Comparison of instant messaging protocols: Difference between revisions

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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of [[instant messaging protocol]]s. Please see the individual protocols' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.

<!--

A brief list

3GPP standards

==General information==

Bitmessage

Basic general information about the protocols: creator, version, etc.

Bonjour

{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 85%; border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; width: 100%;"

Briar

|-style="background: #ececec;"

Discord

!

Echo

Gadu-Gadu

+12IRC

Jami

LINE

MSNP

MTProto

Matrix

Mattermost

Mumble

OSCAR (AIM, ICQ)

RVP (Windows messenger, etc.)

Richochet

SIP/SIMPLE

Serval projekt

Signal protocol

Skype

Steam friends

TOC2

TOX (Based on DHT)

Threema

Tuenti

Windows Messenger service

XMPP

YMSG

Zephyr

-->

The following is a '''comparison of instant messaging protocols'''. It contains basic general information about the protocols.

==Table of instant messaging protocols==

{{sticky header}}

{{sort-under}}

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: smaller"

|-

![[Communication protocol|Protocol]]

!Creator

!First public release date

Line 11 ⟶ 49:

!Identity (not inc. alias)

!Asynchronous message relaying

![[Transport Layer Security]]

![[End-to-end encryption]]

!Unlimited number of contacts

!Bulletins to all contacts

!One-to-many routing{{efn|name=fn_4}}

![[Messaging spam|Spam]] protection

!Group, channel or conference support

!Audio/VoIP support

!Webcam/Video

!Batch file sharing

!Media synchronization

!Serverless{{efn|name=fn_6}}

!Binary format

![[Communication protocol|Protocol]]

|-

! {{rh}} | [[3GPP|3GPP standards]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[Bonjour (protocol)|Bonjour]]

| [[AppleFriedhelm ComputerHillebrand]]

| 1985

| [[August]] [[2002]]

| [[proprietary software|{{Proprietary]]}}

| Phone number (e.g. [phone])

| [[Username]]@[[hostname]]

| {{Yes}}

| bgcolor=#ffdddd | No

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| About 250 contacts in SIM, unlimited from phone.

| {{No}}

| serial messages

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{No}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes|[[3G-324M]]/[[ViLTE]]}}

| {{yes|[[Rich Communication Services|RCS]]}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

! [[3GPP|3GPP standards]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Bitmessage]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[Gadu-Gadu]]

| Jonathan Warren

| [[Gadu-Gadu]]

| 2012 Nov

| 17 [[July]] [[2000]]

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[proprietary software|Proprietary]]

| Alphanumeric address

| Unique number<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{Yes}}

| bgcolor=#ddffdd | Yes

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (through [[Proof-of-work system|proof-of-work]])

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Bitmessage]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]]

| Apple Inc.

| 2002 August

| {{Proprietary}} Freeware; portions under the Apache license

| Username

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|[[multicast]]}}

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour]]

|-

!{{rh}} |[[Briar (software)|Briar]]

|Briarproject.org

| 2018 May 9

|{{free|[[Open standard]]}}

|Public & Private key (via QR Codes)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Briar (software)|Briar]]

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Discord (software)|Discord]]

| Discord Inc.

| 2015 May 13

| {{Proprietary}}

| Discord ID<ref>{{Cite web|title=Where can I find my User/Server/Message ID?|url=https://support.discord.com/hc/pl/articles/206346498-Where-can-I-find-my-User-Server-Message-ID-|website=discord.com|language=en}}</ref>

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Increase the Discord FRIENDS List Limits from 1000 to 2000 or more!|url=https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4407590964247-Increase-the-Discord-FRIENDS-List-Limits-from-1000-to-2000-or-more-}}</ref>

| {{no}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{no}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Discord (software)|Discord]]

|-

!{{rh}} class="table-rh" | dm3

|corpus.io / dm3.network

|2022

| {{free|Open Source (BSD)}}

|ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

!dm3

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Echo (communications protocol)|Echo]]

| spot-on.sf.net / goldbug.sf.net

| 2013

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| Key

| {{Yes}}

| {{optional}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Echo (communications protocol)|Echo]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Gadu-Gadu]]

| GG Network

| 2000 Jul 17

| {{Proprietary}}

| UIN<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{Yes}}{{efn|name=fn_5}} (simple)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Gadu-Gadu]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]]

| [[Jarkko Oikarinen]]

| [[August]] [[1988]] Aug

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[Nickname]]![[User (computing)|Username]]@[[hostname]]<br />(or "hostmask")<br />e.g. user!~[e-mail] <sup id{{efn|name="fn_1_back">[[#fn_1|1]]</sup>}}

| {{yes2|Yes, via IRCv3<ref>{{cite web |title=chathistory Extension |url=https://ircv3.net/specs/extensions/chathistory |website=ircv3.net |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref> or MemoServ that differs from the main system}}

| {{optional}}

| bgcolor=#ffdddd | No

| {{lost|Many implementations which are mostly non-interoperable with other IRC clients}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gioia |first1=Antonio |title=IRC with SSL and OTR encryption |url=https://www.antoniogioia.com/irc-with-ssl-and-otr/ |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Secure encryption layer for the IRC protocol based on OpenPGP. |url=https://weechat.org/scripts/source/ircrypt.py.html/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=encrypted DCC - SDCC - SCHAT |url=https://forums.mirc.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/234584/encrypted-dcc-sdcc-schat}}</ref>

| {{No}}{{efn|name=fn_3|Scalability issue: The protocol gets increasingly inefficient with the number of contacts.{{#tag:ref|{{IETF RFC|1324}}, D. Reed, 1992. 2.5.1, Size}}{{#tag:ref|[http://www.psyc.eu/synconf Functionality provided by systems for synchronous conferencing], C.v. Loesch, 1992. 1.2.1 Growth}}}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|Simplistic [[multicast]]}}

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{Yes}} (everyone, multiple simultaneous, any size)

| {{lost|many implementations which are incompatible with other IRC clients<ref>{{cite web |title=dcc.voice |url=http://www.kvirc.net/doc/cmd_dcc.voice.html |website=kvirc.net |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=VoIRC |website=[[GitHub]] |url=https://github.com/asiekierka/voirc}}</ref>}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{partial|via BNC}}

| {{yes2|yes, via DCC CHAT}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Jami (software)|Jami]] (based on [[Distributed hash table|DHT]] and [[Session Initiation Protocol|SIP]])

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[Jabber|XMPP (Jabber)]]

| Savoir-faire Linux Inc.

| [[Jeremie Miller]]

| 2002 August

| [[May]] [[2000]]

| {{free|[[Open standardStandard]]}}

| 40-digit address

| Jabber ID ([[JID]])<br />e.g. usr@a.b.c/home <sup id="fn_2_back">[[#fn_2|2]]</sup>

| {{Yes}}

| bgcolor=#ddffdd | Yes

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Jami (software)|Jami]] (based on [[Distributed hash table|DHT]] and [[Session Initiation Protocol|SIP]])

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Matrix (communication protocol)|Matrix]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[Mobile Status Notification Protocol]] (MSNP)

| Matrix.org

| 2014 Sep<ref name="Ermoshina-2016">{{cite conference|last1=Ermoshina |first1=Ksenia |last2=Musiani |first2=Francesca |last3=Halpin |first3=Harry|editor=Bagnoli, Franco|display-editors=etal|pages=244–254 |title=End-to-End Encrypted Messaging Protocols: An Overview|book-title=Internet Science |publisher=Springer |___location=Florence, Italy |conference=INSCI 2016 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-45982-0_22 |isbn=978-3-319-45982-0 |date=September 2016 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2020|reason=p. 247: 'Matrix.org, released in December 2014'}}

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| @[[Username]]:[[Hostname]] (<abbr title="Matrix User ID">MXID</abbr>)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Included|Yes, mandatory}}

| {{Yes|Yes, default for private conversations<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cross-signing and End-to-end Encryption by Default is HERE!!!|url=https://matrix.org/blog/2020/05/06/cross-signing-and-end-to-end-encryption-by-default-is-here|website=Matrix.org|language=en|access-date=2020-05-08}}</ref>}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (using pluggable server-side filtering modules and contact ignoring)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Matrix (communication protocol)|Matrix]]

|-

! [[Mattermost]]

| Mattermost Inc

| 2015 October 2

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{dunno}}

!

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" |[[Microsoft Notification Protocol|MSNP]] ([[Windows Live Messenger]], etc.)

| [[Microsoft]]

| [[July]] [[1999]] Jul

| [[proprietary software|{{Proprietary]]}}

| [[E-mailEmail address]] ([[Microsoft .NET Passport|.NET Passportaccount]])

| {{Yes}}

| bgcolor=#ffdddd | No

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| Only for certified robots

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Microsoft Notification Protocol|MSNP]] ([[Windows Live Messenger]], etc.)

|-

| {{rh}} class="table-rh" | MTProto ([[Telegram (software)|Telegram]])

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[OSCAR protocol]]

| Telegram Messenger LLP

| [[America Online|AOL]]

| 2013 Aug

| ?

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[proprietary software|Proprietary]]

| Phone number (e.g. [phone]), nickname (e.g. @example)

| [[Username]] or [[UIN]]<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{yes}}

| bgcolor=#ddffdd | Yes

| {{yes}}

| {{Partial|No end-to-end encryption for group chats}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}, contact blocking

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://telegram.org/blog/calls |title = Voice Calls: Secure, Crystal-Clear, AI-Powered| date=30 March 2017 }}</ref>

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

|MTProto ([[Telegram (software)|Telegram]])

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Mumble (software)|Mumble]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[TOC protocol]]

| Thorvald Natvig

| [[America Online|AOL]]

| 1999 Jul

| ?

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[proprietary software|Proprietary]]

| [[Username]] or [[UIN]]<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{Yes}}

| bgcolor=#ddffdd | Yes

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| Only for certified robots

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Mumble (software)|Mumble]]

|-

! [[Line (software)|LINE]]

!style="background: #ececec;"| [[YMSG]]

| [[Yahoo!LY Corporation]]

| 2011 June 23

| ?

| [[proprietary software|{{Proprietary]]}}

| LINE ID, Phone Number

| [[Username]]

|

| bgcolor=#ffdddd | No

|

|-style="background: #ececec;"

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{dunno}}

!

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" |[[OSCAR protocol|OSCAR]] ([[AOL Instant Messenger|AIM]], [[ICQ]])

| [[AOL]]

| 1997

| {{Proprietary}} (Discontinued 15-Dec-2017)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aimemories.tumblr.com/post/166091776077/aimemories |title = AOL INSTANT MESSENGER (AIM) — One Last Away Message}}</ref>

| [[User (computing)|Username]], Email Address or [[ICQ#UIN|UIN]]<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (Aim Pro, Aim Lite)

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{No|client-based}}

| {{Yes}} (Multiple, simultaneous)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[OSCAR protocol|OSCAR]] ([[AOL Instant Messenger|AIM]], [[ICQ]])

|-

|Revolt

|[[Revolt (Online Communication Software)|Revolt]]

|2021

|{{Free|AGPLv3}}

|Username and discriminator (e.g. MysticPixie#7495)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Usernames are Evolving - Revolt |url=https://revolt.chat/posts/evolving-usernames |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=revolt.chat}}</ref>

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|

|

|

|

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|

|{{No}}

|{{dunno}}

![[Revolt (Online Communication Software)|Revolt]]

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" |[[Rendezvous protocol|RVP]] ([[Windows Messenger]], etc.)

| [[Microsoft]]

| 1997 Mar

| {{Proprietary}} (Discontinued)

| Windows Active Directory Login

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{No}}ne

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{dunno}}

![[Rendezvous protocol|RVP]] ([[Windows Messenger]], etc.)

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" |[[Ricochet (software)|Ricochet]]

| Invisible.im

| 2014 Mar

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| Tor onion address

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Ricochet (software)|Ricochet]]

|-

! {{rh}} class="table-rh" |[[Serval Project]]

| Serval Project

| 2016

| {{free|[[Open Standard]]}}

| Digit address

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Serval Project]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Signal Protocol]]

|[[Signal Foundation]]

| 2014 Feb<ref>{{cite web|last1=Marlinspike|first1=Moxie|title=The New TextSecure: Privacy Beyond SMS|url=https://whispersystems.org/blog/the-new-textsecure/|publisher=Open Whisper Systems|access-date=12 December 2015|date=24 February 2014}}</ref>

|{{free|[[Open standard]]}}

|Phone number (e.g. [phone])

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}, contact blocking

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Signal Protocol]]

|-

! {{rh}} |SimpleX Messaging Protocol

| Evgeny Poberezkin

| 2020

| {{free|[[AGPLv3]]}}

| No user identifiers

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}, through WebRTC<ref name="SimpleXv4.6">{{Cite web |date=Mar 28, 2023 |title=SimpleX Chat v4.6 – with hidden profiles, community moderation, improved audio/video calls and reduced battery usage. |url=https://simplex.chat/blog/20230328-simplex-chat-v4-6-hidden-profiles.html |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=simplex.chat |language=en}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}, through WebRTC<ref name="SimpleXv4.6" />

| {{Yes}}

|

|{{no}}

| {{dunno}}

!SimpleX Messaging Protocol

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Session Initiation Protocol|SIP]]/[[SIMPLE (instant messaging protocol)|SIMPLE]]

| [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]

| 1996

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| user@hostname

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Optional}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{partial|Medium}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Depends}} on implementation

| {{dunno}}

![[Session Initiation Protocol|SIP]]/[[SIMPLE (instant messaging protocol)|SIMPLE]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Skype protocol|Skype]]

| [[Skype]]

| 2003 Aug

| {{Proprietary}} (Discontinued)

| [[User (computing)|Username]]

| {{Yes}}

| {{Proprietary}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{No|client-based}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Skype protocol|Skype]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Steam (service)|Steam Friends]]

| [[Valve Corporation|Valve]]

| 2003 Sep 12

| {{Proprietary}}

| SteamID/Username or Unique Number

| {{Yes}}

| {{Proprietary}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No|No, although rising}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Steam (service)|Steam Friends]]

|-

![[TeamSpeak]]

|TeamSpeak Systems GmbH

|2001 Aug

|{{Proprietary}}

|Unique ID in base64

| {{No}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

|

|

|

| {{dunno}}

!

|-

! {{rh}} |[[TOC protocol|TOC2]]

| [[AOL]]

| 2005 Sep

| {{Proprietary}} (Discontinued)

| [[User (computing)|Username]] or [[ICQ#UIN|UIN]]<br />e.g. 12345678

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{No}}

| paying members only

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{partial}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[TOC protocol|TOC2]]

|-

![[Threema]]

|Threema GmbH

|2012 December

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{dunno}}

!

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Tox (protocol)|TOX]] (based on [[Distributed hash table|DHT]])

| irungentoo (GitHub user)

| 2013 June

| {{free|[[GNU General Public License]]}} (GPL) version 3 or later

| Public & Private key

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Groups : Chat, call, and share video and files with the whole gang in Tox's group chats.|url=https://tox.chat/|website=tox.chat|language=en|access-date=2021-06-18}}</ref><ref>[[Presence information]] is indicated to other users by a small coloured dot.{{Cite web|title=Tox clients|url=https://tox.chat/clients.html|website=tox.chat|language=en|access-date=2021-06-18}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=File sharing : Trade files, with no artificial limits or caps.|url=https://tox.chat/|website=tox.chat|language=en|access-date=2021-06-18}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Tox (protocol)|TOX]] (based on [[Distributed hash table|DHT]])

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Tuenti]]

| [[Tuenti]]

| 2006

| {{Proprietary}}

| [[User (computing)|Username]]

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Tuenti]]

|-

![[WeChat]]

| [[Tencent]]

| 2011

| {{Proprietary}}

| Username

| Yes

| Yes

| No

| Yes

| Yes

| Yes

| No

| Yes

| Yes

| Yes

| No

| No

| No

| {{dunno}}

![[WeChat]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Windows Messenger service]]

| [[Microsoft]]

| 1990

| {{Proprietary}} (Discontinued)

| NetBIOS

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Windows Messenger service]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol|XMPP]]

| [[Jeremie Miller]], standardized via [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]

| 1999 Jan

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol|Jabber ID]] (JID)<br />e.g. usr@a.b.c/home{{efn|name=fn_2}}

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=XEP-0313: Message Archive Management |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0313.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=XEP-0184: Message Delivery Receipts |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0184.html}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0368: SRV records for XMPP over TLS|date=20 August 2019 |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0368.html}}</ref>

| {{Optional}}<ref>{{cite web |title=XEP-0420: Stanza Content Encryption |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0420.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0027: Current Jabber OpenPGP Usage|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0027.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2014-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0373: OpenPGP for XMPP|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0373.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2018-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0384: OMEMO Encryption|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0384.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2018-07-31}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}<ref>.eg route.all-resource in OpenFire</ref>

| {{Yes}}<ref name="xmpp muc">{{cite web|title=XEP-0045: Multi-User Chat|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2019-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0060: Publish-Subscribe|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0060.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2019-10-06}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence|url=https://xmpp.org/rfcs/rfc6121.html#blocking|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0159: Spim-Blocking Control|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0159.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2006-07-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0161: Abuse Reporting|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0161.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=2020-03-09|date=2007-05-06}}</ref>

| {{Yes}}<ref name="xmpp muc" />

| {{Yes|Yes, via [[Jingle (protocol)|Jingle]]}}

| {{Yes|Yes, via [[Jingle (protocol)|Jingle]]}}

| {{Yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=XEP-0363: HTTP File Upload |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0363.html}}</ref>

| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0280: Message Carbons|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0280.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=13 December 2018|date=2017-02-16}}</ref>

| {{Optional}}<ref>{{cite web|title=XEP-0174: Serverless Messaging|url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0174.html|website=xmpp.org|access-date=1 November 2017|date=26 November 2008}}</ref>

| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=XEP-0231: Bits of Binary |url=https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0231.html}}</ref>

![[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol|XMPP]]

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Yahoo! Messenger Protocol|YMSG]] ([[Yahoo! Messenger]])

| [[Yahoo!]]

| 1998, March 9

| {{Proprietary}}

| [[User (computing)|Username]]

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}{{Update inline|reason=YMSG probably uses TLS based on EFF scorecard from November 2014: https://www.eff.org/node/82654 |?=yes|date=July 2016}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No|Centralistic}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Yahoo! Messenger Protocol|YMSG]] ([[Yahoo! Messenger]])

|-

! {{rh}} |[[Zephyr (protocol)|Zephyr Notification Service]]

| [[Project Athena|MIT]]

| 1987

| {{free|[[Open standard]]}}

| [[Kerberos (protocol)|Kerberos]] principal<br />e.g. [e-mail]

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{dunno}}

![[Zephyr (protocol)|Zephyr Notification Service]]

|-

![[Communications protocol|Protocol]]

!Creator

!First public release date

Line 75 ⟶ 826:

!Identity (not inc. alias)

!Asynchronous message relaying

![[Transport Layer Security]]

![[End-to-end encryption]]

!Unlimited number of contacts

!Bulletins to all contacts

!One-to-many routing{{efn|name=fn_4}}

![[Messaging spam|Spam]] protection

!Group, channel or conference support

!Audio/VoIP support

!Webcam/Video

!Batch file sharing

!Media synchronization

!Serverless{{efn|name=fn_6}} (decentralized)

!Binary format

![[Communication protocol|Protocol]]

|}

{{notelist|refs=

<cite id="fn_1">[[#fn_1_back|Note 1:]]</cite> In <tt>~[e-mail]</tt>, the <tt>a.b.com</tt> 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 <tt>~[e-mail]</tt>. The tilde generally indicates that the username provided by the IRC client on signon was not verified with the [[ident]] service.

{{efn|name=fn_1|In {{Mono|~[e-mail]}}, the {{Mono|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 {{Mono|~[e-mail]}}. The tilde generally indicates that the username provided by the IRC client on signon was not verified with the [[ident protocol|ident]] service.}}

<cite id{{efn|name="fn_2">[[#fn_2_back|Note 2:]]</cite> In <tt>{{Mono|usr@a.b.c/home</tt>}}, the <tt>{{Mono|home</tt>}} part is a "resource", which distinguishes the same user when logged in from multiple locations, possibly simultaneously; a more realistic example is <tt>{{Mono|[e-mail]/home</tt>}}.}}

{{efn|name=fn_4|[[One-to-one (communication)|One-to-many]]/[[many-to-many]] communications primarily comprise [[presence information]], [[Publish–subscribe pattern|publish/subscribe]] and [[chat room|groupchat]] distribution. Some technologies have the ability to distribute data by [[multicast]], avoiding bottlenecks on the sending side caused by the number of recipients. Efficient distribution of presence is currently however a technological scalability issue for both XMPP and SIP/SIMPLE.}}

{{efn|name=fn_5|There have been reports from users that the antispam filter is used to censor links to other IM programs and some websites.}}

{{efn|name=fn_6|Serverless protocols don't have any central entities (usually companies) controlling the network. Serverless network consists only of clients. Such systems are usually extremely resistant to surveillance and censorship.}}

}}

==See also==

*[[Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients]]

*[[Instant messenger]]

*[[ListComparison of instantInternet messagingRelay protocolsChat clients]]

*[[ListComparison of instantLAN messengers]]

*[[Comparison of instantsoftware messengersand protocols for distributed social networking]]

*[[LAN messenger]]

*[[Secure instant messaging]]

* [[Comparison of user features of messaging platforms]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

{{Instant messaging}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comparison Of Instant Messaging Protocols}}

[[Category:Computing comparison]]

[[Category:Instant messaging|* protocols]]

[[Category:Lists of network protocols|Instant messaging]]

[[Category:Network software comparisons|Instant messaging protocols]]

[[Category:Online services comparisons|Instant messaging protocols]]