LINE allows you to make free calls to other users of the service. This includes the ability to make calls between the iPhone and Android versions of LINE. The application is easy to set up, allowing you to register with your phone number or email address (the latter option only gives you access to text chat, though.

The call function of LINE works very well. Although the option to make video calls is missing, the sound quality when making calls is excellent. There is a slight delay in calls both via WiFi and 3G, though the quality is still better than both fring and Skype.

Text chatting in LINE is easy, with support for group chats of up-to 100 people, and a good selection of emoticons to add to your conversations. Unlike WhatsApp, LINE allows you to chat between the desktop and mobile versions of the application.

LINE is a viable alternative to apps like WhatsApp and Viber, allowing you to make free calls on your phone with good audio quality.

Download LINE 3.6.5 in Softonic

What can you do with Viber?

Viber works in a similar way to Skype, using VOIP to let you talk for free to other Viber users over 3G or WiFi. It also supports free text messaging, allowing you to send and receive short messages from your Viber friends.

There are plenty of features within the chat interface of Viber that help to liven up your conversations. You can send photos and videos, share your location, add emoticons, and choose from a range of fun stickers to insert into the conversation.

You can customize the background of the messaging screen, choosing a photo from your collection or taking a new one. This background isn't shared with the person you're talking to, however.

How to use Viber

Unlike Skype, you don't need to sign up to Viber to use it. You just register your phone number once, and you'll receive an SMS message with a code. Enter this code into Viber and that's it. You'll never need to sign in again.

All of your phone contacts are automatically imported into the app, and a Viber logo is displayed next to any contact who also has it installed. You can then just click on their name to call them for free - regardless of where in the world they are, or even what phone they are using. If a contact does not have Viber installed, you can still ring them through the app, although you will get charged at the cost of a regular call.

The Viber interface is very clearly laid, making it very obvious how to use the app. The program could do with some more features, though, such as conference calling and video calling.

Viber features push notifications to ensure that you don't miss messages or activity.

How does Viber perform?

The quality of calls with Viber is generally very good, and rivals Skype in this respect - although of course, quality isn't usually as crisp as a cellular call. One downside of Viber is that it doesn't give you the option to make video calls like you can with Skype.

We noticed some issues when cropping chat background images using the iOS version, which threw up some errors, but aside from this, Viber appears to be stable and reliable.

What's new in Viber 3.0?

Viber 3.0 features a redesigned user interface which looks great and really makes the app feel like an embedded part of the OS. There are also some new stickers (though the range is still pretty limited), and Viber 3.0 adds the ability to send video messages.

Another boon of the new version is its support for syncing with the desktop versions of Viber for Windows and Mac. Messages and chat history are now totally synced, and you can even transfer live calls from your phone to the desktop app.

The verdict

Aside from the fact that you can't make video calls with Viber, it's just about the perfect chat app for your mobile. It looks fantastic, makes it easy to chat with friends for free and is a lot of fun to use!

Download Viber 3.0 in Softonic

Skype has always had a great interface on the iPhone, and that is still true. The big usability change is that you can now use all its features wherever you have 3G. Chat, call or video chat any of your skype contacts, whatever platform they are on. This cross-compatibilty and 3G puts Skype ahead of Apple's own FaceTime in terms of usability.

The quality of video isn't up to FaceTime standards though: Images are pretty grainy, even over WiFi. However, test calls we made over 3G were perfectly stable, and while the video wasn't great, the audio was fine and it's pretty amazing to make free video calls over 3G.

Adding and managing contacts on Skype is much easier than with FaceTime, and the only big features missing from the desktop application are group video and emoticon support. Buying Skype credits allows you to make cheap phone calls to people all over the world, and your chat and call history is all saved automatically. Settings let you toggle alerts and auto sign-in, as well as choose how long you stay online while inactive and

Skype is still the excellent communication app it's always been, but adding 3G audio and video calls really makes it something special. This is an absolutely essential app for iOS

Download Skype 4.6 in Softonic

The app allows you to talk for free to your Skype contacts via text chat, video or voice calls. You can also make cheap international calls with Skype for iPad by purchasing Skype credits and using these to access the service's cut-price tariffs.

This iPad version of Skype has been designed specifically for the iPad, and is noticeably more comfortable to use than the original Skype for iPhone app. Functioning in both landscape and portrait modes, Skype for iPad is divided into two panels.

The smaller panel on the left of the Skype for iPad interface lets you switch views between Contacts, Recent chats and History. The larger panel is where you browse through your contacts, chat via instant messaging, or view the person you're speaking to in a video chat. There's a dialer pop-out built into the menu at the top of the screen, making it quick to place a call to any number.

In our tests of Skype for iPad, the video quality we got out of it was pretty poor, even when using WiFi. Video is generally grainy and choppy, but we were satisfied with the audio quality.

As with the iPhone version, Skype for iPad lacks a lot of the features of the desktop release. For instance, there's no group chat (try fring if this is what you're looking) for or SMS support.

Skype for iPad offers an easy way to make free calls from your Apple tablet, though it's somewhat lacking in features.

Download Skype for iPad 4.6 in Softonic

Voip One click not only allows you to make normal Voip calls as can do Skype or Viber, VoiP One Click allows you to make secure encrypted phone calls!

Voip One Click is for business man who have employees all over the world, for families who call their distant relatives, and for the military, is for all those who want to communicate Sure!

Download Voip One Click 1.1 in Softonic

? Low Cost SMS - To Anyone Prefer texting over talking? Send super low cost international text messages to friends and family in more than 150 countries. It’s just like sending any SMS to a friend abroad, only up to 60% cheaper. ? Keep Talking - Even Without Data If your call breaks up due to a bad data connection, tap the Keep Talking button on the call screen and jump from Wi-Fi or 3G to a local phone call*. Keep Talking puts an end to your dropped calls forever.

No need to be online to make cheap international calls You can call directly to any phone in the world, through your phone contact list 75% cheaper than Skype 98% cheaper than your operator

Rebtel for iPhone is ideal for those looking for an easy and cheap system to call their loved ones who live in another country. Rebtel makes distance disappear by charging local rates to international calls that traditionally were very expensive

Download Rebtel for iPhone 2.3.3 in Softonic

The Best user Friendly Program! NO LOGS KEPT, just download and chose the servers you want to connect! The other Vpn programs require your personal information to work, like Email, Name etc. ,instead Vpn One Click doesn't require Anything! Its strongest points are its semplicity and the privacy that give to the customers!

Vpn One Click is designed for those who want maintain their PRIVACY SAFE, and for those who travel a lot or live abroad where many websites are censored. Even for allowing those people who live abroad to watch their preferite National TV like Netflix

Download Vpn One Click Professional 1.21 in Softonic

Thankfully, the user interface in Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone is a lot less cluttered than the desktop version. Once you're signed in, your contacts are displayed in a Friends list, and their online status is indicated with a colored button.

To start chatting, you just click on a contact and tap the IM chat window to open up the on-screen keyboard. From here you can also add emoticons, URLs and photos to the messages by touching the appropriate tab. The photo option lets you add images stored on your iPhone, or capture and send one at that moment.

Yahoo! Messenger keeps a record of all your conversations, which you can view via the 'Messages' tab. These can be deleted at your leisure, if you don't want anyone to see them.

Clicking the webcam button in Yahoo! Messenger will initiate a video call with a contact. Their video stream appears in the large window, and a preview of your outgoing video shows up in a small window at the bottom of the screen. Note that two-way video calling only works between iPhone/iPod touch 4 devices, or an iPhone/iPod 4 and a PC. Currently, the Mac version of Yahoo! Messenger isn't supported for video calls.

You can make free voice calls to other Yahoo! Messenger users, or use the VOIP service to call any number at a significantly reduced rate. A phone icon lets you send free SMS text messages to any of your Yahoo! contacts.

This Yahoo! Messenger build seems quite unstable. The application crashed on a couple of occasions during calls in our tests, and other times it ran very slowly.

Although it offers a very simple, user-friendly interface for chatting, Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone needs more development if it is to compete with the likes of Skype and fring.

Download Yahoo! Messenger 2.2.8 in Softonic

Making long distance or international calls from your mobile phone can be so expensive that it's almost better to not stay in touch. Install Nimbuzz on your phone, and you'll be able to talk to people all over the World for free - at least in theory.

Nimbuzz pulls all your contacts together in one place, so you can exchange messages with all your friends on networks such as MSN, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Jabber, Facebook, or MySpace.

The user interface in Nimbuzz combines all of your contacts from all these various networks into one place, and you can see who is online at any time. Everything is presented in a very neat and clear way: contacts are ordered alphabetically and each has a different icon depending on which network they belong to.

To start connecting with Nimbuzz you simply need to tap on a person's name then select an icon from: Call, Chat or Mail. Of course, the call option is only available for the services that support VoIP (Google Talk, MSN, Skype, etc.) but the voice quality is generally very good if you have a strong signal.

There are a few things that annoyed us about Nimbuzz. For instance, it sometimes doesn't display Facebook contacts in the Contacts list. Also, it persistently says when a new mail was sent to our Gmail or MSN accounts, but didn't actually let us read the email. Even when we deleted these alert emails they kept coming back.

If the developers of Nimbuzz can iron out these flaws then it will cement its place as the best app for free, multi-network chat on the iPhone.

Download Nimbuzz 2.5.1 in Softonic

When I was a boy, the only way of getting in touch with someone was to phone them up, write them a letter, or go to their house. These days though, there are countless different new ways to communicate thanks to email, instant messaging, VoIP, social networks, and the like.

This is great, but it does pose problems in that it's often difficult to work out the best way to reach someone. You might have separate buddy lists for a variety of networks and constantly logging in, launching apps and finding your online pals can be a real chore. fring is designed to change all that, providing you with a single platform, based on your mobile, where all of your online friends are available in one place.

fring supports most of the major chat services, including Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo!, and AIM. You can also use the program to check Facebook updates, and view Twitter feeds.

Smooth set-up

Registering or signing in for a fring account is a bit of a chore in this version of fring. It often fails to recognize correct user details and can take an age to connect even when it does.

Once you're in, however, you can import your online contacts very easily. You just go to the Add-ons section within the More menu, click a service you want to access (e.g. Skype, Yahoo!) and sign in using your normal log-in for that account. The contacts are automatically pulled into fring and displayed on the Buddy list, and you can quickly view who is online and who isn't.

Not only can you chat via instant messages but fring also lets you make cheap or free calls to your buddies via SkypeOut/SkypeIn. This means you can ring people from your phone's contacts locally or internationally, at vastly reduced rates. You can make fring calls over both WiFi and 3G.

Other functions

fring also supports video chat over VoIP, and this latest version supports up-to four-way video calling for OS 4. One great thing about the video chat feature is that it is compatible with other versions of fring, such as the Android or Symbian incarnations. This means you can video conference with buddies regardless of the phone they use.

Chat features in the iPhone version of fring are few and far between. For instance, there’s no file transfer, emoticons, or games, which is a bit of a shame.

This latest version of fring integrates Twitter support. The new social stream feature within fring allows you to view Twitter feeds, Facebook updates and fring activity all through one neatly-organized window.

Overall, fring makes for a great way to manage all of your contacts on all of your networks from one, easy-to-use application. Just don’t expect the level of features you’d normally get from your chat clients, though.

Download fring 5.6.0.11 in Softonic

The interface is formatted like most recognizable messenger clients. IM+ Pro goes one step further by migrating existing customization into the app so it is easily recognizable. Contacts lists are aggregated together into separate drop downs. Each section shows the associated account so if a list looks unfamiliar, there is a simple way to show where the contact is from.

IM+ Pro accesses the most popular clients like AIM, MSN Messenger, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Jabber, and ICQ. IM+ Pro essentially can be the one stop for all messaging needs.

The only drawback to IM+ Pro is also the main strength. Accessing multiple accounts can cause a lot of clutter in the app and users who have large lists of contacts will see a lag while IM+ Pro restores itself or works through different lists.

IM+ Pro is a great app for users who want to be able to communicate over large networks at once.

Download IM+ Pro for iPhone 6.2 in Softonic