ICQ Alternatives

ICQ is described as 'Is one of the oldest instant messengers. First developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, sold to AOL, sold again and currenly owned by the Russian "mail.ru" group (known for one of the largest social networks)' and is a popular instant messenger in the social & communications category. There are more than 50 alternatives to ICQ for a variety of platforms, including Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and Linux apps. The best ICQ alternative is Signal, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like ICQ are Telegram, Element, Pidgin and Tox.

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Alternatives list

  1. Escargot icon
     5 likes

    Escargot is a project that revives the MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger experience. It currently supports MSN versions 1-7, and WLM 8 to '09. It is a sister project to NINA: a revival project for AIM/Yahoo!/AOL/ICQ.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Online
     
  2. Instantbird icon
     42 likes

    Instantbird is an instant messaging client based on Mozilla XULRunner and the open source library libpurple created by the software developers of Pidgin . Over 250 add-ons allow user customization of, and addition of, features.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
     
  3. Librem Chat icon
     8 likes

    End-to-end encrypted chat, VOIP, and video calling used by millions of people.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • F-Droid
     
  4. WowApp icon
     6 likes

    WowApp helps you do good through the Power of Sharing. We share all revenues with you. WowApp Messenger is free and you can receive earnings without ever spending money.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
     
  5. Axolotl icon
     5 likes

    Axolotl is a complete cross-platform Signal client, compatible with the Ubuntu Phone and more. Unlike the desktop Signal client, Axolotl is completely autonomous and doesn't require you to have created an account with the...

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Ubuntu Touch
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Linux Mobile
     
  6. VideoMeeting icon
     10 likes

    VideoMeeting is a free and open source video conference solution built to have video calls and chats using your web browser. It is a pure web application based on WebRTC that can provide communication features within your web browser.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  7. NINA icon
     1 like

    NINA is a project that aims to revive several popular yet discontinued messaging services: AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Classic AOL.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
     
  8. NYNJA icon
     1 like

    all-in-one Communication and Collaboration Platform. The NYNJA platform combines the benefits of instant chat, video conferencing, screen sharing, file sharing, asset management collaboration, and much more, in one fast, easy and reliable platform.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
     
  9. Swift is an elegant, secure, adaptable and intuitive XMPP client, with features that make it suitable for a wide range of use scenarios.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. Smoke Messenger is an open-source Instant Messenger that is known as the first mobile Messenger worlwide using the encryption algorithm McEliece. To be downloaded at F-Droid.org or Github.com. Smoke provides with its own Server-Software: SmokeStack-Echo-Server.

    53 Smoke Crypto Messenger alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
     
  11. Messenger for Desktop is a wrapper for the official client messenger.com. Therefore it works like a regular browser which can only navigate to the messenger.com web app. MFD doesn't touch your messages, account or personal data. All that is handled securely by Facebook.

    84 Messenger for Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Bundleware

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
  12. MyChat icon
     2 likes

    MyChat is an instant messenger that works in LAN and over the Internet. Reliable in slow connections. Do not require too many system resources. The program has its own server where a user control everything happening in the chat.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
     
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