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Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients

Topic: Software

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 21 min

Short description: none
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
For a comparison of instant messaging clients (including multi-protocol clients that support IRC), see Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients. For a comparison of mobile Internet Relay Chat clients, see Comparison of mobile Internet Relay Chat clients.

The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of notable IRC client programs which have been discussed in independent, reliable prior published sources.

General

Basic general information about the notableclients: 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
Adium Thijs Alkemade Free software GPL-2.0-or-later GUI Objective-C and C
Ambassador[1] Isengrim Free software MPL GUI[Note 1] JavaScript, XUL
AmIRC Oliver Wagner, Nicolas Sallin, Costel Mincea Free software GNU General Public License GUI ?
AndroIRC[2] Madalynn Freeware Proprietary GUI ?
Bersirc[3] 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 Free software Desktop: GPL
Mobile: BSD 		GUI Objective-C
ERC Alexander L. Belikoff, Sergey Berezin Free software GPL-3.0-or-later TUI, GUI Emacs Lisp
GrumpyChat[4] Petr Bena Free software LGPL GUI C++
HexChat[5] Berke Viktor Free software GPL-2.0-or-later TUI, GUI C
IceChat[6][7] Paul Vanderzee Free software GPL GUI C# (Visual Basic until 2004)[8]
Igloo[9] Jordan Koch Commercial Proprietary GUI Swift
Instantbird Florian Quèze Free software GPL GUI C++, JavaScript, CSS, XUL
Irccloud[10] 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-2.0-or-later TUI C
KVIrc Szymon Stefanek Free software GPL GUI C++
Konversation KDE Free software GPL-2.0-or-later GUI C++
LeafChat[11] Samuel Marshall Free software GPL-3.0-or-later GUI Java
LimeChat[12][13][14] Satoshi Nakagawa Free software GPL-2.0-only[15] GUI RubyCocoa (2007–2010)[14][15]
Objective-C (2010–)[16]
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[17] Proprietary GUI C/C++[18]
Monochrome[19] Peter Pawlowski Free software GPL-2.0-only GUI C#
Nettalk Nicolas Kruse Free software Apache-2.0 GUI Visual Basic
Pidgin Free software GPL-2.0-or-later GUI C
PIRCH Northwest Computer Services Shareware Proprietary GUI Delphi
PJIRC Philippe Detournay Free software GPL GUI Java
Quassel Manuel Nickschas, Marcus Eggenberger, Alexander von Renteln Free software GPL-2.0-or-3.0 TUI[Note 3], GUI[Note 4] C++
rcirc Ryan Yeske Free software GPL-3.0-or-later TUI Emacs Lisp
Smuxi Mirco Bauer Free software GPL-2.0-or-later GUI, TUI, server[Note 4] 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-3.0-or-later TUI, GUI[Note 5] C
XiRCON Mark Hanson Freeware Proprietary GUI Borland C++, scripted with Tcl
Client Primary developers Distribution model Software license User interface Programming language
  1. ↑ Can be used as a standalone application or as part of a XUL-based web browser
  2. ↑ Can be installed as part of a web browser
  3. ↑ Incomplete, proof of concept
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Separate client and daemon
  5. ↑ No official GUI, several options available (e.g. Glowing Bear, a web frontend)

Release

A brief overview of the release history.

First public release First stable release Latest stable release
Client Date Version Date Version
AmIRC 1995
Bersirc 1999 2.2.14 (12 August 2005; 20 years ago (2005-08-12)) [±]
BitchX 1996 1.2.1 (November 14, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-11-14)) [±]
ChatZilla 2001 0.9.93 (November 8, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-11-08)[20]) [±]
Colloquy 2005 2.4.3 (6011) (March 22, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-03-22)) [±]
degesch 2015 0.9 2015 0.9
DMDirc 2007 0.7 (January 5, 2013; 13 years ago (2013-01-05)[21]) [±]
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
HydraIRC 2002 0.3.165 (December 12, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-12-12)) [±]
IceChat 2002 3.0 2002-04-08 3.0
ircII 1989 2.0.0 1989 2.0.0 20210314 (March 14, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-03-14)) [±]
IRCjr 2008 2008 mTCP_2023-03-31 (March 31, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-03-31)[22]) [±]
Ircle 1995 3.5a6 (November 17, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-11-17)) [±]
Irssi 1999 1.4.4 (March 31, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-03-31)) [±][23]
jIRCii ? ? ?
kirc 2020 0.0.1
KVIrc 1998 0.6.0 1999-12-21 1.0.0 5.0.0 (January 1, 2019; 7 years ago (2019-01-01)[24]) [±]
Konversation 2002 Error: first parameter is missing. ()
LeafChat ? 1.0 2.5 (July 29, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-07-29)) [±]
LimeChat 2007 Mavericks / Mountain Lion

2.43 (January 26, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-01-26)[25]) [±]

Lion
2.38 (September 12, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-09-12)) [±]

Linkinus 2007 2.4.3 (August 23, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-08-23)[26]) [±]
Mibbit 2008 web application, no version
mIRC 1995 7.76 (7 January 2024; 2 years ago (2024-01-07)[27]) [±]
Nettalk 2004 6.7.16 (October 30, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-30)[28]) [±]
PIRCH 1995 1.0.1.1190 (January 1, 2001; 25 years ago (2001-01-01)) [±]
PJIRC 2002 2.2.1 (November 29, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-11-29)) [±]
Quassel 2008-08-27 0.3.0 0.14.0 (January 1, 2022; 4 years ago (2022-01-01)) [±]
qwebirc 2009 0.81 0.92 (February 13, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-02-13)) [±]
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; 2 years ago (2023-04-23)) [±]
Snak 1997 5.3.4 (March 11, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-03-11)[29]) [±]
Visual IRC 1995 2.0pl2 (December 30, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-12-30)) [±][30]
WeeChat 2003 4.2.1 (January 22, 2024; 23 months ago (2024-01-22)[31]) [±]
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, ArcaOS AmigaOS (68k) AmigaOS 4, MorphOS (PPC) DOS
AmIRC No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No
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[34] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No No Yes[35] Yes[36] ? ? Yes[37]
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 Dropped (9.50) 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[39] Yes Yes No No No Yes[40] 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
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
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
  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Requires Cygwin[32][33]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Requires SwsVpkt[38]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Requires OS X v10.4.3 or later
  4. ↑ Requires RubyCocoa 1.0.0 or later
  5. ↑ Does not support Windows 95 or Windows 98[41]

Unix and Unix-like operating systems:

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
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] ?
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
  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 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
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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[42]
  3. ↑ In development[42]

Protocol support

What IRC related protocols and standards are supported by each client.

Client IPv6 SSL TLS DANE OCSP CRL SASL OTR
Bersirc No No ? ? ? ? ? No
BitchX Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No
ChatZilla Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes script No
Colloquy Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes No[43]
degesch Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? No
DMDirc Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? No
ERC Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes[Note 1] No
HexChat Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes[Note 2]
HydraIRC ? No No ? No No ? No
IceChat Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes No
IRCCloud Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
ircII Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No
IRCjr No No No ? No No No No
Ircle ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? No
Irssi Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes Yes[44]
jIRCii Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? No
KiwiIRC Yes Yes Yes ? No No Yes No
Konversation Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes No
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes ? No No Yes No
LimeChat Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes No
Linkinus No Yes ? ? ? ? No No
Mibbit No Yes ? ? ? ? Yes No
mIRC Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes No
Nettalk No No ? ? ? ? ? No
PIRCH No No ? ? ? ? ? No
PJIRC No No ? ? ? ? ? No
Quassel Yes Yes Yes ? No No Yes No[45]
qwebirc No Yes No ? No No No No
rcirc No Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No
Scrollback Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No
Smuxi Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No[46]
Snak Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? No
Visual IRC No No ? ? ? ? ? No
WeeChat Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes[47][48][Note 2]
Client IPv6 SSL TLS DANE OCSP CRL SASL OTR
  1. ↑ Supported via patch
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Supported via plugin

Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support

The Direct Client-to-Client Protocol (DCC) has been the primary method of establishing connections directly between IRC clients for a long time now. Once established, DCC connections bypass the IRC network and servers, allowing for all sorts of data to be transferred between clients including files and direct chat sessions.

Client CHAT SEND RESUME TSEND SEND T XMIT Passive DCC Server RDCC REVERSE RSEND Reverse / Firewall DCC File servers (FSERVs) XDCC VOICE Whiteboard
Bersirc ? ? ? ? ? ? No No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
BitchX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No No ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? No
ChatZilla Yes Yes No[49] ? ? No No[Note 1] No 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 Yes Yes ? ? No Yes No No No No Yes No No ? No
ERC Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
HexChat Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? No
HydraIRC Yes Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? No No ? No
IceChat Yes Yes ? ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? No No ? No
IRCCloud No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
ircII Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
IRCjr No No No No No No No No No No No No No No ? No
Ircle ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Irssi Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No
KiwiIRC No No No No No No No No No No No No No No ? No
Konversation Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes No ? ? ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes[Note 2] Yes[Note 2] Yes[Note 3] No
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 Yes Yes No No No No Partial No No No No ? ? ? No
PIRCH Yes Yes Yes[Note 4] ? ? No No No No No No No No No ? No
PJIRC Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No
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[Note 4] ? ? ? Yes No ? ? ? Yes ? ? Yes[Note 3] Yes
WeeChat Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ?
Client CHAT SEND RESUME TSEND SEND T XMIT Passive DCC Server RDCC REVERSE RSEND Reverse / Firewall DCC File servers (FSERVs) XDCC VOICE Whiteboard
  1. ↑ Planned for a later version
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Supported via scripting
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Incompatible with other IRC clients[50]
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Supports the DCC Resume protocol[51]
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Supported via a script[52]

IRCv3 Support

This software is compliant natively; other software may be compliant with extensions.[1][2]

Clients CAP CAP 302 Cap-notify Account-notify account-tag Away-notify batch Bot Mode chghost echo-message extended-join Invite-notify labeled-response message-tags Monitor msgid multi-prefix SASL v3.1 SASL v3.2 server-time setname sts userhost-in-names UTF8ONLY WHOX +typing draft/chathistory WebIRC draft/account-registration draft/extended-monitor draft/multiline +draft/react +draft/reply
Adium ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Ambassador Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
AndroIRC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Bersirc ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
BitchX Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
ChatSharp Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
ChatZilla ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Colloquy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes No No ? ? No No No No
Communi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
CoreIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? No ? ? ? ? No No No No
ERC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
F-IRC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Glirc Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Goguma Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes No No No
GrumpyChat
HexChat Yes Yes Yes Yes 2.16 Yes No No Yes No Yes 2.16 No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 2.16 No Yes 2.16 Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
IRC for Android Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 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 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
IRCjr ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
IceChat Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Igloo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Instantbird ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Ircle ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Irssi Yes Git Git Git No Git No No Git No Git Git No Git No No Yes Yes No No Git No No No Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
KVIrc Yes No No Git No Git No No Git No Git No No No No No Git Yes No Git No No Git No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Kitteh IRC Client Library Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Kiwi IRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? Yes No ? No No No No No No
Konversation Yes v20.11.80+ v21.03.80+ Yes No Yes No No v21.03.80+ No Yes No No No No No Yes Yes v21.04.0+ Yes No No Yes No Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
LeafChat ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LimeChat Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No ? ? No No No No
Linkinus ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mibbit Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No ? No No ? No No No No No No
Mobile ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Monochrome ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes 72.0+ 72.0+ No No No No No No 73.0+ No No No No Yes No Yes Yes 72.0+ 60.0+ No No No No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Net::Async::IRC Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
Nettalk ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
PIRC.pl web client Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes Yes ? No No No No No No
PIRCH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
PJIRC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Palaver Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes draft cap draft cap Yes draft tag Yes Yes Yes Yes draft cap Yes Yes ? No ? ? ? ? No No Yes No
Pidgin ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quassel Yes Yes Yes Yes 0.14+ Yes No No Yes 0.14+ (opt in) Yes 0.14+ No 0.14+ No No Yes Yes Yes 0.14+ 0.14+ No Yes No Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quasseldroid Yes Yes Yes Yes 0.14+ core Yes No No Yes 0.14+ core (opt in) Yes 0.14+ core No 0.14+ core No No Yes Yes Yes 0.14+ core 0.14+ core No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? No No No No
Rust irc Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
Smuxi ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Snak ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Srain Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Swirc Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Textual Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No v7.1.1+ Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
The Lounge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No No ? Yes No No No No No
Tiny ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Visual IRC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Warren Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
WeeChat Yes 2.2+ Yes Yes No Yes No No 2.2+ No Yes 2.2+ No 3.3+ Yes No Yes Yes 3.3+ Yes 3.3+ No Yes No Yes 3.3+ No ? ? ? ? ? ?
XiRCON ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
catgirl Yes No No No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes TLS-only Yes No No No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
gamja Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? Yes No ? No Yes Yes No No No
girc Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? No ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ?
irc-framework Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
ircII ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
ircrobots Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
kirc ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
mIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes 7.62+ Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7.62+ Yes Yes No Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ?
pydle Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No Yes ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?
qwebirc ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
rcirc ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
senpai Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
tri-license ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
zIRC Yes 1.2.4+ 1.2.4+ No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes 1.2.4+ No No No No ? No ? ? No ? ? ? ? ?

IRCv3 SASL Mechanisms

IRC SASL authentication primarily uses the same mechanisms as SASL in other protocols. Most commonly:

  • PLAIN as defined by RFC 4616
  • EXTERNAL as defined by RFC 4422
  • SCRAM-SHA-256 as defined by RFC 7677
Client EXTERNAL PLAIN SCRAM-SHA-256
Ambassador No No No
BitchX No Yes No
ChatSharp (lib.) No No No
Colloquy No Yes No
Colloquy No Yes No
Communi(lib.) No Yes No
CoreIRC Yes Yes Yes
Glirc Yes Yes Yes
Goguma No Yes No
HexChat Yes Yes No
IRC for Android No No No
IRCCloud No Yes Yes
IceChat No Yes No
Irssi Yes Yes No
KVIrc Yes Yes No
Kitteh IRC Client Library(lib.) Yes Yes No
Kiwi IRC No Yes No
Konversation Yes Yes No
LimeChat No Yes No
LimeChat No Yes No
Mibbit No Yes No
Mozilla Thunderbird No Yes No
Net::Async::IRC(lib.) No No No
PIRC.pl web client No Yes No
Palaver No Yes No
Quassel Yes Yes No
Quasseldroid No Yes No
Rust irc(lib.) No Yes No
Srain Yes Yes No
Swirc No Yes Yes
Textual Yes Yes No
The Lounge Yes Yes No
Warren(lib.) No Yes No
WeeChat Yes Yes 3.2+
catgirl Yes Yes No
gamja No Yes No
girc(lib.) Yes Yes No
irc-framework(lib.) No Yes No
ircrobots(lib.) No Yes Yes
mIRC Yes Yes 7.68+
pydle(lib.) No Yes No
senpai No Yes No
zIRC(lib.) Yes Yes No
Client EXTERNAL PLAIN SCRAM-SHA-256

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 ? ? ? N/A
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 N/A N/A Lua
DMDirc Yes Partial ? Yes Yes Custom Actions system, Java plugins
ERC Yes Yes Yes[Note 2] Yes[53] Yes[Note 3] Emacs Lisp
HexChat Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Perl, Python, Tcl, Lua[Note 4], JavaScript, C, C++, and via D-Bus.
HydraIRC Yes Yes ? ? Yes No
IceChat Yes Yes No Yes Yes VBScript
ircII Yes Yes[Note 5] ? ? ? IrcII script
IRCjr No No No No No N/A
IRCCloud Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A JavaScript
Ircle Yes No ? ? ? AppleScript
Irssi Yes Yes Yes No No Perl
jIRCii Yes Yes Yes ? No Sleep
KiwiIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A JavaScript, Node.js
Konversation Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Shell script, Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, C++, C#, JavaScript[Note 6]
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes Yes No KVS (custom), Perl, Python, C++
LeafChat Yes Yes ? N/A Yes Java
LimeChat Yes Yes ? ? ? N/A
Linkinus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes AppleScript, Cocoa
Mibbit Yes Yes ? Yes N/A N/A
mIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[Note 7] mIRC script
Nettalk Yes Yes SOCKS Yes Yes VBScript, custom
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)
Client Multi-server UTF-8 Proxy server irc:// URI scheme Automatic updates Scripting language
  1. ↑ Automatically updates via the Sparkle framework
  2. ↑ Can be added with separate packages.
  3. ↑ Supports automatic updates via the Emacs package manager
  4. ↑ Since 2.9.5 HexChat is shipped only with Perl and Python.
  5. ↑ Supported as of version 20050921
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Only looks for updates, they need to be manually downloaded and installed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ambassador release statement
  2. ↑ "AndroIRC - The best IRC client for Android your device need". http://www.androirc.com/. 
  3. ↑ Bersirc IRC Client - about Bersirc
  4. ↑ GitHub project.
  5. ↑ "HexChat website". http://hexchat.net/index.html. 
  6. ↑ "IceChat Networks website". http://www.icechat.net. 
  7. ↑ "IceChat IRC Client 7 review". download.com. CNET. October 16, 2006. http://www.download.com/IceChat-IRC-Client/3003-2150_4-10587439.html. 
  8. ↑ IceChat History. IceChat.net
  9. ↑ "Igloo website". https://iglooirc.com/. 
  10. ↑ "IRCCloud website". https://www.irccloud.com/. 
  11. ↑ "Download leafChat Free". Mac.softpedia.com. 2010-01-21. http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/leafChat.shtml. 
  12. ↑ Cooper, Peter (2009). Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional. Apress. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4302-2363-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=A78bYfzYKZ4C&q=LimeChat&pg=PA108. Retrieved April 14, 2011. 
  13. ↑ "LimeChat: IRC Client for Mac" . Official site.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "LimeChat for the Mac releases version 1.5". IRC-Junkie.org. February 3, 2010. http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-02-03/limechat-for-the-mac-releases-version-1-5/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Limechat". GitHub.
  16. ↑ “do not load RubyCocoa” Commit on GitHub.
  17. ↑ "mIRC: Register mIRC". http://www.mirc.com/register.html. 
  18. ↑ "mIRC: Personal FAQ". http://www.mirc.com/pfaq.html. 
  19. ↑ "Monochrome website". https://perkele.cc/software/monochrome. 
  20. ↑ "ChatZilla :: Versions :: Add-ons for Firefox". https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chatzilla/. 
  21. ↑ Mc Cormack, Shane (January 25, 2013). "DMDirc 0.7". http://blog.dmdirc.com/2013/01/25/dmdirc-0-7/. 
  22. ↑ mbbrutman. "mTCP TCP/IP applications for DOS PCs". http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/. 
  23. ↑ "Irssi 1.4.4 Released". 31 March 2023. https://irssi.org/2023/03/31/irssi-1.4.4-released/. 
  24. ↑ "2019-01-01: KVIrc 5.0.0 "Aria" Released". http://www.kvirc.net/?id=news&story=2019.01.01.23.50.1.story&dir=latest&lang=en. 
  25. ↑ "limechat/LimeChat.xcodepro at master". 2018-01-26. https://github.com/psychs/limechat/tree/master/LimeChat.xcodeproj. 
  26. ↑ "Release Notes – Linkinus". Conceited Software. http://conceitedsoftware.com/releasenotes/linkinus. 
  27. ↑ "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. https://www.mirc.com/news.html. 
  28. ↑ "Nettalk - www.ntalk.de - IRC-Client". http://www.ntalk.de/Nettalk/en/. 
  29. ↑ "Snak - IRC for Mac". http://www.snak.com/. 
  30. ↑ https://sourceforge.net/projects/visualirc/files/ViRC/2.0pl2/
  31. ↑ "Version 4.2.1". weechat.org. https://weechat.org/news/146/20240122-Version-4.2.1/. 
  32. ↑ "SourceForge: BitchX files See "INSTALL" included with BitchX". http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitchx/files/. 
  33. ↑ "WeeChat cygwin". http://wiki.flashtux.org/wiki/WeeChat_cygwin. 
  34. ↑ "Which versions of Windows are supported?". https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/efaq-w32.html. 
  35. ↑ "Emacs 29 has been ported to the Haiku operating system.". https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/master/etc/NEWS.29. 
  36. ↑ "Emacs | eCSoft/2". https://ecsoft2.org/emacs. 
  37. ↑ "EmacsForDOS". https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsForDOS. 
  38. ↑ "SwsVpkt". http://www.softsystem.co.uk/products/swsvpkt.htm. 
  39. ↑ Connect to the ReactOS IRC Channels
  40. ↑ 2012-07-03: 4.2.0 Released!
  41. ↑ "Nettalk: Download". http://en.ntalk.de/Nettalk/en/index.php?page=Download. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "WeeChat: Supported OS". http://www.weechat.org/download/. 
  43. ↑ "Ticket 3915 requesting OTR support". http://colloquy.info/project/ticket/3915. 
  44. ↑ "Irssi 1.2.0 OTR Migration Path". https://irssi.org/posts/#irssi-1-2-0-otr-migration-path. 
  45. ↑ "Issue 1418 requesting OTR support". http://bugs.quassel-irc.org/issues/1418. 
  46. ↑ "Issue 651 requesting OTR support". https://smuxi.im/issues/show/651. 
  47. ↑ "Cypherpunks - OTR-Enabled Software". https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/software.php. 
  48. ↑ "GitHub - weechat-otr - WeeChat script for Off-the-Record messaging". https://github.com/mmb/weechat-otr. 
  49. ↑ "Mozilla ChatZilla: Bugzilla Bug 285630: chatzilla does not support resume for dcc downloads". 2009-02-20. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=285630. 
  50. ↑ "DCC negotiation and connection". http://www.kvirc.net/doc/doc_dcc_connection.html. 
  51. ↑ "DCC Resume protocol". http://www.mirc.com/help/dccresum.txt. 
  52. ↑ "SysReset mIRC FileServer". http://www.sysreset.com/. 
  53. ↑ "irc". https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/url/irc.html. 




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