Comparison of IRC clients
This is a comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients.
General information
| First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0irc | 2000 | 1.3.36 | Free | GPL |
| BitchX | 1996 | 1.1 | Free | BSD License |
| Bersirc | 1999 | 2.2.14 | Free | LGPL |
| ChatZilla | 2001 | 0.9.73 | Free | MPL/GPL/LGPL tri-license |
| Colloquy | 2005 | 2.0 | Free | GPL |
| EPIC | 1994 | epic4-2.4 | Free | BSD License |
| Gaim | 2000 | 1.5.0 | Free | GPL |
| HydraIRC | 2002 | 0.3.151 | Free | Proprietary |
| IceChat | 2002 | 5.50 | Free | Proprietary |
| ii | 2006 | 1-rc2 | Free | MIT/X Consortium License |
| ircII | 1990 | 20040820 | Free | BSD License |
| Ircle | ? | 3.1.2 | $23, 30-day trial | Proprietary |
| Irssi | 1999 | 0.8.10 | Free | GPL |
| Klient | ? | 2.1.4 | $24.95, 30-day trial | Proprietary |
| Konversation | 2002 | 0.19 | Free | GPL |
| KVIrc | 1999 | 3.2.0 | Free | GPL |
| Miranda IM | 2000 | 0.4.0.2 | Free | GPL |
| mIRC | 1995 | 6.20 | $20, 30-day trial | Proprietary |
| Opera | ? | 9.00 | Free | Proprietary |
| savIRC | 2001 | 2.0 | Free | GPL |
| ScrollZ | 1994 | 1.9.98.1 | Free | BSD License |
| Snak | 1997 | 5.1.3 | $29 | Proprietary |
| Trillian | 2000 | 3.1.0.121 | Free | Proprietary |
| Trillian Pro | 2002 | 3.1.0.121 | $25 | Proprietary |
| Visual IRC | 1995 | 2.0 | Free | GPL |
| WeeChat | 2003 | 0.1.9 | Free | GPL |
| X-Chat | 2000 | 2.6.2 | $20 for Windows*; Free otherwise | GPL |
| PJIRC | 2002 | 2.2.1 | Free | GPL |
| First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license |
*Note that are are free builds of X-Chat for Windows.
Operating system support
The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation.
| Windows | Mac OS X | GNU/Linux | BSD | Unix | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0irc | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| BitchX | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bersirc | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| ChatZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Colloquy | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Gaim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HydraIRC | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| IceChat | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ii | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ircII | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ircle | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Irssi | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Klient | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Konversation | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| KVIrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Miranda IM | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| mIRC | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Opera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| savIRC | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ScrollZ | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Snak | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Trillian | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Trillian Pro | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Visual IRC | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| WeeChat | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| X-Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PJIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Mac OS X | GNU/Linux | BSD | Unix |
Features
| Multiserver | DCC | Passive DCC / dccserver | SSL | IPv6 | UTF-8 | Text UI | GUI | Scripting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0irc | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | None |
| BitchX | Yes | Yes | No / No [1] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Enhanced IrcII script |
| Bersirc | Yes | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | None |
| ChatZilla | Yes | Yes | No [2] / No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | JavaScript |
| Colloquy | Yes | Yes | Some Yes / No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | AppleScript, Cocoa, F-Script, JavaScript, Python |
| HydraIRC | Yes | Yes | ? | No [3] | No [3] | No [3] | No | Yes | None |
| ii | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Shell script |
| ircII | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes [4] | Yes | No | Own language |
| Irssi | Yes | Yes | Yes / Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Perl |
| Konversation | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Shell script |
| KVIrc | Yes | Yes | Some Yes / No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | KVIrc script,Perl |
| mIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes / Yes | Yes [5] | Some Wrapper [6] | Yes | No | Yes | mIRC script |
| Miranda IM | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | PHP |
| Opera | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | None |
| savIRC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Tcl/Tk |
| ScrollZ | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Enhanced IrcII script |
| Snak | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Own language |
| Visual IRC | Yes | Yes | Some Yes / No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Versus |
| WeeChat | Yes | Yes | Some Yes / No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Perl, Python, Ruby, Lua |
| X-Chat | Yes | Yes | Some Yes / No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Perl, Python, Tcl, Ruby |
| PJIRC [7] | Yes | Partial [8] | No | Yes [9] | ? | Yes | No | Yes | JavaScript |
| Multiserver | DCC | Passive DCC / dccserver | SSL | IPv6 | UTF-8 | Text UI | GUI | Scripting |
- ^ Unconfirmed.
- ^ Planned for a later version according to http://chatzilla.hacksrus.com/faq/#dcc.
- a b c Planned for a later version. IPv6 support is marked finished, though not included yet.
- ^ As of version 20050921.
- ^ Needs the OpenSSL dlls. See http://www.mirc.co.uk/ssl.html. ( pre-compiled dlls can found at http://m00.cx/ssl/)
- ^ Wrapper plugin available at http://users.skynet.be/jaguar/mircv6.html.
- ^ PJIRC can be an applet or run in Application mode.
- ^ DCC is not always successful at this stage.
- ^ ssh for PJIRC is available via a plugin