Pidgin allows you to talk to anyone using a variety of messaging protocols including AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, IRC, Novell Groupwise, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, Simple and Zephyr. These protocols are implemented using a modular, easy to use design. To use a protocol, just add an account using the account editor.

Pidgin supports many common features of other clients, as well as many unique features, such as perl scripting, TCL scripting and C plugins.

Pidgin is not affiliated with or endorsed by America Online, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Yahoo! Inc., or ICQ Inc.