Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
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 | This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.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.
Contents
1 General
2 Release history
3 Operating system support
4 Protocol support
4.1 Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support
5 Features
6 See also
7 References
General[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adium | Thijs Alkemade | Free software | GPL | GUI | Objective-C and C |
| Ambassador[1] | Isengrim | Free software | MPL | GUI[Note 1] | JavaScript, XUL |
Bersirc[2] | Jamie Frater, Nicholas Copeland | Free software | LGPL | GUI | C (Delphi originally) |
BitchX | Colten Edwards | Free software | BSD | TUI, GUI | C |
ChatZilla | Mozilla Foundation | 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 | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI | Emacs Lisp | |
| F-IRC | Folkert van Heusden | Free software | GPL | TUI | C++ |
| GrumpyChat[3] | Petr Bena | Free software | LGPL | GUI | C++ |
HexChat[4] | Berke Viktor | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI | C |
IceChat[5][6] | Paul Vanderzee | Free software | GPL | GUI | C# (Visual Basic until 2004)[7] |
| Igloo | Jordan Koch | Free mobile application | BSD | GUI | Swift |
Instantbird | Florian Quèze | Free software | GPL | GUI | C/C++, JavaScript, CSS, XUL |
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 |
KiwiIRC | 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[8] | Samuel Marshall | Free software | GPL | GUI | Java |
LimeChat[9][10][11] | Satoshi Nakagawa | Free software | GPL[12] | GUI | RubyCocoa (2007–2010)[11][12] Objective-C(2010–)[13] |
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[14] | Proprietary | GUI | C/C++ (Borland C++ originally)[15] |
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 | ? |
Visual IRC | Free software | GPL | GUI | ? | |
WeeChat | Sebastien Helleu | Free software | GPL | TUI, GUI[Note 7] | C |
XChat (evolved into HexChat)[Note 8] | Unix/Linux: free software; Windows: commercial, 30-day trial[16] (HexChat is free of charge) | 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
^ ab 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[edit]
A brief overview of the release history.
| First public release | First stable release | Latest stable release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Client | Date | Version | Date | Version | |
Bersirc | 1999 | 2.2.14 (12 August 2005 (2005-08-12)) [±] | |||
BitchX | 1996 | 1.2.1 (November 14, 2014 (2014-11-14)) [±] | |||
ChatZilla | 2001 | 0.9.93 (November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08)[25]) [±] | |||
Colloquy | 2005 | 2.4.3 (6011) (March 22, 2014 (2014-03-22)) [±] | |||
| degesch | 2015 | 0.9 | 2015 | 0.9 | |
DMDirc | 2007 | 0.7 (January 5, 2013 (2013-01-05)[26]) [±] | |||
ERC | 1999? | ERC improvements are now released as part of Emacs. [±] | |||
| F-IRC | 2006? | 0.1 | 1.36 (Februari 23, 2014) | ||
HexChat | 2009-10-04 | r249 | 2009-10-09 | 2.86.0 | 2.14.2 (August 29, 2018 (2018-08-29)) [±] |
| HydraIRC | 2002 | 0.3.165 (December 12, 2008 (2008-12-12)) [±] | |||
IceChat | 2002 | 3.0 | 2002-04-08 | 3.0 | 9.21 (January 27, 2018 (2018-01-27)) [±] |
ircII | 1990 | 20170704 (July 4, 2017 (2017-07-04)) [±] | |||
| IRCjr | 2008 | 2008 | mTCP_2013-04-26 (April 26, 2013 (2013-04-26)[27]) [±] | ||
Ircle | 1995 | 3.5a6 (November 17, 2007 (2007-11-17)) [±] | |||
Irssi | 1999 | 1.1.1 (February 15, 2018 (2018-02-15)) [±][28] | |||
| jIRCii | ? | ? | ? | ||
KVIrc | 1998 | 0.6.0 | 1999-12-21 | 1.0.0 | 5.0.0 (December 29, 2017 (2017-12-29)[29]) [±] |
Konversation | 2002 | 1.7.5 (27 June 2018 (2018-06-27)[30]) [±] | |||
LeafChat | ? | 1.0 | 2.41 (October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04)) [±] | ||
| LimeChat | 2007 | Mavericks / Mountain Lion 2.42 (June 22, 2014 (2014-06-22)) [±] Lion | |||
Linkinus | 2007 | 2.4.3 (August 23, 2011 (2011-08-23)[31]) [±] | |||
Mibbit | 2008 | web application, no version | |||
mIRC | 1995 | 7.54 (December 21, 2018 (2018-12-21)[32]) [±] | |||
Nettalk | 2004 | 6.7.16 (October 30, 2012 (2012-10-30)[33]) [±] | |||
Opera | 1996 | 57.0.3098.106 (December 19, 2018 (2018-12-19)[34]) | |||
PIRCH | 1995 | 1.0.1.1190 (January 1, 2001 (2001-01-01)) [±] | |||
PJIRC | 2002 | 2.2.1 (November 29, 2004 (2004-11-29)) [±] | |||
Quassel | 2008-08-27 | 0.3.0 | 0.13.0 (November 17, 2018 (2018-11-17)) [±] | ||
qwebirc | 2009 | 0.81 | 0.92 (February 13, 2012 (2012-02-13)) [±] | ||
| rIRC | 2010 | Preview Release 1 | 2012 | 1.44 | 1.4.4 (January 16, 2012) |
| Scrollback | 2013 | 2013 | |||
rcirc | ? | ? | 24.1 (June 10, 2012 (2012-06-10)) [±] | ||
Smuxi | 2008-07-29 | 0.6 | 2010-09-03 | 0.8 | 1.0.7 (June 18, 2017 (2017-06-18)) [±] |
Snak | 1997 | 5.3.4 (March 11, 2012 (2012-03-11)[35]) [±] | |||
Visual IRC | 1995 | 2.0pl2 (December 30, 2007 (2007-12-30)) [±][36] | |||
WeeChat | 2003 | 2.3 (October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)[37]) [±] | |||
XChat | 1998 | 2.8.8 (source) (May 30, 2010 (2010-05-30)) [±] 2.8.9 (windows) (August 28, 2010 (2010-08-28)) [±] | |||
Client | Date | Version | Date | Version | Latest stable release |
| First public release | First stable release | ||||
Operating system support[edit]
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 | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
HexChat | Yes | Dropped (2.9.5) | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 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 |
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[41] | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes[42] | 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[44] | Dropped[45] | 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 | ? | 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 |
^ abcdefghijklmno Requires Cygwin[38][39]
^ ab Requires SwsVpkt[40]
^ ab Requires OS X v10.4.3 or later
^ Requires RubyCocoa 1.0.0 or later
^ Does not support Windows 95 or Windows 98[43]
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 |
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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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 |
^ abcdefghijk 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
^ abc 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[46]
^ In development[46]
^ XChat tested on HP-UX 10.20 and 11[47]
Protocol support[edit]
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[48] |
| degesch | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
| DMDirc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
ERC | Partial | 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 |
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[49][50][Note 2] |
| 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[51] | 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[52] |
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[53] |
Snak | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
Visual IRC | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
WeeChat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes[49][54][Note 2] |
XChat | Yes | Yes | Partial[Note 4] | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | script | Yes[49][50][Note 2] |
| Client | CTCP | DCC | IPv6 | SSL | TLS | DANE | OCSP | CRL | SASL | OTR |
^ Supported via patch
^ abcd Supported via plugin
^ Cannot send files, can receive files up to 2 MB only
^ ab DCC does not always succeed at this stage
Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support[edit]
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[59] | ? | ? | 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 | ? |
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 |
^ Planned for a later version
^ ab Supported via scripting
^ ab Incompatible with other IRC clients[60]
^ abc Supports the DCC Resume protocol[61]
^ ab Supported via a script[62]
^ Supported via scripts and plugins[63]
Features[edit]
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[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 | VBScript |
ircII | Yes | Yes[Note 5] | ? | ? | ? | IrcII script |
| IRCjr | No | No | No | No | No | N/A |
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 |
Opera | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | N/A |
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[edit]
- Comparison of IRC daemons
- Comparison of mobile IRC clients
- Comparison of instant messaging clients
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of LAN messengers
References[edit]
^ Ambassador release statement
^ Bersirc IRC Client - about Bersirc Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine.
^ GitHub project.
^ "HexChat website"..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "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
^ "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.
^ ab "LimeChat for the Mac releases version 1.5". IRC-Junkie.org. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011.
^ ab "Limechat". Github.
^ “do not load RubyCocoa” Commit on GitHub.
^
"mIRC: Register mIRC". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
^ "mIRC: Personal FAQ". Retrieved 2011-04-09.
^
"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.
^ jhall1. "FreeDOS Software List: Networking". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
^ "Irssi 1.1.1 and 1.0.7 Released". 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
^ "2017-12-29: KVIrc 5.0.0 Beta 1 Released". Retrieved 2017-12-29.
^ "Konversation Homepage". Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ "Release Notes – Linkinus". Conceited Software. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
^ "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
^ "Nettalk - www.ntalk.de - IRC-Client". Retrieved 2013-03-23.
^ Giorgi, Nicholas (2018-12-19). "Opera 57.0.3098.106 Stable update". Retrieved 2018-12-19.
^ "Snak - IRC for Mac". Retrieved 2012-03-11.
^ https://sourceforge.net/projects/visualirc/files/ViRC/2.0pl2/
^ "Version 2.3". weechat.org. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
^ "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.
^ ab "WeeChat: Supported OS". Retrieved 2009-09-18.
^ "X-Chat README". Retrieved 2009-09-18.
^ "Ticket 3915 requesting OTR support".
^ abc
"Cypherpunks - OTR-Enabled Software". Retrieved 2014-03-16.
^ ab "Irssi-OTR and XChat-OTR homepage". Retrieved 2014-03-16.
^
"Changelog for Opera 9.0 for Windows". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
^ "Issue 1418 requesting OTR support".
^ "Issue 651 requesting OTR support".
^ "Github - weechat-otr - WeeChat script for Off-the-Record messaging". 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". Retrieved 2009-07-14.
Categories:
- Internet Relay Chat clients
- Network software comparisons
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