Free SIP Softphone Apps

Having a SIP account gives you a lot of freedom to communicate through VoIP. Among the benefits is the ability to make and receive free phone calls to other SIP users worldwide, and to be able to use a softphone software of your choice, without being tied to what one VoIP service provider offers. But which are the best free SIP softphone apps and where to get them from? Here is my list:

1. X-Lite

X-Lite is arguably the most popular SIP-based softphone app. It is a widely used tool by individuals and business people alike. It is a well designed software with a lot of features, including QoS and a long list of codecs. It is a product of CounterPath, which offers a line of VoIP apps, putting X-Lite as an entry-level free app so as to entice clients to purchase their more enhanced products like EyeBeam and Bria.

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3. QuteCom2. Ekiga

Ekiga was formerly known as GnomeMeeting. It is a general public license software that is available for GNOME (therefore Linux) and Windows. It is a nice and clean software with the basic features needed for good and fluid SIP communication. Ekiga also offers free SIP accounts. You can use Ekiga for both voice calling and video conferencing.

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QuteCom is the new name for OpenWengo, or the WengoPhone. It is a French software that is also open source, and has versions for Windows, MacOS and Linux. QuteCom offers all the features of a VoIP and an instant messaging (IM) software.

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4. MicroSIP

MicroSIP is also an open source free software that allows high quality VoIP calls through SIP. MicroSIP is very light and simple, and just does the work, without any surplus feature. This makes is very light on resources and very nice to use if you just want to communicate simply and plainly. MicroSIP is a portable app.

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5. Jitsi

Jitsi is a Java-built open source instant messaging application loaded with features. Along with all other IM features, it also allows voice and video communication through SIP. Other interesting features include call recording, IPv6 support, encryption and support for many protocols.

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6. LinPhone

LinPhone is an open source software that is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux platforms, but also for mobile platforms like Android, BlackBerry and iPhone. LinPhone allows voice and video communication with a lot of interesting features, including a lot of codecs, support for IPv6, echo cancellation, bandwidth management etc.

7. Blink

Blink is a fully SIP software that is nice and simple and has all the features one needs to make voice and video communication over SIP. Blink is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. It is also distributed under GPL license and is not commercial.

8. Empathy

Empathy is rather an instant messaging software than a fully-SIP software. But it is quite powerful as it works with many protocols, including SIP of course. However, empathy works only with Linux.

http://voip.about.com/od/sipandh323/tp/Free-Sip-Softphone-Apps.htm