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Catalog Personal messaging Windows Live Messenger
Discontinued Windows Live Messenger was discontinued in March 2013. The alternatives below are active products you can switch to. All discontinued →
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Alternatives to Windows Live Messenger

MSN Messenger, merged into Skype

None of its 12 checklist rows are verified yet.

MSN Messenger, merged into Skype. Windows Live Messenger 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

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.

Why people leave Windows Live Messenger

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

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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

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.