Chat & IM

Google Voice and Video

• Free

Google Voice and Video - What You Need to Know

Pixfeed

• Free

Pixfeed: A Free Mac Program for Chat and Instant Messaging

QQ for Mac

• Free

Complete IM client with cute design and great features

Enigma Messenger

• Free

Secure and Versatile: Enigma Messenger Review

Whistle Phone

• Free

A free app for Mac, by Vail Systems Inc..

Express Talk

• Free

Virtual Telephone Compatible with Most VOIP Services

MSN Messenger

• Free

MSN Messenger For Mac to Exchange Server Alternative

Badoo

• Free

AIM for Mac

• Free

AOL chat messenger for Mac

Camfrog Video Chat

• Trial version

Camfrog Video Chat - A Great Way to Stay Connected

Snap Camera

• Free

Free Snapchat filters for desktop

IP Messenger

• Free

IP Messenger - How to Hide Your IP Address From the Internet

X (Twitter)

• Free

Efficient Social & Communication App: X Review

Messenger for Desktop

• Free

Using Messenger for Desktop

Zoiper

• Free

Configuring the Mac OS X Zoiper Installation

ManyCam

• Free

Use your webcam with many applications simultaneously. Use Skype, MSN, Ustream, and many other webcam and audio applications at the same time. You can also do the same with virtual audio sound driver. Add amazing microphone audio effects to your broadcast. Use voice changer technology to disguise your voice for a screencast voice over, make people laugh, or use it to trick your friends and family. ManyCam is also able to make your microphone & headset audio quality sound better than most normal audio drivers. Draw over your video window. Use built in image editing software to draw over or add text to your live video broadcast. Draw over your video while in Skype, Youtube, or any other video software. Just add ManyCam as your video source for any app! Screencast your desktop Record your desktop and save the video to your hard drive. You can also screencast live to live video chat services like Ustream, Justin.tv, Skype, and more. Use ManyCam as your video source on Youtube to record a video of your desktop. Picture in Picture Broadcast "pnp" or picture in picture video with ManyCam. Screencast your desktop while showing yourself in a smaller video window within that window. Picture in picture is useful for video demonstrations on webcam and live shows. Turn your computer into live news studio with ManyCam's pnp feature. Switch between different video sources. Go to the ManyCam Studio Pro tab to quickly switch between video sources. ManyCam Studio Pro allows up to 6 video sources and the ability to cut or slowly transition between different sources. Use the ManyCam pull-down menu in the source window to add another camera, still image, photo snapshot, a pre-recorded video, and even a desktop screencast as your video source. Turn your computer into a Pro live video production studio with ManyCam. Create your own custom webcam effects. Make custom webcam face effects, eye effects, mouth effects, hair effects and any other type of webcam graphic. Share the custom effect with the rest of the ManyCam community or keep it for yourself.

Skype

• Free

Skype is the most popular free voice-over IP and instant messaging service globally. It allows users to text, video and voice call over the internet. Users can also call landlines and mobiles at competitive rates using Skype credit, premium accounts and subscriptions. Skype uses P2P technology to connect users on a multitude of platforms including desktop, mobile and tablet. The call quality (depending on your internet signal) and additional features like conversation history, conference calling and secure file transfer are excellent. There have been some criticisms over the programs bandwidth usage and security vulnerabilities. New & Mac Features The UI has been refined to improve compatibility with OS X Mavericks and minor audio bugs have also been addressed on the Mac platform. Skype's new contacts list can be integrated with your Mac address book, making searching for contacts much easier. Renaming contacts means you no longer need to search by skype name. Video conferencing is free for up to 10 participants and is also much easier now with the simple call window where you add/remove participants and avoid the distractions of other contacts and conversations that are minimized into the corner of the interface. Microsoft's influence can be seen with the integration of Microsoft Live accounts and the ability to sync those contacts into Skype. Facebook integrations are starting to creep into the newest versions of Skype too. Skype Calling Once you’ve downloaded and installed Skype, you will need to create a user profile and unique Skype name. You can then search for other users in the Skype directory or call them directly using their Skype name. Voice chat comes with conference calling, secure file transfer and a highly secure end to end encryption. Video chat is available on higher bandwidth connections and makes keeping up with distant family/friends much more interactive. Video conferencing and the Screenshare features make Skype popular with the corporate market. Skype’s text chat client features group chat, chat history, message editing and emoticons. Skype also enables calls to landlines and mobiles using a premium paid service. Easy to Use Skype’s UI is very intuitive and easy to use. All the classic messaging service features like profiles, online status, contacts and recent history are displayed in the left navigation. Here you will also find the Skype directory, group options, a search box and premium calling buttons. The right side (main window) opens the content you select. For individual contacts you will see a text message box, chat history and calling options. Call Quality On fast internet connections Skype call quality is excellent for both voice and video calls. The hybrid peer-to-peer client server system means the sound quality is better than most VoIP services. That being said, if you do have a slower internet connection, voice calls may be interrupted or delayed. Video calls will be intermittent and pixelated. Text chat will only be affected by very poor connections. The call quality button will give you detailed information on the expected call quality for each of your contacts (as the quality depends on both parties internet connection). Summary If you’re looking for a reliable and easy to use VoIP client, you’ll find it hard to beat Skype. Microsoft’s purchase of Skype in 2011 has further stabilized the platform and accelerated development as Microsoft used Skype to replace its aging messaging service Windows Live Messenger. Click on the green download button to give it a try. Microsoft no longer allows hosting of their installers. So we are redirecting to their download page.

ICQ

• Free

Real Time Conference and chat - ICQ

Yahoo! Messenger

• Free

Free Mac Program: Yahoo! Messenger

Signal

• Free

Free, privacy-focused messenger