Comparison of LAN messengers

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of LAN messengers.

General information

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

	Author / Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license	Programming language
AChat	Michal Hruby	2005	beta 7 (v0.150) (January 24, 2007)	Free	GNU/GPL	Delphi
Akeni LAN Messenger	Akeni	2002	1.2.114 (January 13, 2009)	Non-freeShareware (16.95)	Proprietary	?
BigAnt Messenger	BigAnt	2001	2.50 (July 8, 2009)	Non-freeShareware (20.00)	Proprietary	?
Bopup Messenger	B Labs	2001	5.4.7 (December 24, 2009)	Non-freeShareware (12.90)	Proprietary	C++
BORGChat	Ionut Cioflan	2002	Template:Latest stable release/BORGChat	Free	Freeware	?
iChat	Apple Inc.	2003	? (October 26, 2007)	Non-freeBundled with OS	Proprietary	?
Inbit Messenger	[[]]	[[]]	4.50 ()	Non-free	Proprietary	?
LAN Chat Enterprise	KGY Soft	2001	3.3, (May 29, 2007)	Non-freeShareware (12.00)	Proprietary	?
LinPopUp	Jean-Marc Jacquet	2000	1.2.0 (Debian, April 7, 2008)	Free	GNU/GPL	C
Net-C	DGtalize	2008	0.1.2 (February 11, 2009)	Free	GNU/GPL	Java
Pichat	Piratson Technologies	2002	0.4.2 (September 21, 2009)	Free	Freeware	C++
PopNote	K5HUM	2003	3.6 (July 1, 2009)	Free	Freeware	HotBasic
Softros LAN Messenger	Softros Systems, Inc.	2000	4.4.1 (May 15, 2009)	Non-freeShareware (10.95)	Proprietary	?
Winpopup LAN Messenger	Fomine Software	2002	5.3 (June 18, 2008)	Non-freeShareware (14.95)	Proprietary	?

Operating system support

The operating systems the messengers can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.

	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix
AChat	Yes	No	No	No	No
Akeni LAN Messenger	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
BigAnt Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Bopup Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
BORGChat	Yes	No	No	No	No
iChat	No	Yes	No	No	No
LAN Chat Enterprise	Yes	No	No	No	No
LinPopUp	No	No	Yes	No	No
Net-C	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pichat	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
PopNote	Yes	No	No	No	No
Softros LAN Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Winpopup LAN Messenger	Yes	No	No	No	No

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 smileys	Message logging	Whiteboard	Terminal Service Compatibility	User base in Active Directory	Serverless (No server required)
AChat	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Akeni LAN Messenger	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
BigAnt Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Bopup Messenger	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
BORGChat	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
iChat 1	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
LAN Chat Enterprise	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
LinPopUp	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Net-C	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Pichat	W32 + Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
PopNote	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Softros LAN Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Winpopup LAN Messenger	W32	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

Note 1: Using Apple's Bonjour protocol

See also

• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients