# Alternatives to ICQ

Uh oh! The original instant messenger. ICQ has been discontinued; the active alternatives listed here are maintained products you can switch to.

None of its 12 checklist rows are verified yet.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/icq/
Category: Personal messaging

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: ICQ was used by internet users who wanted to send real-time text messages to individual contacts, each identified by a unique numeric UIN rather than a username or phone number.
- **What you get**: ICQ offered one-on-one and group instant messaging, file transfer, and offline message delivery. It showed contact presence (Online, Away, Do Not Disturb) so users knew who was reachable. Later versions added SMS, voice and video calling, chat rooms, and games.
- **How it works**: A user registered to receive a numeric UIN, then found and added contacts by searching for their UIN, email, or name to build a contact list, and exchanged messages through the desktop or mobile client while signed in. ICQ was shut down in June 2024.

## Profile

- **Status**: discontinued (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Beeper](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/beeper.md) | building | Proprietary | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 2 | [Delta Chat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/delta-chat.md) | building | GPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 3 | [Jami](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/jami.md) | building | GPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 4 | [Session](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/session.md) | building | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 5 | [Signal](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/signal.md) | building | AGPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 6 | [SimpleX Chat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/simplex-chat.md) | building | AGPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 7 | [Telegram](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/telegram.md) | building | GPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 8 | [Threema](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/threema.md) | building | AGPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 9 | [Viber](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/viber.md) | building | Proprietary | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 10 | [WhatsApp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/whatsapp.md) | building | Proprietary | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
| 11 | [Wire](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/wire.md) | building | GPL-3.0 | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Sources

Sources for ICQ. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Status**: discontinued — <https://icq.com/desktop/en#windows> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Service stopped working”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/