# Alternatives to Windows Live Messenger

MSN Messenger, merged into Skype. Windows Live Messenger 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/windows-live-messenger/
Category: Personal messaging

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Windows and Hotmail/Windows Live account users, especially teens and home users in the 2000s and early 2010s, who wanted to chat with friends and family online.
- **What you get**: Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) provided real-time text chat, voice and video calls, and file sharing with contacts from a buddy list. It supported custom display pictures, status messages, emoticons, and attention-getting "nudges" and winks. Offline messaging let you leave messages for contacts who weren't signed in. It integrated with other Windows Live services like Hotmail and SkyDrive.
- **How it works**: Users signed in with a Microsoft/Hotmail account, added contacts by email address, and chatted through individual or group conversation windows. Microsoft discontinued the service in 2013, migrating remaining users to Skype.

## Profile


## 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/

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