Katana VentraIP

Pidgin (software)

Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a free and open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple that has support for many instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to simultaneously log in to various services from a single application, with a single interface for both popular and obsolete protocols (from AIM to Discord), thus avoiding the hassle of having to deal with new software for each device and protocol.

"Gaim" redirects here. For other uses, see Gaim (disambiguation).

Initial release

December 31, 1998 (1998-12-31) (as Gaim)

2.14.13[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 23 February 2024

None [±]

C (C#, Perl, Python, Tcl are used for plugins)

Linux
macOS (unofficial)
Microsoft Windows
Solaris(unofficial)
FreeBSD
NetBSD(unofficial)
OpenBSD(unofficial)

Multiple languages[2]

Instant messaging client

GPL-3.0-or-later

pidgin.im Edit this on Wikidata

As of 2007, the number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over three million.[3]


Pidgin is widely used for its Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) plugin, which offers end-to-end encryption. For this reason it is included in the privacy and anonymity focused operating system Tails.[4]

text chat via the purple-discord plugin[21]

Discord

chat via purple-facebook

Facebook

via purple-googlechat

Google Chat

via icyque

ICQ

microblogs (, Twitter)

GNU social

via slack-libpurple

Slack (software)

text chat via skype4pidgin, renamed SkypeWeb[30] plugin

Skype

via tdlib-purple

Telegram (software)

through Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR)

End-to-end encryption

Adding written in LaTeX to conversations

mathematical formulas

Notifications (such as showing "toaster" popups or notifications, or lighting LEDs on laptops)

Snarl

Showing contacts what the user is listening to in various media players

Watching videos directly into a conversation when receiving a video sharing website link (, Vimeo)

YouTube

As observed by Wired in 2015, the libpurple codebase is "known for its bountiful security bugs". In 2011, security vulnerabilities were already discovered in popular OTR plugins using libpurple.[32]

[31]

As of version 2.4 and later, the ability to manually resize the text input box of conversations was removed. This led to a , Carrier (originally named Funpidgin).[33][34][35]

fork

are stored in a plaintext file, readable by any person or program that can access the user's files. Version 3.0 of Pidgin (no announced release date)[36] will support password storage in system keyrings such as KWallet and the GNOME Keyring for Linux, Keychain for macOS, and winCred API for Windows.[37][38]

Passwords

Pidgin does not currently support pausing or reattempting file transfers.[40][41]

[39]

Pidgin does not allow disabling the group sorting on the contact list.

[42]

and the discontinued Proteus (both for macOS)

Adium

(web-based, no longer available)[43]

Meebo

Telepathy Haze (a Tube for some of the protocols supported by the Telepathy framework)[45]

[44]

(cross-platform, focused on VoIP and video. Discontinued)

QuteCom

(discontinued) [46] (cross-platform, based on Mozilla's Gecko engine)

Instantbird

BitlBee and Minbif are IRCd-like gateways to multiple IM networks, and can be compiled with libpurple to increase functionality.

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Official website