Comparison

TIM vs Cable Messenger

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

TIM

This instant messaging app focuses on efficient communication and collaboration for work, study, and life. It offers QQ friend and message synchronization, file saving, a favorites feature, and real-time voice and video calls. It also includes task management, scheduling, and collaborative document editing.

Highlights
  • QQ friend and message sync
  • File saving to cloud storage
  • Favorites for text, images, links
  • Real-time voice and video calls
  • To-do list management
  • Schedule creation and viewing
  • Collaborative document editing
Features
Read full description

-----TIM是什么?----- TIM是腾讯出品的一款专注高效沟通、多人协作的即时通讯应用。TIM界面清爽,操作简单,协作便捷,助你提升办公、学习、生活效率。 -----TIM有哪些功能? ----- [QQ好友及消息同步] - QQ登录:支持QQ号直接登录,你的QQ好友及QQ消息都在,聊天更方便; -多端同步:QQ聊天消息多端同步接收,聊天沟通更轻松; [文件] 聊天中收发的文件、本机文件均可轻松保存到网盘,重要文件长期存储,随时查看; [收藏] -文字、图片、链接均可添加至“收藏”,并支持二次编辑; [电话] -电话会议:两人/多人实时语音电话、视频电话,异地会议无压力,畅快聊天,随心沟通; [待办] -随时随地创建待办事项,生活学习工作井井有条; [日程] -支持创建、查看日程,重要日程不再错过; [腾讯文档] -多人编辑:多人可同时在线编辑Word/Excel文档; - Word/excel模板:提供会议纪要、日报等各类word/excel文档模版,团队协作更高效; [安全能力升级] - 账号安全能力全面升级,支持更多安全登录方式,支持管理在线设备,全方位保障账号信息安全 - 举报系统全面升级,举报更加安全、流畅、有效 -----如何联系我们? ----- TIM官方网站: office.qq.com 意见反馈:请登录TIM,进入“设置-关于TIM与帮助”反馈你的意见和建议。 如果你觉得TIM还不错,请赏个五星好评哦!欢迎撰写评论鼓励我们~\(≥V≤)/~ 如果你在使用过程中有任何不满意的地方,也请在评论区留下宝贵意见或建议。 TIM团队非常期待和重视每一位用户的真诚意见!鞠躬^ ^

About

Cable Messenger

Facilitates private and efficient team communication by masking phone numbers and accounts. Enables one-click contact notifications and multi-channel communication for urgent messages.

Highlights
  • Privacy protection for phone numbers and accounts
  • One-click contact notification
  • Efficient multi-channel communication
  • No personal information exchange
  • Teamwork collaboration mode
Read full description

Cable Messenger focusing on creating a new way of teamwork. The new contact and communication method not only realizes the privacy protection of the mobile phone numbers of both parties and the accounts of multiple communication platforms, but also realizes an efficient and high-delivery work communication and collaboration mode under privacy protection. [One-click notification of contacts] -No need for the mobile phone number of the other party, without any contact method, one-touch notification of contacts. [Notice efficient delivery] -You can call each other and even emergency contacts through multiple communication channels to achieve efficient delivery of notifications. 【privacy protection】 -The two parties do not exchange mobile phones without any personal information, protecting privacy in all aspects.

Screenshots

TIM4 screens
Cable Messenger4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cable Messenger at 83% against TIM's 19%. Cable Messenger also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.9) and ads (none vs shown). TIM's advantage is ratings volume (731 vs 4). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cable Messenger holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TIM has 731 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of TIM's written reviews are positive against 83% of Cable Messenger's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TIM ships an update every 3 months, Cable Messenger every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
TIM versus Cable Messenger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTIMCable Messenger
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.9 (731 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews18.8% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings731 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size347 MB230 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTencent Technology (Shanghai) Company Limited傲创科技

Customer experience

TIM

All ratings731 ratings
Positive19.6%
Neutral6.4%
Negative74.0%
Written reviews303 reviews
Positive18.8%
Neutral9.6%
Negative71.6%

Cable Messenger

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

Bugs and requests

TIM

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to open shared links
  • Inconsistent message synchronization
  • Unreliable notification system
  • Frequent login issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • iPad version
  • Improved file sharing and management
  • Restore removed features like email

Cable Messenger

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

TIM

No in-app purchases

None

Cable Messenger

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TIM free?
TIM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cable Messenger free?
Cable Messenger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TIM or Cable Messenger?
Cable Messenger is rated higher. TIM averages 1.9 out of 5 from 731 ratings, while Cable Messenger averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do TIM or Cable Messenger have ads?
TIM shows ads; Cable Messenger does not.
Which is updated more often, TIM or Cable Messenger?
TIM ships an update every 3 months, and Cable Messenger every 2 weeks. Most recently, TIM was updated on September 22, 2026 and Cable Messenger on August 11, 2026.

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