A chat application allows users to communicate with others via texting, messaging, video and audio conferencing. While developing a web application web masters always think that they should communicate with their audience directly rather than emails, phone or contact forms, or chat applications can be used in various web applications such as social networking sites, business sites for live support etc.
We understand the needs of webmasters and that’s why we searched and explored myriad of Google’s pages to find out these 5 free open source chat applications, webmasters can use them in their upcoming and current projects and with the help of these applications users not only can communicate via messaging but they can also communicate with audio and video conferencing. These applications are open source applications and can be used in different projects Php, ruby Jason and many others. If developers are really interesting about these applications they can further work on these applications with the help of their API’s.
1 Cryptocat – An Open Source Encrypted & Private Chat Application
Cryptocat is an open source chat application which allows users to set up more private, encrypted and secure conversations during the chats. Cryptocat works with a single file besides the static files (CSS, JS and Images) used and it is built with PHP. Every message is encrypted using AES-256 and it wipes out all conversation after every 30 minutes of inactivity.
Cryptocat is beautiful and nice interface and fully compatible with TOR for anonymous chatting. There is a chrome extension available for the users which verifies client side integration and sessions are protected against JavaScript poisoning attacks.
2. Candy: A JavaScript Powered Multiuser Chat Client
Candy is an open source multiuser chat client, who focuses on real time multiuser chat it is built with Java Script and users can connect it with any Jabber (XMPP) server and even they can host their own. It includes so many features beautiful default theme, people can join multiple chat rooms and start private conversations, notifies users on the arrival of new message, also ignores the spammers.
Candy comes with official plugin and well documented API which helps users to easily integrate with other applications along with these it provide numerous no. of functions which helps users to control over all functionality of the application with custom events.
3. JsChat : An Open Source Chat System
Js Chat is an open source chat application that uses a simple protocol based on JSON and it is built with Ruby (Sinatra). It has console client designed to look and feel like IRC clients. It also have feature to display images/YouTube video and web clients auto links. Users can login through twitter and optional mangodb logging. With Js Chat users can create multiple chat rooms and its protocols are designed to be close to executable code, so it can easily create bots and clients.
4. Big Blue Button: An Open Source Video Conferencing Chat App
It is specially built up for the standards meetings and remote learning such as for universities and higher educations. This application is built over fourteen open source components which enables this application to run on mac , unix, or pc computers. It allows multiple users to share their webcam at the same time without any limit. Big Blue Button allows users to share their pdf files; office documents everyone in synch, zoom, pan and many more. Big Blue Button is complete open source application and users can enhance the productivity and creativity with the provided API. Big Blue Button voice conferencing supports voice over IP (VOIP) conferencing out of the box (only speaker and microphones are needed).
5. iJab : Open Source Chat Ajax Im Application
iJab is an Ajax-Based instant messaging program for XMPP/Jabber. It is free softwares and users can use it without the limitations and it acts as Facebook chat bar, and gives user a Facebook feel, it is written in JavaScript, it uses Google Gears for client side storage and it supports MSN, AIM or any other services which supports XMPP. It allows users to create their chat rooms easily it offers so many features such as avatar, smiley support, multi user chats, message pop up notifications, theme supports and many more.
