...	Visual Basic .NET Visual Basic .NET Visual Basic .NET , is an object-oriented computer programming language that can be viewed as an evolution of the classic Visual Basic , which is implemented on the .NET Framework...

Operating system support

The operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s the messengers can run on without emulation

Emulator

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...

or compatibility layer

Compatibility layer

A compatibility layer is a term that refers to components that allow for non-native support of components.In software engineering, a compatibility layer allows binaries for a legacy or foreign system to run on a host system. This translates system calls for the foreign system into native system...

	Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...	Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...	Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...	BSD	Unix Unix Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
AChat
Akeni LAN Messenger
BigAnt Messenger
Bopup Messenger
BORGChat BORGChat BORGChat is a LAN messaging software program. It has achieved a relative state of popularity and it is considered to be a complete LAN chat program. It has been superseded by commercial products which allow voice chat, video conferencing, central monitoring and administration...
dMessage
iChat IChat iChat is an instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging...
iptux
LAN Chat Enterprise
LinPopUp
Miranda IM Miranda IM Miranda IM is an open source multiprotocol instant messaging application, designed for Microsoft Windows. Miranda is free software distributed under GNU General Public License.- Architecture :...
Net-C
Outlook LAN Messenger
Pichat
PopNote
Softros LAN Messenger
Squiggle LAN Messenger
Vypress Chat
Vypress Messenger
WinMessenger
Winpopup LAN Messenger
LAN Messenger v3

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

	Toolkits or SDKs	Private messages	Private chat	Public chat	Message board	Encryption	File transfer	Unicode (UTF-8)	Message filtration	Graphical smiley Smiley A smiley, smiley face, or happy face, is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly occurring in popular culture. It is commonly represented as a yellow circle with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing the mouth... s	Message logging	Whiteboard	Terminal Service Compatibility	User base in Active Directory	Serverless (No server required)
AChat
Akeni LAN Messenger
BigAnt Messenger
Bopup Messenger
BORGChat BORGChat BORGChat is a LAN messaging software program. It has achieved a relative state of popularity and it is considered to be a complete LAN chat program. It has been superseded by commercial products which allow voice chat, video conferencing, central monitoring and administration...
dMessage
iChat IChat iChat is an instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging... ¹
iptux
LAN Chat Enterprise
LinPopUp
Miranda IM Miranda IM Miranda IM is an open source multiprotocol instant messaging application, designed for Microsoft Windows. Miranda is free software distributed under GNU General Public License.- Architecture :...
Net-C
Outlook LAN Messenger
Pichat
PopNote
Softros LAN Messenger
Vypress Chat
Vypress Messenger
WinMessenger
Winpopup LAN Messenger
Lan Messenger V3

Note 1: Using Apple's Bonjour

Bonjour (software)

In computing, Bonjour is Apple Inc.'s trade name for its implementation of Zeroconf, a group of technologies that includes service discovery, address assignment, and name resolution...

protocol

General information

Operating system support

Features

See also