Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (August 2012) |
The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of IRC client programs which have been discussed in independent published literature.
General
Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, license, etc. Clients listed on a light purple background are no longer in active development.
Client | Primary developers | Distribution model | Software license | User interface | Programming language |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AdiIRC[1] | Per Amundsen | Freeware | Proprietary | GUI | .NET Framework/C# |
Adium | Thijs Alkemade | Free software | GPL | GUI | Objective-C and C |
Ambassador[2] | Isengrim | Free software | MPL | GUI[Note 1] | JavaScript, XUL |
AndroIRC[3] | Madalynn | Freeware | Proprietary | GUI | ? |
Bersirc[4] | Jamie Frater, Nicholas Copeland | Free software | LGPL | GUI | C (Delphi originally) |
BitchX | Colten Edwards | Free software | BSD | TUI, GUI | C |
ChatZilla | James Ross, Robert Ginda, Samuel Sieb, Gijs Kruitbosch | Free software | MPL, GPL, LGPL tri-license |
GUI[Note 2] | JavaScript, XUL |
Colloquy | Timothy Hatcher, Kiji Roshi | Desktop: Free software, mobile: commercial |
BSD: mobile, GPL: desktop |
GUI | Objective-C |
ERC | Alexander L. Belikoff, Sergey Berezin | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI | Emacs Lisp |
F-IRC | Folkert van Heusden | Free software | GPL | TUI | C++ |
GrumpyChat[5] | Petr Bena | Free software | LGPL | GUI | C++ |
HexChat[6] | Berke Viktor | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI | C |
IceChat[7][8] | Paul Vanderzee | Free software | GPL | GUI | C# (Visual Basic until 2004)[9] |
Igloo[10] | Jordan Koch | Commercial | Proprietary | GUI | Swift |
Instantbird | Florian Quèze | Free software | GPL | GUI | C/C++, JavaScript, CSS, XUL |
IRCCloud[11] | IRCCloud Ltd. | Freemium | Proprietary | Web | JavaScript frontend, Erlang backend |
ircII | Michael Sandrof | Free software | BSD | TUI | C |
Ircle | Onno Tijdgat | Commercial, 30-day trial | Proprietary | GUI | C |
Irssi | Timo Sirainen | Free software | GPL | TUI | C |
Kiwi IRC | Darren Whitlen | Free software | AGPL | Web | JavaScript frontend, Node.js backend |
KVIrc | Szymon Stefanek | Free software | GPL | GUI | C++ |
Konversation | KDE | Free software | GPL | GUI | C++ |
LeafChat[12] | Samuel Marshall | Free software | GPL | GUI | Java |
LimeChat[13][14][15] | Satoshi Nakagawa | Free software | GPL[16] | GUI | RubyCocoa (2007–2010)[15][16] Objective-C (2010–)[17] |
Linkinus | Conceited Software | Commercial, 15-day trial | Proprietary | GUI | Objective-C |
Mibbit | Jimmy Moore | Textual Adbar | Proprietary | Web | JavaScript frontend, Java backend |
mIRC | Khaled Mardam-Bey | Shareware, 30-day trial[18] | Proprietary | GUI | C/C++[19] |
Monochrome[20] | Peter Pawlowski | Freeware | GPLv2 | GUI | C# |
Nettalk | Nicolas Kruse | Freeware | Apache 2.0 | GUI | Visual Basic |
Opera (until version 12.xx) [Note 3] | Freeware | Proprietary | GUI[Note 4] | C++ | |
Pidgin | Free software | GPL | GUI | C | |
PIRCH | Shareware | Proprietary | GUI | Delphi | |
PJIRC | Philippe Detournay | Free software | GPL | GUI | Java |
Quassel | Manuel Nickschas, Marcus Eggenberger, Alexander von Renteln | Free software | GPL | TUI[Note 5], GUI[Note 6] | C++ |
qwebirc | Chris Porter | Free software | GPL | Web | JavaScript front end, Python backend |
rcirc | Ryan Yeske | Free software | GPL | TUI | Emacs Lisp |
Smuxi | Mirco Bauer | Free software | GPL | GUI, TUI, server[Note 6] | C# |
Snak | Kent Sorensen | Commercial | Proprietary | GUI | ? |
Thunderbird | Mozilla Foundation | Free software | MPL 2.0 | GUI | C, C++, JavaScript |
Visual IRC | Jesse McGrew | Free software | GPL | GUI | Delphi |
WeeChat | Sebastien Helleu | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI[Note 7] | C |
XChat (evolved into HexChat)[Note 8] | Peter Železný | Unix/Linux: Free software; Windows: commercial, 30-day trial[21]
(HexChat is free software) |
GPL; or proprietary for Windows | TUI, GUI | C |
Client | Primary developers | Distribution model | Software license | User interface | Programming language |
- ^ Can be used as a standalone application or as part of a XUL-based web browser
- ^ Can be installed as part of a web browser
- ^ Opera 12.xx was the last version with IRC support. When Opera was rebased from Opera's own Presto layout engine to the Chromium browser, IRC and Mail were not ported.
- ^ Web browser component
- ^ Incomplete, proof of concept
- ^ a b Separate client and daemon
- ^ No official GUI, several options available (e.g. Glowing Bear, a web frontend)
- ^ xChat is no longer being developed by its original creators. Hexchat is entirely based on xChat and is now designed by new people.
Release history
A brief overview of the release history.
First public release | First stable release | Latest stable release | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Client | Date | Version | Date | Version | |
AdiIRC | 2005 | 1.0 | Template:Latest stable software release/AdiIRC | ||
Bersirc | 1999 | 2.2.14 (12 August 2005[±] | )|||
BitchX | 1996 | 1.2.1 (November 14, 2014[±] | )|||
ChatZilla | 2001 | 0.9.93 (November 8, 2016[22]) [±] | |||
Colloquy | 2005 | 2.4.3 (6011) (March 22, 2014[±] | )|||
degesch | 2015 | 0.9 | 2015 | 0.9 | |
DMDirc | 2007 | 0.7 (January 5, 2013[23]) [±] | |||
ERC | 1999? | ERC improvements are now released as part of Emacs. [±] | |||
F-IRC | 2006? | 0.1 | 1.36 (February 23, 2014) | ||
HexChat | 2009-10-04 | r249 | 2009-10-09 | 2.86.0 | 2.16.2[24][25] (7 February 2024 ) [±] |
HydraIRC | 2002 | 0.3.165 (December 12, 2008[±] | )|||
IceChat | 2002 | 3.0 | 2002-04-08 | 3.0 | 9.54[26] (1 June 2023 ) [±] |
ircII | 1990 | 20210314 (March 14, 2021[±] | )|||
IRCjr | 2008 | 2008 | mTCP_2023-03-31 (March 31, 2023[27]) [±] | ||
Ircle | 1995 | 3.5a6 (November 17, 2007[±] | )|||
Irssi | 1999 | 1.4.4 (March 31, 2023[±][28] | )|||
jIRCii | ? | ? | ? | ||
KVIrc | 1998 | 0.6.0 | 1999-12-21 | 1.0.0 | 5.2.0 (January 14, 2024[29]) [±] |
Konversation | 2002 | Template:Latest stable software release/Konversation | |||
LeafChat | ? | 1.0 | 2.5 (July 29, 2012[±] | )||
LimeChat | 2007 | Mavericks / Mountain Lion 2.43 (January 26, 2018[30]) [±] Lion | |||
Linkinus | 2007 | 2.4.3 (August 23, 2011[31]) [±] | |||
Mibbit | 2008 | web application, no version | |||
mIRC | 1995 | 7.76 (7 January 2024[32]) [±] | |||
Nettalk | 2004 | 6.7.16 (October 30, 2012[33]) [±] | |||
Opera | 1996 | 100.0.4815.21 (June 20, 2023[34][35][36])
| |||
PIRCH | 1995 | 1.0.1.1190 (January 1, 2001[±] | )|||
PJIRC | 2002 | 2.2.1 (November 29, 2004[±] | )|||
Quassel | 2008-08-27 | 0.3.0 | 0.14.0 (January 1, 2022[±] | )||
qwebirc | 2009 | 0.81 | 0.92 (February 13, 2012[±] | )||
rIRC | 2010 | Preview Release 1 | 2012 | 1.44 | 1.4.4 (January 16, 2012) |
Scrollback | 2013 | 2013 | |||
rcirc | ? | ? | rcirc improvements are now released as part of Emacs. [±] | ||
Smuxi | 2008-07-29 | 0.6 | 2010-09-03 | 0.8 | 1.2.1 (April 23, 2023[±] | )
Snak | 1997 | 5.3.4 (March 11, 2012[37]) [±] | |||
Visual IRC | 1995 | 2.0pl2 (December 30, 2007[±][38] | )|||
WeeChat | 2003 | 4.2.1 (January 22, 2024[39]) [±] | |||
XChat | 1998 | Template:Latest stable software release/XChat | |||
Client | Date | Version | Date | Version | Latest stable release |
First public release | First stable release |
Operating system support
The operating systems on which the clients can run natively (without emulation).
Client | Windows 7, Vista | XP, 2000 | NT 4.0 | NT 3.x | Me, 98 | 95 | 3.1x | ReactOS | macOS (Intel/PPC) | OS 9 | OS 8 | System 7 (PPC/68k) | BeOS, Haiku | OS/2, eCS | AmigaOS (68k) | AmigaOS 4, MorphOS (PPC) | DOS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bersirc | Yes | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
BitchX | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | No | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
ChatZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No |
Colloquy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
degesch | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
ERC | Yes | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
HexChat | Yes | Dropped (2.9.5) | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No |
HydraIRC | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
IceChat | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
IRCCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
ircII | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | No | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No |
IRCjr | No | Yes[Note 2] | Yes[Note 2] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Ircle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes[Note 3] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Irssi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No |
jIRCii | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No |
KiwiIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Konversation | Partial | Partial | Partial | No | Partial | Partial | No | ? | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
KVIrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes[43] | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes[44] | No | No | No |
LeafChat | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
LimeChat | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes[Note 4] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Linkinus | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes[Note 3] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Mibbit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
mIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Nettalk | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Partial[Note 5] | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Opera | Yes | Yes | Dropped (10.10) | No | Dropped | Dropped | Dropped | No[46] | Dropped[47] | Dropped | Dropped | No | Dropped | Dropped | No | No | No |
PIRCH | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
PJIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Quassel | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
qwebirc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
rIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
rcirc | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Scrollback | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Smuxi | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Snak | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No |
Visual IRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
WeeChat | Partial[Note 1] | Partial[Note 1] | Partial[Note 1] | No | Partial[Note 1] | Partial[Note 1] | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No |
XChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | No | No | No |
Client | Windows 7, Vista | XP, 2000 | NT 4.0 | NT 3.x | Me, 98 | 95 | 3.1x | ReactOS | OS X (Intel/PPC) | OS 9 | OS 8 | System 7 (PPC/68k) | BeOS, Haiku | OS/2, eCS | AmigaOS (68k) | AmigaOS 4, MorphOS (PPC) | DOS |
Unix and Unix-like operating systems:
- Unix (BSD): 386BSD, BSD/OS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, ULTRIX
- Unix (System V): AIX, A/UX, HP-UX, IRIX, SCO OpenServer, Solaris, UnixWare
- Unix-like: Linux, NeXTSTEP, OpenVMS[citation needed], OSF/1, QNX, Tru64 UNIX
Client | 386BSD | BSD/OS (BSD/386, BSDI) | FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD | SunOS | ULTRIX | AIX | A/UX | HP-UX | IRIX | SCO OpenServer | Solaris | UnixWare | Linux | NeXTSTEP | OpenVMS | OSF/1 | QNX | Tru64 UNIX |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bersirc | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
BitchX | ? | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | ? | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | ? | Yes[Note 1] | Yes | Yes[Note 1] | Yes | ? | Yes[Note 1] | Yes[Note 1] | ? |
ChatZilla | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Colloquy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
degesch | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
DMDIrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ERC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
HexChat | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
HydraIRC | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
IceChat | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
IRCCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ircII | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
IRCjr | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Ircle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Irssi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
KiwiIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Konversation | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
KVIrc | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
LeafChat | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
LimeChat | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Linkinus | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Mibbit | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
mIRC | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Nettalk | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Opera | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Dropped | No |
PIRCH | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
PJIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Quassel | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
qwebirc | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
rcirc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Smuxi | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Snak | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Visual IRC | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
WeeChat | ? | ? | Yes[Note 2] | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Partial[Note 3] | ? | Yes[Note 2] | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes[Note 2] | ? |
XChat | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes[Note 4] | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
Client | 386BSD | BSD/OS (BSD/386, BSDI) | FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD | SunOS | ULTRIX | AIX | A/UX | HP-UX | IRIX | SCO OpenServer | Solaris | UnixWare | Linux | NeXTSTEP | OpenVMS | OSF/1 | QNX | Tru64 UNIX |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k BitchX is known to work on BSDI 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.0; FreeBSD 2.x, 3.x, 4.0; NetBSD 3.x, 4.x; SunOS 4.1.4; Ultrix; AIX; HP-UX 9.x, 10.x; IRIX 5.x, 6.x; Solaris 5.x and later; Linux; OSF/1 (DEC Alpha); QNX
- ^ a b c WeeChat tested on FreeBSD 4.11, 5.4, 6.0; NetBSD 2.0, 2.1; OpenBSD 3.6, 3.7, 3.8; Solaris 5.10; QNX 6.3[48]
- ^ In development[48]
- ^ XChat tested on HP-UX 10.20 and 11[49]
Protocol support
What IRC related protocols and standards are supported by each client.
Client | CTCP | DCC | IPv6 | SSL | TLS | DANE | OCSP | CRL | SASL | OTR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bersirc | ? | Partial | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
BitchX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
ChatZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | script | No |
Colloquy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No[50] |
degesch | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
DMDirc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
ERC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes[Note 1] | No |
HexChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes[Note 2] |
HydraIRC | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | No | No | ? | No |
IceChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
IRCCloud | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
ircII | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
IRCjr | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No |
Ircle | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Irssi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes[51] |
jIRCii | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
KiwiIRC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | No |
Konversation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
KVIrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | No |
LimeChat | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
Linkinus | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
Mibbit | ? | Partial[Note 3][Note 4] | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
mIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No |
Nettalk | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Opera | Yes[52] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
PIRCH | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
PJIRC | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Quassel | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | No[53] |
qwebirc | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | No |
rcirc | Partial | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Scrollback | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
Smuxi | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No[54] |
Snak | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Visual IRC | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
WeeChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes[55][56][Note 2] |
XChat | Yes | Yes | Partial[Note 4] | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | script | Yes[55][57][Note 2] |
Client | CTCP | DCC | IPv6 | SSL | TLS | DANE | OCSP | CRL | SASL | OTR |
Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support
Client | CHAT | Whiteboard | SEND | RESUME | TSEND | SEND T | XMIT | Passive DCC | Server | RDCC | REVERSE | RSEND | Reverse / Firewall DCC | File servers (FSERVs) | XDCC | VOICE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bersirc | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
BitchX | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
ChatZilla | Yes | No | Yes | No[58] | ? | ? | No | No[Note 1] | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? |
Colloquy | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
degesch | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
DMDirc | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | ? |
ERC | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
HexChat | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
HydraIRC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? |
IceChat | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? |
IRCCloud | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
ircII | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
IRCjr | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
Ircle | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Irssi | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
KiwiIRC | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
Konversation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
KVIrc | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 2] | Yes[Note 2] | Yes[Note 3] |
LimeChat | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Linkinus | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Mibbit | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
mIRC | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes[Note 4] | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 5] | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 5] | ? |
Nettalk | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Partial | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
Opera | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
PIRCH | Yes | No | Yes | Yes[Note 4] | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
PJIRC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Quassel | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
qwebirc | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
rcirc | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
Smuxi | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Snak | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Visual IRC | ? | Yes | ? | Yes[Note 4] | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes[Note 3] |
WeeChat | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
XChat | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes[Note 6] | ? |
Client | CHAT | Whiteboard | SEND | RESUME | TSEND | SEND T | XMIT | Passive DCC | Server | RDCC | REVERSE | RSEND | Reverse / Firewall DCC | File servers (FSERVs) | XDCC | VOICE |
Features
Information on what features each of the clients support.
Client | Multi-server | UTF-8 | Proxy server | irc:// URI scheme | Automatic updates | Scripting language |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bersirc | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | — |
BitchX | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Enhanced IrcII script |
ChatZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | JavaScript |
Colloquy | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes[Note 1] | AppleScript, Cocoa, F-Script, JavaScript, Python |
degesch | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | Lua |
DMDirc | Yes | Partial | ? | Yes | Yes | Custom Actions system, Java plugins |
ERC | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 2] | ? | Yes[Note 3] | Emacs Lisp |
HexChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Perl, Python, Tcl, Lua[Note 4][Note 4][./Comparison_of_Internet_Relay_Chat_clients#cite_note-Features_HexChat_A-88 [Note 4]], JavaScript, C, C++, and via D-Bus. |
HydraIRC | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No |
IceChat | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | VBScript |
ircII | Yes | Yes[Note 5] | ? | ? | ? | IrcII script |
IRCjr | No | No | No | No | No | — |
IRCCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | JavaScript |
Ircle | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | AppleScript |
Irssi | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Perl |
jIRCii | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Sleep |
KiwiIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | JavaScript, Node.js |
Konversation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Shell script, Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, C++, C#, JavaScript[Note 6][Note 6][./Comparison_of_Internet_Relay_Chat_clients#cite_note-Features_Konversation_A-90 [Note 6]] |
KVIrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | KVS (custom), Perl, Python, C++ |
LeafChat | Yes | Yes | ? | — | Yes | Java |
LimeChat | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | — |
Linkinus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | AppleScript, Cocoa |
Mibbit | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | — | — |
mIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 7] | mIRC script |
Nettalk | Yes | Yes | SOCKS | Yes | Yes | VBScript, custom |
Opera | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | — |
PIRCH | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | Yes |
PJIRC | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | Partial, JavaScript |
Quassel | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No |
qwebirc | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
rcirc | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | Emacs Lisp |
Smuxi | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes (language agnostic) |
Snak | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | AppleScript, IrcII script |
Visual IRC | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Versus |
WeeChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | C, Perl, Python, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Scheme (Guile) |
XChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Perl, Python, Tcl, Ruby, C++, ECMAScript, Scheme (Guile) |
Client | Multi-server | UTF-8 | Proxy server | irc:// URI scheme | Automatic updates | Scripting language |
- ^ Automatically updates via the Sparkle framework
- ^ Can be added with separate packages.
- ^ Supports automatic updates via the Emacs package manager
- ^ Since 2.9.5 HexChat is shipped only with Perl and Python.
- ^ Supported as of version 20050921
- ^ Any language which supports DCOP may be used for Konversation scripting. Virtually any language can be made to support Konversation scripting by executing the command line "dcop" program.
- ^ Only looks for updates, they need to be manually downloaded and installed.
See also
- Comparison of IRC daemons
- Comparison of mobile IRC clients
- Comparison of instant messaging clients
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of LAN messengers
References
- ^ "AdiIRC - Free IRC Client". www.adiirc.com. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
- ^ Ambassador release statement
- ^ "AndroIRC - The best IRC client for Android your device need". www.androirc.com. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ^ Bersirc IRC Client - about Bersirc Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ GitHub project.
- ^ "HexChat website".
- ^ "IceChat Networks website".
- ^ "IceChat IRC Client 7 review". download.com. CNET. October 16, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-05-26.
- ^ IceChat History. IceChat.net
- ^ "Igloo website".
- ^ "IRCCloud website".
- ^ "Download leafChat Free". Mac.softpedia.com. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Cooper, Peter (2009). Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional. Apress. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4302-2363-4. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
- ^ "LimeChat: IRC Client for Mac". Official site.
- ^ a b "LimeChat for the Mac releases version 1.5". IRC-Junkie.org. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011.
- ^ a b "Limechat". GitHub.
- ^ “do not load RubyCocoa” Commit on GitHub.
- ^ "mIRC: Register mIRC". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "mIRC: Personal FAQ". Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- ^ "Monochrome website".
- ^ "XChat for Windows". Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ "ChatZilla :: Versions :: Add-ons for Firefox". Retrieved 2016-11-11.
- ^ Mc Cormack, Shane (January 25, 2013). "DMDirc 0.7". Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- ^ "2.16.2, The Final Release". 9 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "HexChat ChangeLog". 7 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
- ^ mbbrutman. "mTCP TCP/IP applications for DOS PCs". Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ^ "Irssi 1.4.4 Released". 31 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- ^ "2024-01-14: KVIrc 5.2.0 "Quasar" Released". Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "limechat/LimeChat.xcodepro at master". 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on 2020-04-26. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ "Release Notes – Linkinus". Conceited Software. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
- ^ "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ "Nettalk - www.ntalk.de - IRC-Client". Retrieved 2013-03-23.
- ^ "Thanks for downloading Opera". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Thanks for downloading Opera". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Index of /ftp/pub/opera/desktop/100.0.4815.21/". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Snak - IRC for Mac". Retrieved 2012-03-11.
- ^ https://sourceforge.net/projects/visualirc/files/ViRC/2.0pl2/
- ^ "Version 4.2.1". weechat.org. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "SourceForge: BitchX files See "INSTALL" included with BitchX". Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "WeeChat cygwin". Archived from the original on 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "SwsVpkt". Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ Connect to the ReactOS IRC Channels
- ^ 2012-07-03: 4.2.0 Released!
- ^ "Nettalk: Download". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ^ "ReactOS compatibility database: Opera". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
- ^ "Features removed from Opera 12 on Mac (IRC, BitTorrent)". Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ a b "WeeChat: Supported OS". Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "X-Chat README". Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "Ticket 3915 requesting OTR support".
- ^ "Irssi 1.2.0 OTR Migration Path". Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- ^ "Changelog for Opera 9.0 for Windows". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "Issue 1418 requesting OTR support".
- ^ "Issue 651 requesting OTR support".
- ^ a b "Cypherpunks - OTR-Enabled Software". Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ^ "GitHub - weechat-otr - WeeChat script for Off-the-Record messaging". Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ^ "Irssi-OTR and XChat-OTR homepage". Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ^ "Mozilla ChatZilla: Bugzilla Bug 285630: chatzilla does not support resume for dcc downloads". 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "DCC negotiation and connection". Retrieved 2014-12-16.
- ^ "DCC Resume protocol". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "SysReset mIRC FileServer". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "XChat: Scripts + Plugins". Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2009-07-14.