View source for Comparison of LAN messengers

{{short description|None}}

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable [[LAN messenger]]s.

==General information==
Basic general information about the LAN messengers: creator/company, license/price, among others.
<!-- In each table, link one instance of terms, remove other WP:REPEATLINK(s). -->
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: smaller; width: auto; text-align: center;"
! style="width:12em" |
! Protocol
! Author, creator
! First public release date
! Latest stable version
! Cost ([[United States dollar|USD]])
! [[Software license]]
! [[Programming language]]
|-
! BeeBEEP<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.beebeep.net/ | title=BeeBEEP (Free Office Messenger) | publisher=[[SourceForge|SourceForge.net]] | accessdate=2 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-dojo/get-lan-based-interoffice-secure-chat-with-beebeep/ |title=Get LAN-based interoffice secure chat with BeeBEEP |last=Wallen |first=Jack |date=2012-08-22 |website=techrepublic.com |publisher=[[TechRepublic]] |access-date=2019-10-02}}</ref>
| BeeBEEP Protocol
| Marco Mastroddi
| 2010
| 5.8.6 ({{start date and age|2023|02|13}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| C++ and Qt
|-
! [[BORGChat]]
| {{dunno}}
| Ionut Cioflan
| 2002
| {{Latest stable release/BORGChat}}
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Chat/LAN-Messaging-Clients/BORGChat.shtml | title=BORGChat | publisher=[[Softpedia]] | accessdate=9 December 2016}}</ref>
| {{proprietary}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
![[Briar (software)|Briar]]
|Bramble Protocol
|Briarproject.org
|2018
|1.4.19 ({{start date and age|2023|01|04}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
|Java
|-
! [[iChat]]
| [[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour IM Protocol]]
| [[Apple Inc.]]
| 2002
| 6.0.1 (1002) ({{start date and age|2012|02|01}})
| {{nonfree|bundled with OS}}
| {{proprietary}}
| Likely [[Objective-C]]
|-
! iptux<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ghacks.net/2010/09/17/instant-message-on-your-lan-with-iptux/ |title=Instant message on your LAN with iptux |last=Wallen |first=Jack |date=2010-09-17 |website=ghacks.net |publisher=[[Ghacks]] |access-date=2019-10-02}}</ref>
| [[Windows Messenger service]]
| Jally, ManPT, others
| 2008
| 0.51 ({{start date and age|2009|11|20}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://freecode.com/projects/iptux | title=iptux | publisher=freecode.com | accessdate=9 December 2016}}</ref>
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! [[Miranda NG]]
| Windows Messenger service
| Roland Rabien
| 2000
| 0.96.1 ({{start date and age|2022|06|02}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| [[C (programming language)|C]]/C++
|-
! [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ubuntubuzz.com/2011/11/use-pidgin-for-chatting-and.html | title=Use Pidgin for Chatting And Transferring Files on Local Network Without Internet Connection | publisher=ubuntubuzz.com | accessdate=9 December 2016}}</ref>
| [[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour IM Protocol]]
| Mark Spencer, others
| 1998
| 2.14.12 ({{start date and age|2022|12|31}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| C
|-
! qTox
| [[Tox (protocol)|Tox Protocol]]
| Tux3
| ?
| 1.17.6 ({{start date and age|2022|3|7}})
| {{free|[[Gratis versus libre|No cost]]}}
| {{open source|[[GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| C++ and Qt
|}

==Operating system support==
The [[operating system]]s the messengers can run on without [[emulator]]s or [[compatibility layer]]s.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Client
!Windows
!Mac OS
!Linux
!Android
!iOS
!BSD
!Other
|-
|BeeBEEP || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || Raspberry OS
|-
|[[BORGChat]] || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} ||
|-
|[[Briar (software)|Briar]] || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} ||
|-
|[[iChat]] || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} ||
|-
|iptux || || || || || || ||
|-
|[[Miranda NG]] || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} ||
|-
|[[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || || || FreeBSD <br />NetBSD <br />OpenBSD ||Solaris <br /> <br /> Illumos 
|-
|[[Tox (protocol)|qTox]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || FreeBSD ||
|}

==Features==
{{sort-under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="font-size: smaller; width: auto; text-align: center;"
|+ 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]]s
!Message logging
!Whiteboard
!Terminal Service Compatibility
!User base in Active Directory
!Serverless (No server required)
|-
! BeeBEEP
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
! [[BORGChat]]
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
![[Briar (software)|Briar]]
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
! [[iChat]] <sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn 1|1]]</sup>
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
|-
! iptux
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
! [[Miranda NG]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
![[Tox (protocol)|qTox]]
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
|}

[[#fn 1 back|Note 1:]] Using Apple's [[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour]] protocol

==See also==
*[[Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients]]
*[[Comparison of instant messaging protocols]]
*[[Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients]]
*[[LAN messenger]]
*[[Windows Messenger service]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comparison Of Lan Messengers}}
[[Category:Network software comparisons|WLAN messengers]]