Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger is an instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!. It allows users to communicate in real-time through text, voice, video chat, and file sharing. Popular in the early 2000s, it has since declined in usage with the rise of smartphones and o
Social & Communications Instant Messaging
chat messaging voice-chat video-chat file-sharing
Yahoo! Messenger alternatives ➤

Yahoo! Messenger: Real-Time Messaging

Instant messaging client and protocol for real-time text, voice, video chat, and file sharing, with a history of declining usage due to smartphone rise.

What is Yahoo! Messenger?

Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated Y!M) is an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!. The client was first released in 1998 and allows users to communicate in real-time through text, voice, video chat, and file sharing.

Yahoo! Messenger became extremely popular in the early 2000s, partly due to its interoperability with the MSN Messenger network and AOL Instant Messenger through a feature called IMVironments. This allowed users on different instant messaging clients to chat with one another seamlessly. At its peak around 2001, Yahoo! Messenger had over 120 million active users worldwide.

Usage of Yahoo! Messenger began to decline significantly in the late 2000s with the rising popularity of smartphones and messaging apps like WhatsApp. Features like SMS messaging and radio streaming were removed from Yahoo! Messenger in 2012. And in 2018, Yahoo! announced it would be shutting down the 20-year-old Yahoo! Messenger service to focus on its new messaging app called Yahoo! Squirrel.

Today, Yahoo! Messenger is considered abandonware. While the service is still technically active at the protocol level to support third-party chat clients, the official Yahoo! Messenger client app was shut down as of July 2018.

Yahoo! Messenger Features

Features

  1. Instant messaging
  2. Group chats
  3. File sharing
  4. Voice and video calling

Pricing

  • Free

Pros

Free to use

Cross-platform availability

Support for emojis and stickers

Cons

Declining user base

Limited features compared to newer apps

Security and privacy concerns

Official Links


The Best Yahoo! Messenger Alternatives

Top Social & Communications and Instant Messaging and other similar apps like Yahoo! Messenger

Here are some alternatives to Yahoo! Messenger:

WhatsApp icon
WhatsApp
Skype icon
Skype
Telegram icon
Telegram
Rambox icon
Rambox
Signal icon
Signal
Pidgin icon
Pidgin
Suggest an alternative ❐

WhatsApp icon

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to send text messages, voice messages, video calls, images, documents, and user location for free over an internet data connection.Originally launched in 2009, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook...
WhatsApp image
Skype icon

Skype

Skype is a telecommunications software application that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices, the Xbox One console, and smartwatches via the Internet. Skype also provides instant messaging services. Users may transmit text, video, audio and images.Skype was first released in August 2003. eBay...
Skype image
Telegram icon

Telegram

Telegram is a popular cloud-based instant messaging and voice over IP service launched in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov. It emphasizes security and speed over other messaging applications. Some key features of Telegram include:End-to-end encrypted messaging, video calls, group chats, file sharing etc.Sync across multiple devices like mobile,...
Telegram image
Rambox icon

Rambox

Rambox is a free, open source software that combines multiple communication and productivity tools into one easy-to-use application. It allows you to access services like email, chat, calendar, note-taking, and project management apps through a single interface, eliminating the need to have dozens of tabs and windows open.Some key features...
Rambox image
Signal icon

Signal

Signal is a free, open source software application for iOS, Android, and Desktop that employs end-to-end encryption, allowing users to send end-to-end encrypted group, text, picture, and audio & video messages, and have encrypted phone conversations between Signal users.First released in July 2014, Signal is developed by the Signal Foundation...
Signal image
Pidgin icon

Pidgin

Pidgin is a popular open source chat application used primarily for instant messaging. It supports multiple mainstream chat protocols and accounts including AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, XMPP/Jabber, IRC, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Novell GroupWise, Lotus Sametime, Zephyr, and more. This allows users to manage all of their instant messaging accounts and services...
Pidgin image
Tox icon

Tox

Tox is an open-source, peer-to-peer instant messaging and video calling platform that focuses on privacy and security. It provides end-to-end encryption for chats and calls to ensure user data remains private.Unlike many other messaging apps, Tox does not rely on central servers - it uses a distributed network where users...
Tox image
Zulip icon

Zulip

Zulip is an open-source team chat application developed by Zulip, Inc. It brings conversations from different channels into one easy-to-follow flow, allowing you to keep up with multiple ongoing discussions simultaneously via threads.Some key features of Zulip include:Public and private streams for organizing conversationsThreaded messaging to trace conversations over timePowerful...
Zulip image
Jitsi Desktop icon

Jitsi Desktop

Jitsi Desktop is a free, open source video conferencing application for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. It allows users to easily conduct encrypted video meetings with multiple participants.Some of the key features of Jitsi Desktop include:End-to-end encryption for secure video callsScreen sharing to present documents, slides, and moreChat messaging...
Jitsi Desktop image