| Product |   Trillian 3.1 Pro |
 Gaim 1.3.0 |
 Miranda 0.4 |
| Developer | Cerulean Studios | Gaim Project | Miranda IM Project |
| Website | www.trillian.cc | gaim.sourceforge.net | www.miranda-im.org |
| Price | $251) | Free (GPL) | Free (GPL) |
| Verdict (Score) | Excellent - 90.2 | Very Good - 81.2 | Good - 79.5 |
| Performance (40%) (Score) | Excellent - 94.0 | Very Good - 86.8 | Very Good - 80.4 |
| Interface (35%) (Score) | Very Good - 84.0 | Good - 74.7 | Very Good - 80.4 |
| Features (25%) (Score) | Excellent - 92.9 | Very Good - 81.4 | Good - 72.9 |
| Summary | |||
| Anyone who did not already know that the person they were chatting with a Trillian user would have no way of telling. The test results across the board showed Trillian to be the clear winner of this test. Truly a chameleon amongst messengers. | As an implementation of the multi-protocol messenger concept, Gaim 1.2.1 is consistent: while it works with all four networks, it does not do so as comprehensively as Trillian. However, this free messenger does include a mature client for video chat, a feature that is only available in the Pro version of Trillian. | Miranda 0.4 is a resource-friendly application with few default graphical niceities. The default installation only shows avatars for MSN and ICQ and does not support smileys at all. Functionally, though, it is a solid performer, and the vast array of free plugins is impressive, significantly expanding Miranda's functionality. | |
| Functions and options | |||
| Supported protocols | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber and more | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber (more via plugins) | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber (more via plugins) |
| Supported OSes | Windows 98/Me/2000/XP | Windows, Linux, BSD, Mac, OS X, Qtopia (Sharp Zaurus and iPaq) | Windows NT/95/98/Me/ 2000/XP/2003 |
| Download size | 8.8MB | 6.5MB | 1.0MB |
| Logging | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contact List Download | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | ICQ, MSN, Yahoo |
| Adding contacts | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo |
| Avatars | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | ICQ, MSN |
| Smileys | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | No |
| Data Transfer | AIM, ICQ, MSN | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, ICQ, MSN |
| Voice chat | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | No | No |
| Conferencing | AIM, ICQ, MSN | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | No |
| Product |  IM2 1.5 |
 SIM 0.9.3 |
 Easy Message Express 2.3 |
| Developer | IM2 | SIM-ICQ Project | Ryan Dewsbury |
| Website | www.im2.com | sim-icq.sourceforge.net | www.easymessage.net |
| Price | Free (GPL) | Free (GPL) | Free |
| Verdict (Score) | Good - 67.5 | Good - 66.9 | Satisfactory - 57.4 |
| Performance (40%) (Score) | Satisfactory - 58.8 | Good - 77.3 | Good - 67.7 |
| Interface (35%) (Score) | Good - 77.3 | Good - 75.3 | Good - 74.7 |
| Features (25%) (Score) | Good - 67.7 | Good - 75.7 | Bad - 38.6 |
| Summary | |||
| IM2 is chock full functionality, but unfortunately it's at the expense of compatibility. In addition, the features are not fully developed and caused the computer to crash during testing. The program refused to work with ICQ and failed the network test. | SIM is the most accessible of the programs tested - it is practically designed and doesn't interfere with what you are doing - but it is dragged down by its extensive lack of functions, incompatibility with ICQ and Yahoo and frequent crashes, issues which curious extra functions such as a network monitor do not alleviate. | Easy Message Express does not need to be installed, so you can put it on a USB stick and use it on holiday or in a net café. For a multi-protocol messenger, however, it has minimal functionality, and is only suited for people who only chat occasionally or who want a lightweight, resource-friendly alternative to take on holiday. | |
| Functions and options | |||
| Supported protocols | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Livejournal | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo |
| Supported OSes | Windows 98/Me/2000/XP | Windows 95/98/Me//2000/XP, Linux, MacOS X | Windows 98/Me/2000/XP |
| Download size | 4.0MB | 2.7MB | 251kB |
| Logging | Yes | Yes | No |
| Plugins | No | Yes | No |
| Contact List Download | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, MSN | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo |
| Adding contacts | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, MSN | No |
| Avatars | MSN, Yahoo | No | No |
| Smileys | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | AIM, MSN | AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo |
| Data Transfer | AIM, MSN, Yahoo | No | ICQ, MSN |
| Voice chat | No | No | No |
| Conferencing | No | No | No |