Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients


The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of IRC client programs which have been 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.
ClientPrimary developersDistribution modelSoftware licenseUser interfaceProgramming language
AdiIRCPer AmundsenFreewareGUI.NET Framework/C#
AdiumThijs AlkemadeFree softwareGUIObjective-C and C
AmbassadorIsengrimFree softwareGUIJavaScript, XUL
AndroIRCMadalynnFreewareGUI?
BersircJamie Frater, Nicholas CopelandFree softwareGUIC
BitchXColten EdwardsFree softwareTUI, GUIC
ChatZillaJames Ross, Robert Ginda, Samuel Sieb, Gijs KruitboschFree softwareGUIJavaScript, XUL
ColloquyTimothy Hatcher, Kiji RoshiDesktop: Free software,
mobile: commercial		GUIObjective-C
ERCAlexander L. Belikoff, Sergey BerezinFree softwareTUI, GUIEmacs Lisp
F-IRCFolkert van HeusdenFree softwareTUIC++
GrumpyChatPetr BenaFree softwareGUIC++
HexChatBerke ViktorFree softwareTUI, GUIC
IceChatPaul VanderzeeFree softwareGUIC#
IglooCommercialGUISwift
InstantbirdFlorian QuèzeFree softwareGUIC/C++, JavaScript, CSS, XUL
IRCCloudIRCCloud Ltd.FreemiumWebJavaScript frontend, Erlang backend
ircIIMichael SandrofFree softwareTUIC
IrcleOnno TijdgatCommercial, 30-day trialGUIC
IrssiTimo SirainenFree softwareTUIC
Kiwi IRCDarren WhitlenFree softwareWebJavaScript frontend, Node.js backend
KVIrcSzymon StefanekFree softwareGUIC++
KonversationKDEFree softwareGUIC++
LeafChatSamuel MarshallFree softwareGUIJava
LimeChatSatoshi NakagawaFree softwareGUIRubyCocoa
Objective-C
LinkinusConceited SoftwareCommercial, 15-day trialGUIObjective-C
MibbitJimmy MooreTextual AdbarWebJavaScript frontend,
Java backend
mIRCKhaled Mardam-BeyShareware, 30-day trialGUIC/C++
MonochromePeter PawlowskiFreewareGUIC#
NettalkNicolas KruseFreewareGUIVisual Basic
Opera FreewareGUIC++
PidginFree softwareGUIC
PIRCHSharewareGUIDelphi
PJIRCPhilippe DetournayFree softwareGUIJava
QuasselManuel Nickschas, Marcus Eggenberger, Alexander von RentelnFree softwareTUI, GUIC++
qwebircChris PorterFree softwareWebJavaScript front end,
Python backend
rcircRyan YeskeFree softwareTUIEmacs Lisp
SmuxiMirco BauerFree softwareGUI, TUI, serverC#
SnakKent SorensenCommercialGUI
ThunderbirdMozilla FoundationFree softwareGUIC, C++, JavaScript
Visual IRCJesse McGrewFree softwareGUIDelphi
WeeChatSebastien HelleuFree softwareTUI, GUIC
XChat Peter ŽeleznýUnix/Linux: Free software; Windows: commercial, 30-day trial
; or proprietary for WindowsTUI, GUIC
ClientPrimary developersDistribution modelSoftware licenseUser interfaceProgramming language

Release history

A brief overview of the release history.

Operating system support

The operating systems on which the clients can run natively.
ClientWindows 7, VistaXP, 2000NT 4.0NT 3.xMe, 98953.1xReactOSmacOS OS 9OS 8System 7 BeOS, HaikuOS/2, eCSAmigaOS AmigaOS 4, MorphOS DOS
Bersirc
BitchX
ChatZilla
Colloquy
degesch
ERC
HexChat
HydraIRC
IceChat
IRCCloud
ircII
IRCjr
Ircle
Irssi
jIRCii
KiwiIRC
Konversation
KVIrc
LeafChat
LimeChat
Linkinus
Mibbit
mIRC
Nettalk
Opera
PIRCH
PJIRC
Quassel
qwebirc
rIRC
rcirc
Scrollback
Smuxi
Snak
Visual IRC
WeeChat
XChat
ClientWindows 7, VistaXP, 2000NT 4.0NT 3.xMe, 98953.1xReactOSOS X OS 9OS 8System 7 BeOS, HaikuOS/2, eCSAmigaOS AmigaOS 4, MorphOS DOS

Unix and Unix-like operating systems:
Client386BSDBSD/OS FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSDSunOSULTRIXAIXA/UXHP-UXIRIXSCO OpenServerSolarisUnixWareLinuxNeXTSTEPOpenVMSOSF/1QNXTru64 UNIX
Bersirc
BitchX
ChatZilla
Colloquy
degesch
DMDIrc
ERC
HexChat
HydraIRC
IceChat
IRCCloud
ircII
IRCjr
Ircle
Irssi
KiwiIRC
Konversation
KVIrc
LeafChat
LimeChat
Linkinus
Mibbit
mIRC
Nettalk
Opera
PIRCH
PJIRC
Quassel
qwebirc
rcirc
Smuxi
Snak
Visual IRC
WeeChat
XChat
Client386BSDBSD/OS FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSDSunOSULTRIXAIXA/UXHP-UXIRIXSCO OpenServerSolarisUnixWareLinuxNeXTSTEPOpenVMSOSF/1QNXTru64 UNIX

Protocol support

What IRC related protocols and standards are supported by each client.
ClientCTCPDCCIPv6SSLTLSDANEOCSPCRLSASLOTR
Bersirc
BitchX
ChatZilla
Colloquy
degesch
DMDirc
ERC
HexChat
HydraIRC
IceChat
IRCCloud
ircII
IRCjr
Ircle
Irssi
jIRCii
KiwiIRC
Konversation
KVIrc
LimeChat
Linkinus
Mibbit
mIRC
Nettalk
Opera
PIRCH
PJIRC
Quassel
qwebirc
rcirc
Scrollback
Smuxi
Snak
Visual IRC
WeeChat
XChat
ClientCTCPDCCIPv6SSLTLSDANEOCSPCRLSASLOTR

Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.
ClientMulti-serverUTF-8Proxy serverirc:// URI schemeAutomatic updatesScripting language
Bersirc
BitchXEnhanced IrcII script
ChatZillaJavaScript
ColloquyAppleScript, Cocoa, F-Script, JavaScript, Python
degeschLua
DMDircCustom Actions system, Java plugins
ERCEmacs Lisp
HexChatPerl, Python, Tcl, LuaComparison of Internet Relay Chat clients#cite%20note-Features%20HexChat%20A-89|], JavaScript, C, C++, and via D-Bus.
HydraIRC
IceChatVBScript
ircIIIrcII script
IRCjr
IRCCloudJavaScript
IrcleAppleScript
IrssiPerl
jIRCiiSleep
KiwiIRCJavaScript, Node.js
KonversationShell script, Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, C++, C#, JavaScriptComparison of Internet Relay Chat clients#cite%20note-Features%20Konversation%20A-91|]
KVIrcKVS, Perl, Python, C++
LeafChatJava
LimeChat
LinkinusAppleScript, Cocoa
Mibbit
mIRCmIRC script
NettalkSOCKSVBScript, custom
Opera
PIRCH
PJIRCPartial, JavaScript
Quassel
qwebirc
rcircEmacs Lisp
Smuxi
SnakAppleScript, IrcII script
Visual IRCVersus
WeeChatC, Perl, Python, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Scheme
XChatPerl, Python, Tcl, Ruby, C++, ECMAScript, Scheme
ClientMulti-serverUTF-8Proxy serverirc:// URI schemeAutomatic updatesScripting language