Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients

The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of IRC client programs which have been discussed 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.

Client	Primary developers	Distribution model	Software license	User interface	Programming language
AdiIRC[1][2]	Per Amundsen	Freeware	Proprietary	GUI	C#
Adium	Thijs Alkemade	Free software	GPL	GUI	Objective-C and C
AmIRC[3][4][5][6]	Oliver Wagner, Jamie van den Berge	Freeware	Proprietary	GUI	C
AndChat		Freeware	Proprietary	GUI
Bersirc[7]	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 1]	JavaScript, XUL
Colloquy	Timothy Hatcher, Kiji Roshi	Desktop: free software, Mobile: commercial	BSD: mobile, GPL: desktop	GUI	Objective-C
Convos	Nordaaker	Free software	Artistic License 2.0	Web	Perl
degesch[8]	Přemysl Janouch	Free software	BSD equivalent: ISC	TUI	C
DMDirc[9][10][11]	Chris Smith, Greg Holmes, Shane McCormack[12]	Free software	GPL	GUI	Java
ERC		Free software	GPL	TUI, GUI	Emacs Lisp
f-irc[13]	Folkert van Heusden	Free software	GPL	TUI	C
HexChat[14]	Berke Viktor	Free software	GPL	TUI, GUI	C (forked from XChat)
HydraIRC[15][16][17]	Hydra	Freeware	Proprietary[18] (source available)[19]	GUI	C++, WTL
IceChat[20][21]	Paul Vanderzee	Free software	GPL	GUI	C# (Visual Basic until 2004)[22]
ii (IRC IT)[23][24][25]	Nico Golde, Anselm Garbe	Free software	BSD equivalent: MIT/X Consortium	filesystem-based FIFO	C
Instantbird	Florian Quèze	Free software	GPL	GUI	C/C++, JavaScript, CSS, XUL
ircII	Michael Sandrof	Free software	BSD	TUI	C
IRCjr[26][27][28]	Michael Brutman	Free software	GPL	TUI	C++
IRCCloud	RJ, James	Freemium	?	Web	Erlang, JavaScript
Ircle	Onno Tijdgat	Commercial 30-day trial	Proprietary	GUI	C
Irssi	Timo Sirainen	Free software	GPL	TUI	C
jIRCii[29][30][31][32][33]	Raphael Mudge, Serge Baranov, Andreas Ravnestad	Free software	Artistic License 2.0	GUI, TUI	Java
KiwiIRC	Darren Whitlen	Free software	AGPL	Web	Javascript frontend, Node.js backend
KVIrc	Szymon Stefanek	Free software	GPL	GUI	C++
Konversation		Free software	GPL	GUI	C++
LeafChat[34]	Samuel Marshall	Free software	GPL	GUI	Java
LeetIRC[35][36]	Mike Chambers	Free software	GPL	TUI	QuickBasic
LimeChat[37][38][39]	Satoshi Nakagawa	Free software	GPL[40]	GUI	RubyCocoa (2007–2010)[39][40] Objective-C(2010–)[41]
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[42]	Proprietary	GUI	C/C++ (Borland C++ originally)[43]
Neebly[44][45][46]	Christos Constantinou	Freeware	?	GUI
Nettalk	Nicolas Kruse	Freeware	Apache 2.0	GUI	Visual Basic
Opera		Freeware	Proprietary	GUI[Note 2]	C++
PChat	Zach Thibeau, Luis Miranda	Free software	GPL	GUI	C++
Pidgeon[47]		Free software	GPL	GUI	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 3], GUI[Note 4]	C++
qwebirc	Chris Porter	Free software	GPL	Web	JavaScript front end, Python backend
rIRC	Risharde R.	Freeware	Proprietary	GUI	Visual Basic .NET
rcirc	Ryan Yeske	Free software	GPL	TUI	Emacs Lisp
Scrollback	Askabt	Free software	AGPL	Web, embeddable[Note 5]	JavaScript frontend, Node.js backend
Smuxi	Mirco Bauer	Free software	GPL	GUI, TUI, server[Note 4]	C#
Snak	Kent Sorensen	Commercial	Proprietary	GUI	?
Textual[48]	Codeux Software, LLC	Commercial	BSD (3-clause )[49]	GUI	Objective-C
Visual IRC		Free software	GPL	GUI	?
WeeChat	Sebastien Helleu	Free software	GPL	TUI, GUI[Note 6]	C
XChat (evolved into Hexchat)[Note 7]		Unix/Linux: free software; Windows: commercial, 30-day trial[50] (Hexchat is free of charge)	GPL; or proprietary for Windows	TUI, GUI	C
Client	Primary developers	Distribution model	Software license	User interface	Programming language

1. Can be installed as part of a web browser
2. Web browser component
3. Incomplete, proof of concept
4. Separate client and daemon
5. Can be used to embed an IRC channel on a web page.
6. No official GUI, several options available (e.g. Glowing Bear, a web frontend)
7. 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

A brief overview of the release history.

	First public release		First stable release		Latest stable release
Client	Date	Version	Date	Version
AdiIRC	2005				2.3 (April 15, 2016[51]) [±]
AmIRC	1995				3.6.2 (December 24, 2015[52]) [±]
Bersirc	1999				2.2.14 (12 August 2005) [±]
BitchX	1996				1.2.1 (November 14, 2014) [±]
ChatZilla	2001				0.9.92 (August 10, 2015[53]) [±]
Colloquy	2005				2.4.3 (6011) (March 22, 2014) [±]
Convos	2013				0.6 (June 9, 2014) [±]
degesch	2015	0.9	2015	0.9
DMDirc	2007				0.7 (January 5, 2013[54]) [±]
ERC	1999?				ERC improvements are now released as part of Emacs. [±]
f-irc	2006?	0.0.1			1.30 (January 1, 2014)
HexChat	2009-10-04	r249	2009-10-09	2.86.0	2.12.0 (March 12, 2016)[55]
HydraIRC	2002				0.3.165 (December 12, 2008) [±]
IceChat	2002	3.0	2002-04-08	3.0	9.10 (March 25, 2016) [±]
ii (IRC IT)	2005-12-19	0.1	2007-02-01	1.0
ircII	1990				20150903 (September 3, 2015) [±]
IRCjr	2008		2008		mTCP_2013-04-26 (April 26, 2013[56]) [±]
Ircle	1995				3.5a6 (November 17, 2007) [±]
Irssi	1999				0.8.19 (March 24, 2016) [±][57]
jIRCii	?	?			0.9 (July 20, 2011) [±]
KVIrc	1998	0.6.0	1999-12-21	1.0.0	4.2.0 (July 3, 2012[58]) [±]
Konversation	2002				1.6 (8 April 2015[59]) [±]
LeafChat	?	1.0			2.41 (October 4, 2011) [±]
LeetIRC	2006				1.1 (March 18, 2008[60]) [±]
LimeChat	2007				Mavericks / Mountain Lion 2.42 (June 22, 2014) [±] Lion 2.38 (September 12, 2013) [±]
Linkinus	2007				2.4 (August 23, 2011[61]) [±]
Mibbit	2008				web application, no version
mIRC	1995				7.45 (April 25, 2016[62]) [±]
Neebly	2008-12-13	1.0.1			1.0.4 (February 28, 2009[63]) [±]
Nettalk	2004				6.7.16 (October 30, 2012[64]) [±]
Opera	1996				37.0.2178.32 (May 4, 2016[65]) [±]
PChat	2010		2010		1.4.3
PIRCH	1995				1.0.1.1190 (January 1, 2001) [±]
PJIRC	2002				2.2.1 (November 29, 2004) [±]
Quassel	2008-08-27	0.3.0			0.12.3 (February 10, 2016) [±]
qwebirc	2009	0.81			0.92 (February 13, 2012) [±]
rIRC	2010	Preview Release 1	2012	1.44	1.4.4 (January 16, 2012)
Scrollback	2013		2013
rcirc	?	?			24.1 (June 10, 2012) [±]
Smuxi	2008-07-29	0.6	2010-09-03	0.8	1.0 (August 9, 2015) [±]
Snak	1997				5.3.4 (March 11, 2012[66]) [±]
Visual IRC	1995				2.0pl2 (200/187) (July 15, 2007) [±]
Textual	2010	1.0.0[67]	2010	1.0.0	5.1.2 (April 7, 2015[68]) [±]
WeeChat	2003				1.5 (May 1, 2016[69]) [±]
XChat	1998				2.8.8 (source) (May 30, 2010) [±] 2.8.9 (windows) (August 28, 2010) [±]
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	OS X (Intel/PPC)	OS 9	OS 8	System 7 (PPC/68k)	BeOS, Haiku	OS/2, eCS	AmigaOS (68k)	AmigaOS 4, MorphOS (PPC)	DOS
AdiIRC	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
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
Convos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	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
ii (IRC IT)	?	?	?	No	?	?	No	?	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	Yes
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[73]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes[74]	No	No	No
LeafChat	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
LeetIRC	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
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
Neebly	Yes	Yes[76]	No	No	No	No	No	No	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[78]	Dropped[79]	Dropped	Dropped	No	Dropped	Dropped	No	No	No
PChat	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	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	No	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
Textual	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	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][Note 3]	Partial[Note 1][Note 3]	Partial[Note 1][Note 3]	No	Partial[Note 1][Note 3]	Partial[Note 1][Note 3]	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

1. Requires Cygwin^[70][71]
2. Requires SwsVpkt^[72]
3. Requires OS X v10.4.3 or later
4. ^[75]
5. Does not support Windows 95 or Windows 98^[77]

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, 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
AdiIRC	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
AmIRC	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
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
Convos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
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
f-irc	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	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
ii (IRC IT)	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
LeetIRC	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	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
Neebly	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
Textual	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

1. 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. 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^[80]
3. In development^[80]
4. XChat tested on HP-UX 10.20 and 11^[81]

Protocol support

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

Client	CTCP	DCC	IPv6	SSL	TLS	DANE	OCSP	CRL	SASL	OTR
AdiIRC	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	script
AmIRC	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	?	No
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
Convos	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
degesch	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	No
DMDirc	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	No
ERC	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes[Note 1]	No
f-irc	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	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
ii (IRC IT)	?	No	Yes[Note 1]	Yes[Note 1]	Yes[Note 1]	?	?	?	?	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	?	script	Yes[82][83][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
LeetIRC[36]	No	Partial	No	No	No	?	No	No	?	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	?	?	?	script	No
Neebly	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
Nettalk	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
Opera	Yes[84]	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
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
Snak	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	No
Textual	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes[Note 5]	Yes[Note 5]	Yes	Yes[85]
Visual IRC	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
WeeChat	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes[82][86][Note 2]
XChat	Yes	Yes	Partial[Note 4]	Yes	?	No	?	?	script	Yes[82][83][Note 2]
Client	CTCP	DCC	IPv6	SSL	TLS	DANE	OCSP	CRL	SASL	OTR

1. Supported via patch
2. Supported via plugin
3. Cannot send files, can receive files up to 2 MB only
4. DCC does not always succeed at this stage
5. OS X supports this natively for SSL sockets

Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support

Client	CHAT	Whiteboard	SEND	RESUME	TSEND	SEND T	XMIT	Passive DCC	Server	RDCC	REVERSE	RSEND	Reverse / Firewall DCC	File servers (FSERVs)	XDCC	VOICE
AdiIRC	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	No	Yes[Note 1]	?	?	?	?	Yes[Note 1]	?
AmIRC	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	?
Bersirc	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
BitchX	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
ChatZilla	Yes	No	Yes	No[87]	?	?	No	No[Note 2]	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
Colloquy	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
Convos	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
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	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
f-irc	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
HexChat	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
HydraIRC	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	No	?
IceChat	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	No	?
ii (IRC IT)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	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	?	?	?
KVIrc	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 3]	Yes[Note 3]	Yes[Note 4]
LeetIRC[36]	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
LimeChat	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Linkinus	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Mibbit	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
mIRC	Yes	?	Yes	Yes[Note 5]	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 1]	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 1]	?
Neebly	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Nettalk	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Partial	No	No	No	No	?	?	?
Opera	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PIRCH	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[Note 5]	?	?	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	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Textual	No	No	Yes[91]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[91]	No	No	No
Visual IRC	?	Yes	?	Yes[Note 5]	?	?	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	Yes[Note 4]
WeeChat	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	Yes	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

1. Supported via a script^[90]
2. Planned for a later version
3. Supported via scripting
4. Incompatible with other IRC clients^[88]
5. Supports the DCC Resume protocol^[89]
6. Supported via scripts and plugins^[92]

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

Client	Multi-server	UTF-8	Proxy server	irc:// URI scheme	Automatic updates	Scripting language
AdiIRC	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	C#, mIRC script
AmIRC	No	No	?	No	No	ARexx
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
Convos	?	?	?	?	?	?
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
f-irc	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	N/A
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
ii (IRC IT)	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	any, Shell script
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
LeetIRC	No	No	?	N/A	No	No
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	mIRC script
Neebly	No	No	?	?	?	N/A
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
Textual	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	AppleScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Objective-C, shell 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

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.

See also

• Comparison of mobile IRC clients
• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of LAN messengers

References

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72. "SwsVpkt". Retrieved 2012-04-14.
73. Connect to the ReactOS IRC Channels
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75. Requires RubyCocoa 1.0.0 or later
76. Requires Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later
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