AltCatalog
Catalog Personal messaging ICQ
Discontinued ICQ was discontinued in June 2024. The alternatives below are active products you can switch to. All discontinued →

Alternatives to ICQ

Uh oh! The original instant messenger

None of its 12 checklist rows are verified yet.

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

Most compared with BeeperDelta ChatJami
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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.

Why people leave ICQ

Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.

Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.

Ranked alternatives

Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.

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01

Unified inbox for many chat networks on Matrix.

Proprietary iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
02

Chat over email with Autocrypt encryption.

GPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
03

Fully distributed P2P messenger from GNU.

GPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
04

Onion-routed messenger with no phone number.

GPL-3.0 WindowsmacOSLinuxiOS +1
05

The reference E2E encrypted messenger, nonprofit-run.

AGPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
06

Messenger without any user identifiers at all.

AGPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
07

Cloud messenger with huge groups; E2EE optional.

GPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +2
08

Paid Swiss messenger usable without a phone number.

AGPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +2
09

Consumer messenger popular in Eastern Europe.

Proprietary iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
10

Meta's E2E encrypted messenger tied to phone numbers.

Proprietary iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +1
11

E2E encrypted team messenger from Switzerland.

GPL-3.0 iOSAndroidWindowsmacOS +2
Sources & verification 1

Every fact and feature listed for ICQ is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

FAQ

Yes. Beeper, Delta Chat and Jami have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.

Delta Chat, Jami and Session — every license claim links its source.