Paltalk is a desktop IM client that lets you chat with different people from around the world in hundreds of chat rooms – like in old-fashioned IRC channels.
Paltalk includes access to hundreds of chat rooms on a huge variety of topics, and has also support for audio and video chat. The number of chat rooms and video conferences you can join, however, depends on the plan you subscribe to, from the free Basic one with very limited features to the VIP plan for $29.95 a month.
The interface in Paltalk is very similar to that of other IM clients. You have a personal area on top of the window with your avatar and nickname, and then a list of contacts. The bottom part displays the list of available chat rooms. Paltalk can also be used as a standard client for other popular IM networks such as Messenger, Google Talk, AOL Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ and the Facebook chat – as long as you install the necessary plug-ins.
An original feature in Paltalk is the creation of an online chat profile that you can share with your family and friends so that they can IM you at any time from their web browser, without having to install anything.
In general terms Paltalk feels a bit overwhelming because there are ads all over the place and more often than not, you enter a room only to hear music or ranting from a user. The messages exchanged in Paltalk's chat rooms are often so jumbled up that it's hard to be able to follow a genuine conversation.
Paltalk is a desktop IM client with support for audio and video chats, and with lots of chat rooms to meet people from all around the world.
