Pidgin AlternativesTop Instant Messengers & Group Chat Apps like Pidgin

Pidgin is described as 'Chat program which lets you log into accounts on multiple chat networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on XMPP and sitting in an IRC channel at the same time' and is a leading instant messenger in the social & communications category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Pidgin for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Mac, Windows, Web-based and Android apps. The best Pidgin alternative is Element. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Element or Matrix. Other great apps like Pidgin are Beeper, Jitsi Desktop, SeaMonkey and Element X.

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Get a badge for your sitePidgin alternatives page was last updated May 14, 2024

Element
840 likes
Provides secure collaboration with end-to-end encryption, supporting chat, voice, and video calls. Available on all major platforms, it enables digital sovereignty with a decentralized design and interoperability through bridges to systems like Slack and Teams. Includes enterprise-grade SaaS.
354 Element alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Video Calling
Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
Snapcraft
Matrix.org
Flathub
F-Droid
Cloudron
OpenAPK
United Kingdom
+3
Good alternative?Is Element a good alternative to Pidgin?

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1comment
Element vs Pidgin Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Nov 10, 2017
Pidgin is a universal IM client. Riot is a Matrix client with integrations providing weak bridging for other protocols.
1 of 1 comments
Element is Free Personal and Open SourcePidgin is Free and Open Source
Element is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightPidgin is not according to our users
Matrix
419 likes
Open standard protocol enabling decentralized, encrypted instant messaging, VoIP signaling, IoT device connectivity, and persistent data management across federated servers without central control or single points of failure, bridging communication platforms.
199 Matrix alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Group Chat
Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
WebRTC
Python
JavaScript
Go (Programming Language)
Cloudron
Java
Perl
United Kingdom
Good alternative?Is Matrix a good alternative to Pidgin?

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2comments
Matrix vs Pidgin Comments
Positive comment by alttojb · Sep 21, 2022
Matrix does allow multi-protocol chat via "bridges". https://matrix.org/bridges/
Negative comment by Guest · Sep 11, 2022
It's not a universal messaging platform
2 of 2 comments
Matrix is Free and Open SourcePidgin is also Free and Open Source
Matrix is Decentralized, Privacy focused, Security-focused and LightweightPidgin is not according to our users
Jami
249 likes
Open source decentralized communication platform supporting secure end-to-end encrypted calls, messaging, group conferencing, file and media sharing, SIP compatibility, multi-device sync, and strong privacy, available across desktop and mobile systems.
184 Jami alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Video Calling
Origin
Canada
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Canada
+9
Good alternative?Is Jami a good alternative to Pidgin?

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1comment
Jami vs Pidgin Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Jun 25, 2016
Pidgin more focused on text and mutiprotocol messaging. While Ring more focused on a distributed non-multiprotocol service.
1 of 1 comments
Jami is Free and Open SourcePidgin is also Free and Open Source
Jami is Decentralized and Privacy focusedPidgin is not according to our users
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Beeper
88 likes
Brings together messaging from 14 networks into a single inbox, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and more, with strong privacy via on-device connections, cross-platform availability, chat reminders, scheduling, and unified notifications for all devices.
29 Beeper alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application type
Instant Messenger
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Chrome OS
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
United States
+8
Good alternative?Is Beeper a good alternative to Pidgin?

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1comment
Beeper vs Pidgin Comments
Positive comment by belisimato · Feb 20, 2024
Unifies text communication into one inbox
1 of 1 comments
Beeper is Freemium and Open SourcePidgin is Free and Open Source
Beeper is Privacy focusedPidgin is not according to our users
Jitsi Desktop
490 likes
Jitsi Desktop (previously SIP Communicator) is a legacy audio/video and chat communicator with full encryption, precedessor of Jitsi Meet .
79 Jitsi Desktop alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (Apache-2.0)
Application typeApplication types
Video Calling
Web Conferencing
Origin
United States
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
BSD
Self-Hosted
United States
+9
Good alternative?Is Jitsi Desktop a good alternative to Pidgin?

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3comments
Discontinued
Jitsi Desktop is not actively developed anymore: last version, released in October 2017, can be still downloaded from GitHub. Its successor is Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Desktop vs Pidgin Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Nov 16, 2020
It's only focused on video chat, no more Xmpp Support
Negative comment by Guest · May 6, 2018
Jitsi is now a video-chat only application, with no support for XMPP/Jabber functionality.
Negative comment by Guest · Oct 29, 2021
it does not support Jabber/XMPP anymore
3 of 3 comments
Jitsi Desktop is Free and Open SourcePidgin is also Free and Open Source
Jitsi Desktop is a Video Calling Pidgin is an Instant Messenger
Jitsi Desktop is Privacy focusedPidgin is not according to our users
SeaMonkey
250 likes
Web-browser, advanced e-mail, newsgroup and feed client, IRC chat, and HTML editing in one application. Itis built on the open source Mozilla Gecko engine, the same code which underlies Thunderbird and is the base for the Firefox browser.
194 SeaMonkey alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Web Browser
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
PortableApps.com
Germany
EU
+3
Good alternative?Is SeaMonkey a good alternative to Pidgin?
Element X
51 likes
It is the brand new, and fastest ever, Matrix client. It is for personal and community use, and will support enterprise functionality later this year.
138 Element X alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Video Calling
Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Android Auto
OpenAPK
United Kingdom
Good alternative?Is Element X a good alternative to Pidgin?
Conversations
106 likes
Conversations is a privacy focused, open source XMPP Texting [Jabber] client for Android 4.0+ smart phones with wife-approved easy encryption [OTR, OMEMO, or GPG].
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Group Chat
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Android
Android Tablet
F-Droid
Germany
EU
+4
Good alternative?Is Conversations a good alternative to Pidgin?

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1comment
Conversations vs Pidgin Comments
Positive comment by Schnatt_App · Feb 22, 2020
very good Alternative if you seek a client for android
1 of 1 comments
Conversations is Free and Open SourcePidgin is also Free and Open Source
Conversations is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightPidgin is not according to our users
Adium
337 likes
Adium is a free and open source instant messaging application for Mac OS X, written using Mac OS Xs Cocoa API, released under the GNU GPL and developed by the Adium team. Based on the libpurple protocol library, Adium can connect you to any number of messaging accounts on any...
69 Adium alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Instant Messenger
Origin
United States
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Mac
United States
Good alternative?Is Adium a good alternative to Pidgin?

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2comments
Discontinued
The last update is from March 2021.
Adium vs Pidgin Comments
Positive comment by Mister Hutchinson · Jul 28, 2021
Good third-party protocol support, simple user interface.
Positive comment by antoniobeana · Oct 13, 2016
Has the inactivity detector and is setting me as away when I am not in front of computer.
2 of 2 comments
Adium is Free and Open SourcePidgin is also Free and Open Source
Adium is CustomizablePidgin is not according to our users
Trillian
279 likes
Trillian is an instant messaging app that works on phones, tablets, and desktops while keeping your chats neatly synchronized between all of them! We think conversation should be easily shared between all of your devices, not trapped as text messages on your phone.
153 Trillian alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
Instant Messenger
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Blackberry
iPad
Software as a Service (SaaS)
United States
+2
Good alternative?Is Trillian a good alternative to Pidgin?

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1comment
Trillian vs Pidgin Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Jan 17, 2016
Pidgen supports multiple accounts from multiple services, while this is a single service. So instead of allowing you to use all your existing accounts it requires you to use their account. The beauty of Pidgen is that you can connect with your friends using the service they use instead of trying to sell them on the service you want to use.
1 of 1 comments
Trillian is Freemium and ProprietaryPidgin is Free and Open Source
Franz
119 likes
Centralize multiple chat and messaging services in one customizable interface, organize workspaces, receive synchronized notifications, manage multiple accounts per service, and easily access popular platforms on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Privacy controls included.
80 Franz alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Video Calling
Origin
Austria
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Austria
EU
+2
Good alternative?Is Franz a good alternative to Pidgin?
Psi XMPP Client
88 likes
Feature-rich XMPP client for advanced users offering strong customization options, secure encrypted messaging (TLS, OpenPGP, OTR, OMEMO), file transfers, audio/video calls, support for animated emoticons, modern themes, group messaging, and multi-platform compatibility.
46 Psi XMPP Client alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Instant Messenger
Encrypted Chat
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Haiku
Germany
EU
Good alternative?Is Psi XMPP Client a good alternative to Pidgin?

12 of 124 Pidgin alternatives

Pidgin AlternativesTop Instant Messengers & Group Chat Apps like Pidgin

Alternatives list

Element

Cost / License

Application typeApplication types

Origin

Platforms

Element vs Pidgin Comments

Matrix

Cost / License

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Origin

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Matrix vs Pidgin Comments

Jami

Cost / License

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Origin

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Jami vs Pidgin Comments

Beeper

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Beeper vs Pidgin Comments

Jitsi Desktop

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Origin

Alerts

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Jitsi Desktop vs Pidgin Comments

SeaMonkey

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Origin

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Element X

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Origin

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Conversations

Cost / License

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Origin

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Conversations vs Pidgin Comments

Adium

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Origin

Alerts

Platforms

Adium vs Pidgin Comments

Trillian

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Trillian vs Pidgin Comments

Franz

Cost / License

Application typeApplication types

Origin

Platforms

Psi XMPP Client

Cost / License

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Origin

Platforms