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Comparison of IRC clients facts for kids

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For a comparison of instant messaging clients (including multi-protocol clients that support IRC), see Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients.

Have you ever wondered how people chat online using special programs? This article is about different computer programs called IRC clients that let you connect to IRC networks. Think of IRC as a super old-school chat room system where people talk in real-time. These programs help you join those chat rooms and talk to others.

We'll look at some popular IRC clients and compare how they work, what features they have, and which computers they can run on.

What Are IRC Clients?

IRC clients are like special apps that let you connect to IRC. They help you send messages, join different chat groups (called "channels"), and even send files directly to other users.

General Information About Clients

Here's a quick look at some well-known IRC clients. We'll see who made them, if they are free or cost money, and how you interact with them.

Client Primary Creators How You Get It Is It Free or Paid? How It Looks (Interface)
Adium Thijs Alkemade Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
AmIRC Oliver Wagner, Nicolas Sallin, Costel Mincea Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Bersirc Jamie Frater, Nicholas Copeland Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
BitchX Colten Edwards Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI), Graphical (GUI)
ChatZilla James Ross, Robert Ginda, Samuel Sieb, Gijs Kruitbosch Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Colloquy Timothy Hatcher, Kiji Roshi Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
ERC Alexander L. Belikoff, Sergey Berezin Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI), Graphical (GUI)
HexChat Berke Viktor Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI), Graphical (GUI)
Instantbird Florian Quèze Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
ircII Michael Sandrof Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI)
Ircle Onno Tijdgat Paid (Trial available) Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)
Irssi Timo Sirainen Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI)
KVIrc Szymon Stefanek Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Konversation KDE Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
LeafChat Samuel Marshall Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Linkinus Conceited Software Paid (Trial available) Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)
Mibbit Jimmy Moore Free (with ads) Paid (Proprietary) Web-based
mIRC Khaled Mardam-Bey Paid (Trial available) Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)
Nettalk Nicolas Kruse Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Pidgin Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
PIRCH Northwest Computer Services Paid (Trial available) Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)
PJIRC Philippe Detournay Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Quassel Manuel Nickschas, Marcus Eggenberger, Alexander von Renteln Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI), Graphical (GUI)
rcirc Ryan Yeske Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI)
Smuxi Mirco Bauer Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI), Text-based (TUI), Server
Snak Kent Sorensen Paid Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)
Thunderbird Mozilla Foundation Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
Visual IRC Jesse McGrew Free to use Free (Open Source) Graphical (GUI)
WeeChat Sebastien Helleu Free to use Free (Open Source) Text-based (TUI), Graphical (GUI)
XiRCON Mark Hanson Free to use Paid (Proprietary) Graphical (GUI)

When Were They Released?

This section shows when some of these IRC clients first came out and their latest updates.

First Release First Stable Version Latest Version
Client Date Version Date Version
AmIRC 1995
Bersirc 1999 2.2.14  (August 12, 2005; 20 years ago (2005-08-12))
BitchX 1996 1.2-final  (January 1, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-01-01))
ChatZilla 2001 0.9.90.1  (July 7, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-07-07))
Colloquy 2005 2.4.3 (6011)  (March 22, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-03-22))
DMDirc 2007 0.7  (January 5, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-01-05) )
ERC 1999? ERC improvements are now released as part of Emacs.
HexChat 2009-10-04 r249 2009-10-09 2.86.0 Lua error in Module:Wd at line 1575: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).  (Lua error in Module:Wd at line 1575: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).; Error: first parameter cannot be parsed as a date or time. (Lua error in Module:Wd at line 1575: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).))
ircII 1989 2.0.0 1989 2.0.0 20111115  (November 15, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-11-15))
Ircle 1995 3.5a6  (November 17, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-11-17))
Irssi 1999 0.8.15  (April 3, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-04-03))
KVIrc 1998 0.6.0 1999-12-21 1.0.0 4.2.0  (July 3, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-07-03) )
Konversation 2002 1.10.24083 Edit this on Wikidata 7 November 2024; 9 months ago (7 November 2024)
LeafChat  ? 1.0 2.5  (July 29, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-07-29))
Linkinus 2007 2.4  (August 23, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-08-23) )
Mibbit 2008 web application, no version
mIRC 1995 7.32  (May 23, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-05-23) )
Nettalk 2004 6.7.16  (October 30, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-10-30) )
PIRCH 1995 1.0.1.1190  (December 31, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-12-31))
PJIRC 2002 2.2.1  (November 29, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-11-29))
Quassel 2008-08-27 0.3.0 0.12.4  (May 17, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-05-17))
rcirc  ?  ? rcirc improvements are now released as part of Emacs.
Smuxi 2008-07-29 0.6 2010-09-03 0.8 0.8.11  (May 22, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-05-22))
Snak 1997 5.3.4  (March 11, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-03-11) )
Visual IRC 1995 2.0pl2 (200/187)  (July 15, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-07-15))
WeeChat 2003 0.3.8  (June 3, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-06-03) )

Which Operating Systems Do They Support?

This section shows which computer operating systems (like Windows, macOS, or Linux) these IRC clients can run on.

Client Windows 7, Vista XP, 2000 macOS (Intel/PPC) Linux
AmIRC No No No No
Bersirc Yes Yes ? Yes
BitchX Yes Yes Yes Yes
ChatZilla Yes Yes Yes Yes
Colloquy No No Yes No
ERC Yes Yes Yes Yes
HexChat Yes Dropped (2.9.5) No Yes
ircII Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ircle No No Yes No
Irssi Yes Yes Yes Yes
Konversation Partial Partial Partial Yes
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes Yes
LeafChat Yes Yes Yes Yes
Linkinus No No Yes No
Mibbit Yes Yes Yes Yes
mIRC Yes Yes No No
Nettalk Yes Yes No No
PIRCH Yes Yes No No
PJIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes
Quassel Yes Yes Yes Yes
rcirc Yes Yes Yes Yes
Smuxi Yes Yes Yes Yes
Snak No No Yes No
Visual IRC Yes Yes No No
WeeChat Partial Partial Yes Yes

How They Connect (Protocol Support)

This section explains what special rules and methods (called "protocols") each IRC client uses to connect safely and securely.

Client IPv6 (Newer Internet Addresses) SSL / TLS (Secure Connection) SASL (Login Security) OTR (Private Chats)
Bersirc No No ? No
BitchX Yes Yes ? No
ChatZilla Yes Yes script No
Colloquy Yes Yes Yes No
ERC Yes Yes Yes No
HexChat Yes Yes Yes Yes
ircII Yes Yes ? No
Ircle ? Yes ? No
Irssi Yes Yes Yes Yes
Konversation Yes Yes Yes No
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes No
Linkinus No Yes No No
Mibbit No Yes Yes No
mIRC Yes Yes Yes No
Nettalk No No ? No
PIRCH No No ? No
PJIRC No No ? No
Quassel Yes Yes Yes No
rcirc No Yes ? No
Smuxi Yes Yes No No
Snak Yes Yes ? No
Visual IRC No No ? No
WeeChat Yes Yes Yes Yes

Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) Support

DCC is a way for IRC clients to connect directly to each other, without going through the main IRC network. This is useful for sending files or having private chats.

Client Chat Send Files Resume Transfers XDCC (File Sharing)
Bersirc ? ? ? ?
BitchX Yes Yes Yes Yes
ChatZilla Yes Yes No ?
Colloquy Yes Yes Yes Yes
ERC Yes Yes ? ?
HexChat Yes Yes Yes Yes
ircII Yes Yes No No
Ircle ? ? ? ?
Irssi Yes Yes Yes ?
Konversation Yes Yes Yes Yes
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes Yes
Linkinus ? ? ? ?
Mibbit No ? ? ?
mIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nettalk Yes Yes Yes ?
PIRCH Yes Yes Yes No
PJIRC Yes Yes Yes ?
Quassel No No No No
rcirc No No No No
Smuxi ? ? ? ?
Snak Yes Yes Yes ?
Visual IRC ? ? Yes ?
WeeChat Yes Yes ? Yes

IRCv3 Support

IRCv3 is a newer set of standards for IRC clients that adds more features and makes them work better. This table shows which clients support these modern features.

Clients CAP (Basic Features) Account-notify Away-notify batch chghost echo-message extended-join Invite-notify message-tags Monitor multi-prefix SASL v3.1 server-time setname userhost-in-names UTF8ONLY WHOX
BitchX Yes No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No
Colloquy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
HexChat Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes 2.16 No Yes Yes Yes Yes 2.16 Yes 2.16 Yes
Irssi Yes Git Git No Git No Git Git Git No Yes Yes No Git No No Yes
KVIrc Yes Git Git No Git No Git No No No Git Yes Git No Git No No
Konversation Yes Yes Yes No v21.03.80+ No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Mibbit Yes No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No ? No
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes No No No No 73.0+ No No No Yes Yes Yes 60.0+ No No No No
Quassel IRC Yes Yes Yes No Yes 0.14+ (opt in) Yes 0.14+ 0.14+ No Yes Yes 0.14+ 0.14+ Yes No Yes
WeeChat Yes Yes Yes No 2.2+ No Yes 2.2+ 3.3+ Yes Yes Yes Yes 3.3+ Yes No Yes
mIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7.62+ Yes No Yes

IRCv3 SASL Mechanisms

SASL is a way to log in securely to IRC. Here are some common methods (mechanisms) used by clients.

Client EXTERNAL PLAIN SCRAM-SHA-256
BitchX No Yes No
Colloquy No Yes No
HexChat Yes Yes No
Irssi Yes Yes No
KVIrc Yes Yes No
Konversation Yes Yes No
Mozilla Thunderbird No Yes No
WeeChat Yes Yes 3.2+
catgirl Yes Yes No
mIRC Yes Yes 7.68+
pydle(lib.) No Yes No
senpai No Yes No
zIRC(lib.) Yes Yes No

Cool Features

This section highlights some of the extra features that different IRC clients offer.

Client Connect to Many Servers UTF-8 (Special Characters) Proxy Support (Hidden Connection) irc:// Links (Clickable Links) Automatic Updates Customizable with Scripts
Bersirc Yes No ? ? ? Yes
BitchX Yes No ? ? ? Yes
ChatZilla Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes JavaScript
Colloquy Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Many languages
ERC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Emacs Lisp
HexChat Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Many languages
ircII Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes
Ircle Yes No ? ? ? AppleScript
Irssi Yes Yes Yes No No Perl
Konversation Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Many languages
KVIrc Yes Yes Yes Yes No Custom, Perl, Python, C++
LeafChat Yes Yes ? N/A Yes Java
Linkinus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes AppleScript, Cocoa
Mibbit Yes Yes ? Yes N/A N/A
mIRC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Custom 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
rcirc Yes Yes ? ? No Emacs Lisp
Smuxi Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes (any language)
Snak Yes Yes ? ? ? AppleScript, IrcII script
Visual IRC Yes No ? ? ? Custom language
WeeChat Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Many languages

Learn More

  • Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients
    • Comparison of user features of messaging platforms
    • Comparison of instant messaging protocols
  • Comparison of VoIP software
    • List of SIP software
  • Comparison of LAN messengers

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Clientes IRC para niños

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