ICQ Lite has all the essential features of the full version of ICQ. You can message people, exchange files, send SMS messages, do voice chat, and meet people. It also includes multilingual support, the ability to save your chat histories, and a typing indicator that shows when a contact is typing you a message. In addition to familiar features such as chat, SMS messaging, and file-transfer capabilities, ICQ also includes Xtraz, which allow you to send personalized greeting cards, apply custom icons to your buddies, play online games, and customize your shortcuts panel for one-click access to all your favorite features. The ICQ Xtraz platform enables ICQ to present users with a selection of new services as they are created, without the need for you to download a new client. Xtraz also supports the creation of new ICQ features that can be built separately from the core ICQ client and then delivered and automatically updated over time. The new interface also is clean and intuitive, so you can start chatting quickly and easily.

ICQ 5 offers compatibility with dual screens, compatibility with full-screen games, IM forwarding, and integrated Google search.