The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of LAN messengers.
LAN Messenger: This is a free instant messaging service to communicate without any internet server. This is a user friendly software which can fulfill all your necessary needs. LeadMind Development announced version 1.62 of its feature-packed instant messaging and chat software for Local Area Network (LAN). Pop Messenger is an easy-to-use chat and message sending over SO/HO or enterprise local network software solution capable of sending chat, private and broadcast messages to online and offline users.
General information[edit]
Basic general information about the LAN messengers: creator/company, license/price, among others.
Protocol | Author, creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license | Programming language | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BeeBEEP [1] | BeeBEEP Protocol | Marco Mastroddi | 2010 | 5.6.1 (May 20, 2019; 47 days ago) | Free | QPL | C++ and Qt |
Bit Chat | Bit Chat Protocol | Technitium | 2011 | 4.5.1 (September 24, 2016; 2 years ago) | Free[2] | GNU GPLv3 | C# |
BORGChat | ? | Ionut Cioflan | 2002 | v1.0.0 b438 (March 31, 2007; 12 years ago)[±] | Free[3] | Freeware | ? |
Briar | Bramble Protocol | Briarproject.org | 2018 | 1.1.5 (November 13, 2018; 7 months ago) | Free | GNU GPLv3 | Java |
iChat | Bonjour IM Protocol | Apple Inc. | 2003 | 5.0.3 (745), (April 26, 2010; 9 years ago) | Non-free, bundled with OS | Proprietary | Likely Objective-C |
iptux | Windows Messenger service | Jally, ManPT, others | 2008 | 0.51 (November 20, 2009; 9 years ago) | Free[4] | GNU GPL | ? |
LinPopUp | Windows Messenger service | Jean-Marc Jacquet | 2000 | 1.2.0 (Debian, April 7, 2008; 11 years ago) | Free[5] | GNU GPL | C |
Miranda IM | Windows Messenger service | Roland Rabien | 2000 | 0.10.56 (August 12, 2016; 2 years ago) | Free | GNU GPL | C/C++ |
Pidgin[6] | ? | Mark Spencer, others | 1998 | 2.11.0 (June 20, 2016; 3 years ago) | Free | GNU GPL | C |
Qualia LAN Messenger | LAN Messenger protocol | Qualia Technologies | 2010 | 1.2.39 (December 25, 2018; 6 months ago) | Free[7] | GNU GPL | C++ |
qTox | Tox Protocol | Tux3 | ? | 1.16.1 (July 7, 2018; 11 months ago) | Free | GNU GPLv3 | C++ and Qt |
Operating system support[edit]
The operating systems the messengers can run on without emulators or compatibility layers.
Windows | OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | Android | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BeeBEEP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Bit Chat | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
BORGChat | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? |
Briar | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
iChat | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
iptux | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
LinPopUp | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
Miranda IM | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? |
Qualia LAN Messenger | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
qTox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Features[edit]
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) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BeeBEEP | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Bit Chat | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
BORGChat | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Briar | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
iChat1 | 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 |
LinPopUp | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Miranda IM | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Qualia LAN Messenger | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
qTox | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Note 1: Using Apple's Bonjour protocol
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'BeeBEEP (Secure Lan Messenger)'. SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^'Bit Chat'. Technitium. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^'BORGChat'. Softpedia. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^'iptux'. freecode.com. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^'A Linux Enhanced port of Winpopup'. SourceForge.net. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^'Use Pidgin for Chatting And Transferring Files on Local Network Without Internet Connection'. ubuntubuzz.com. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^'An opensource LAN messenger'. GitHub. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
If you are at your workplace or at your office and want a free communication source in your office, so that you can stay in contact with all your employes and can have a conference within your office – or maybe have some instant small chats with your employes without any internet connection, then you should read-on to know about top 3 LAN (Local Area Network) messengers which will enable you to do so.
LAN Messengers are the applications or utilities that enable you to chat within a local area network without any Internet Connection – but a wired LAN is must. There may be many freeware LAN Messengers available for Windows 10/8/7, but these 3 are among the best one’s in my opinion.
LAN Messengers Free Download for Windows
1. Tonic: Tonic helps you to carry out your simple chats within your office via LAN network. It is very useful program with a user-friendly interface that is easy to understood by all.
The program operates in peer-to-peer mode, and hence does not need any server. That’s why also it is very easy to operate. Here is the feature list that will give you an idea of features of the program:
- Easy to use – no server.
- Tonic automatically finds other Tonic users inside your network.
- Different user availability status.
- Image avatars
- File transfer support
- Chat history
- Announcement mode
- Quick poll + poll results.
Tonic is a complete LAN messenger and it is full of those ultimate features that you always required in your office or workplace at LAN.
PS: Tonic is no longer under active development and has been Archived. Please also read the comment below.
2. LAN Messenger is another free & open source cross-platform instant messaging application for communication over a local network. It does not require a server.
Some of its features include:
- Instant Messaging
- Message History
- Personal and Group Messaging
- File Transfer
- Broadcast Message.
It is available here for download.
3. Squiggle: Squiggle is a free and open source application meant for LAN chatting. Squiggle also operates in peer-to-peer mode, and hence does not need any server. The application is rather good-looking, and offers the following features:
- Server-less peer-to-peer LAN chat
- No installation required
- Group chat
- Broadcast chat
- Private chat
- Bridging option for connecting two LANs across subnets or WAN.
- Localized i.e. translated client available in German, French, Arabic and Chinese
- File transfer
- Spell Check, Buzz, Emoticons, Audio Alerts, Tray Popups
- Contact groups, Display message, Display Pic, Chat commands, Message aliases
- Chat history, Status history
Get it here.
So this was all in the list of top 3 LAN Messengers for your Windows PC. If you wish to recommend other free LAN Messengers, please do so in the comments section.
NOTE: One software in this list has gone paid. As a result, we have replaced it with LAN Messenger, as this one is free.
You suggestions and feedback are always most welcome!
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