Pidgin AlternativesTop Instant Messengers & Video Calling 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, Android and BSD apps. The best Pidgin alternative is Element. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Matrix or Jitsi Desktop. Other great apps like Pidgin are Jami, Beeper, Element X and SeaMonkey.
filter to find the best alternatives
Pidgin alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Group Chat Apps or Encrypted Chat Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Pidgin.- Instant Messenger
- Free • Open Source
- 301 Element alternatives
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.
License model
- Free Personal • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Matrix.org
- Flathub
- F-Droid
- Cloudron
Comments about Element as an Alternative to Pidgin
- 162 Matrix alternatives
Matrix defines a set of open APIs for decentralised communication, suitable for securely publishing, persisting and subscribing to data over a global open federation of servers with no single point of control.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- WebRTC
- Python
- JavaScript
- Go (Programming Language)
- Cloudron
- Java
- Perl
Comments about Matrix as an Alternative to Pidgin
alttojbMatrix does allow multi-protocol chat via "bridges". https://matrix.org/bridges/
It's not a universal messaging platform
- 79 Jitsi Desktop alternatives
Jitsi Desktop (previously SIP Communicator) is a legacy audio/video and chat communicator with full encryption, precedessor of Jitsi Meet .
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- BSD
- Self-Hosted
DiscontinuedJitsi Desktop is not actively developed anymore: last version, released in October 2017, can be still downloaded from GitHub. Its successor is
Jitsi Meet
Comments about Jitsi Desktop as an Alternative to Pidgin
Most Recent CommentIt's only focused on video chat, no more Xmpp Support
Jitsi is now a video-chat only application, with no support for XMPP/Jabber functionality.
it does not support Jabber/XMPP anymore
- 159 Jami alternatives
Jami (formerly GNU Ring, SFLphone) positions itself as a potential free Skype replacement
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Canada
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Comments about Jami as an Alternative to Pidgin
Pidgin more focused on text and mutiprotocol messaging. While Ring more focused on a distributed non-multiprotocol service.
- 20 Beeper alternatives
Access all your messaging in one place with a universal app connecting WhatsApp, Messenger, and more across Android, iOS, and desktop. Enjoy real-time sync and intuitive management.
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
Comments about Beeper as an Alternative to Pidgin
belisimatoUnifies text communication into one inbox
- 97 Element X alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- 180 SeaMonkey alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
- 153 Trillian alternatives
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.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Blackberry
- iPad
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Trillian Features
Comments about Trillian as an Alternative to Pidgin
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.
- 69 Adium alternatives
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...
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
DiscontinuedThe last update is from March 2021.
Comments about Adium as an Alternative to Pidgin
Mister HutchinsonGood third-party protocol support, simple user interface.
antoniobeanaHas the inactivity detector and is setting me as away when I am not in front of computer.
- 161 Conversations alternatives
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].
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Android
- Android Tablet
- F-Droid
Comments about Conversations as an Alternative to Pidgin
Schnatt_Appvery good Alternative if you seek a client for android
Pidgin is a universal IM client. Riot is a Matrix client with integrations providing weak bridging for other protocols.