IRC-Client

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What is an IRC Client

An IRC client is an application/program used to connect to an IRC server. It is used to communicate with other users on an IRC network. There are all sorts of IRC Clients, ranging from extensive standalone applications that run on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer, to minimalistic clients that use Java, Android or iOS on your mobile phone, or applets and widgets that run within your browser using just HTML, CSS and Javascript/AJAX or Flash or Java.

Windows Free to Use Clients

This list is in alphabetical order.

  1. Are You Talking To Me?
  2. Babbel
  3. HydraIRC
  4. Icechat
  5. irssi (via CygWin)
  6. KVIRC
  7. Nettalk
  8. Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim)
  9. Quassel IRC
  10. savIRC
  11. Trillian Basic
  12. Vortec IRC
  13. weechat (via CygWin)
  14. X-Chat Unofficial Silverex Windows Build

Windows users can also look at the Webbased Clients list

Windows ShareWare/Payware Clients

  1. mIRC
  2. Trillian Pro
  3. X-Chat for Windows

Linux-Unix Clients

  1. Are You Talking To Me?
  2. BitchX
  3. irssi
  4. Konversation
  5. KVIRC
  6. Pidgin
  7. Quassel IRC
  8. weechat
  9. Xchat

Linux users can also look at the Webbased Clients list

Mac OS X Clients

  1. Adium
  2. Babbel
  3. Colloquy
  4. KVIRC
  5. LimeChat
  6. Linkinus
  7. Pidgin
  8. weechat
  9. X-Chat Aqua

Mac OS X users can also look at the Webbased Clients list

Mobile Devices Clients

Discussion on Mobile IRC'ing can be done at the Chat4All Forum in the Proud Mobile IRC Addicts Topic

Java

  1. WireLess IRC v1.x
  2. WireLess IRC v2.x
  3. jmIrc
  4. UtaIRC
  5. Virca

Windows Mobile

  1. PocketChat
  2. PocketIRC
  3. SmartIRC.Net
  4. wmIRC
  5. zsIRC

Android

  1. AndChat
  2. AndroIRC
  3. DaraIRC
  4. IRCRadio
  5. Yaaic

iOS (iPhone/iPad)

  1. MutterIRC

Webbased Clients

Java Applets

  1. jPilot
  2. PJIRC

Flash

  1. LightIRC

AJAX

  1. Mibbit
  2. WebIRC

Browser Based Clients

  1. Chatzilla
  2. Opera

Game Console Clients

PSP

  1. PSPIRC

Nintendo DS

  1. CLIRC

All Listed IRC Clients

Comparison Overviews

Desktop Clients Comparison

Client Distribution model SSL Support User interface Windows Linux Intel Mac PPC Mac Other (specify)
Are You Talking To Me? Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI Yes Yes Yes
Adium Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI No No Yes Yes
Babbel Freeware Yes GUI Yes No Yes Yes
BitchX Freeware (Open Source) Yes TUI Cygwin Yes Yes Yes SunOS, IRIX, HP-UX, OSF/1, Ultrix, AIX, OS/2, QNX
Colloquy Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI No No Yes Yes
HydraIRC Freeware Stunnel GUI Yes No No No
Icechat Freeware Stunnel GUI Yes No No No
irssi Freeware (Open Source) Yes TUI Cygwin Yes Yes Yes
Konversation Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI KDE-Installer Yes KDE 4 Mac No
KVIRC Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI Yes Yes Yes No
LimeChat Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI No No Yes No
Linkinus Payware Yes GUI No No Yes No
mIRC Shareware Yes GUI Yes No No No
Nettalk Freeware (Open Source) No GUI Yes No No No
Pidgin Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI Yes Yes No No
Quassel IRC Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI Yes Yes Yes No
Trillian Basic Freeware after registration Yes GUI Yes No Yes No
Trillian Pro Payware Yes GUI Yes No No No
Vortec IRC Freeware Yes GUI Yes No No No
weechat Free Open Source Software Yes GUI Cygwin Yes Yes No
X-Chat Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI/TUI No Yes No No
X-Chat Aqua Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI No No Yes Yes
X-Chat Unofficial Silverex Windows Build Freeware (Open Source) Yes GUI Yes No No No
X-Chat for Windows Payware Yes GUI Yes No No No

Client support needs to be verified still. This is mostly a guesstimate.

Mobile Clients Comparison

Client Distribution model SSL Support iOS Android Windows Mobile J2ME Other (specify)
AndChat Freeware {{}} No Yes No No
AndroIRC Freeware Yes No Yes No No
DaraIRC Freeware {{}} No Yes No No
IRCRadio Freeware {{}} No Yes No No
jmIrc Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
MutterIRC Freeware Yes Yes No No No
PocketChat Freeware {{}} No No Yes No
PocketIRC Freeware {{}} No No Yes No
savIRC Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
SmartIRC.Net Freeware {{}} No No Yes No
UtaIRC Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
Virca Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
WireLess IRC v1.x Freeware No No No No Yes
WireLess IRC v2.x Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
wmIRC Freeware Yes No No Yes No
Yaaic Freeware {{}} No Yes No No
zsIRC Freeware (Open Source) Yes No No Yes No

Client support needs to be verified still. This is mostly a guesstimate.

Browser Clients Comparison

Client Distribution model SSL Support Flash AJAX Java Other (specify)
ChatZilla Freeware Yes No No No Firefox/SeaMonkey extension
jPilot Shareware No No No Yes
LightIRC Freeware No Yes No No
Mibbit Freeware No No Yes No
Opera Freeware Yes No No No Built into the Opera web browser
PJIRC Freeware No No No Yes
WebIRC Freeware No No Yes No

Note: The jPilot applet's development appears to have halted and their site gone. As such, our freely provided jPilot applet's use is now discouraged in favor of the LightIRC and WebIRC offerings.

Adium

IRC Clients-Adium-1.4.1-osx10.6.2.png
Download from: Adium
Wikipedia English Adium Wikipedia article
License GNU General Public License (GPL)
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Built-in
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes, latest release requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or newer
PPC Mac From 10.2
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

System requirements taken from [1] 

 Adium 1.4 or later 	Mac OS X 10.5.8 or newer, an Apple-branded Macintosh computer
 Adium 1.3.10 	        Mac OS X 10.4
 Adium 1.0.6 	        Mac OS X 10.3.9
 Adium X 0.89.1 	Mac OS X 10.2.x and older

It is based on the libpurple library.

AndChat

IRC Clients-AndChat-Landscape.png
IRC Clients-AndChat-Portrait.png
Download from: Andchat
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Built-in
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android Yes
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


AndroIRC

IRC Clients-AndroIRC-Landscape.png
IRC Clients-AndroIRC-Portrait.png
Download from: AndroIRC
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android Yes
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


AYTTM

IRC Clients-AYTTM-0.6.3-1-debian squeeze.png
IRC Clients-AYTTM-0.3.3-1-screen.png
Download from: Are You Talking To Me?
Wikipedia No
License GNU General Public License (GPL)
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Built-in
Platform Available?
Windows NT/2000 platforms
Linux Source (RPM,bz2,gz) and .deb
BSD No
Intel Mac unofficial builds available
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


Babbel

IRC Clients-Babbel-110103.14.win7x64.png
IRC Clients-Babbel-new babbel-dock.jpg
Download from: Babbel
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model Yes (at least during Alpha)
SSL Support SSLv2, SSLv3, SSLv2/3 (auto-sensing) and TLSv1
Platform Available?
Windows XP/Vista/7
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac 10.4 and up
PPC Mac 10.2 and up
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


BitchX

IRC Clients-BitchX-FiXato on Chat4All Lounge.png
Download from: BitchX SourceForge Project Page Mirror
Wikipedia English BitchX article
License Revised BSD license
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support SSLv2, SSLv3, SSLv2/3 (auto-sensing) and TLSv1
Platform Available?
Windows 9x/2000/NT (with Cygwin)
Linux SVN and src tar.gz available
BSD BSDI 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.0, FreeBSD 2.x, 3.x, 4.0, NetBSD 3.x, 4.x
Intel Mac Available in DarwinPorts and Universal Binary available from SoftPedia
PPC Mac Maybe using the above SoftPedia Universal build
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other SunOS 4.1.4, 5.x and above, IRIX 5, 6, HP-UX 9.x, 10.x, OSF/1 (DEC Alpha), Ultrix, AIX, OS/2 (with EMX), QNX

Platform and SSL support taken from BitchX INSTALL doc in SVN trunk.

Its main website is rather outdated. The SourceForge project page looks more useful. Be aware that some distributions, such as Slackware, have removed BitchX from their repositories due to unresolved security issues.

I couldn't get connected to an SSL port though. It is possible though that I did something wrong or forgot to compile SSL support into it. --FiXato 05:56, 28 January 2011 (CET)

ChatZilla

IRC Clients-ChatZilla.c4a-win7x64-firefox6.0.2.png
Download from: ChatZilla Mozilla Addons Site
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License GPL/MPL/LGPL
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows Firefox/Seamonkey Extension
Linux Firefox/Seamonkey Extension
BSD
Intel Mac Firefox/Seamonkey Extension
PPC Mac Firefox/Seamonkey Extension
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Firefox/Seamonkey Extension
Other


CLIRC

IRC Clients CLIRC NDS.jpg
Download from: CLIRC
Wikipedia
License
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other Nintendo DS Homebrew


Colloquy

IRC Clients-Colloquy-2.0-2C8-OSX10.3-ppc.PNG
IRC Clients-Colloquy-ChatWithSidebar.png
Download from: Colloquy Mobile Colloquy for iOS
Wikipedia English Colloquy article
License GPL
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac 10.4 or higher
PPC Mac 10.4 or higher (or the older Colloquy 2.1 for 10.3.9)
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Yes, as Mobile Colloquy
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No



.

Colloquy Mobile

IRC Clients-Mobile Colloquy-StandardNickCompletion.png
Download from: Mobile Colloquy for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
Wikipedia English Colloquy article
License BSD Licenses
Distribution Model Commercial (Payware in Apple App Store)
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac See Colloquy instead
PPC Mac See Colloquy instead
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Available in App Store (and as source for jailbroken devices)
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No




.

DaraIRC

IRC Clients-DaraIRC-Landscape.png
IRC Clients-DaraIRC-Portrait.png
Download from: (Japanese) DaraIRC
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android Yes
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


HydraIRC

IRC Clients-HydraIRC-0.3.165-win7x64.png
Download from: HydraIRC
Wikipedia Simple English HydraIRC article
License Free for private use
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Via Stunnel *
Platform Available?
Windows 98 and newer
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

* Note: SSL support is not native yet; follow their Stunnel instructions from their wiki instead.

Icechat

IRC Clients-Icechat-7.70-win7x64.png
IRC Clients-IceChat7-WinXP-GHOSTIE11.png
Download from: Icechat
Wikipedia Simple English IceChat Wikipedia article
License unknown
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Via Stunnel
Platform Available?
Windows 95 and up
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


IRCRadio

IRC Clients-IRCRadio-Landscape.png
IRC Clients-IRCRadio-Portrait.png
IRC Clients-IRCRadio-Menu.png
Download from: IRCRadio
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android Yes
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


irssi

IRC Clients-irssi-0.8.15-DebianSqueeze.png
Download from: Irssi
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD Yes
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac Yes
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


jmIrc

400x466px
Download from: JMIRC
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME yes
Browser no
Other MicroEmulator


jPilot

IRC Clients-JPilot.c4a-DebianSqueeze-Iceweasel 3.5.16.png
Download from: [ jPilot]
Wikipedia
License Shareware
Distribution Model Shareware
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Java Runtime Environment
Linux Requires Java Runtime Environment
BSD
Intel Mac Requires Java Runtime Environment
PPC Mac Requires Java Runtime Environment
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Java
Other

Note: This applet is no longer under development and the site is now offline; this is listed for historical purposes

Konversation

IRC Clients-Konversation-1.1.1-debian lenny.png
Download from: Konversation
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD Yes
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


To run Konversation on Windows, you need kde4win

KVIRC

400x466px
Download from: KVIRC
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License GNU General Public License v2+ (GPL2+)
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Built-in
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Note for Linux users who don't use KDE/don't have other KDE/QT based programs installed: This pulls in a bunch of KDE deps if you attempt to install it

Further note for Windows 7+ 64 bit users: Native 64 bit builds for Windows are here, based on development snapshots: http://kvirc.d00p.de/

LimeChat

IRC Clients-Limechat-2.16-osx10.6.2.png
Download from: Limechat http://limechat.net/iphone/
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac Yes
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Yes
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


LightIRC

IRC Clients-LightIRC.c4a-DebianSqueeze-Iceweasel 3.5.16.png
Download from: LightIRC
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Flash
Linux Requires Flash
BSD
Intel Mac Requires Flash
PPC Mac Requires Flash
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Flash
Other


Linkinus

IRC Clients-Linkinus-2.2.2.24637-osx10.6.2.png
Download from: Linkinus
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License Shareware
Distribution Model Shareware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Yes
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


Mibbit

IRC Clients-Mibbit-DebianSqueeze-Iceweasel 3.5.16.png
Download from: Mibbit
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License Site Only
Distribution Model You must use their website
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Javascript enabled
Linux Requires Javascript enabled
BSD
Intel Mac Requires Javascript enabled
PPC Mac Requires Javascript enabled
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Javascript
Other Confirmed working on Wii consoles

Note: If you're using Noscript or similar, add an exception for *.mibbit.com

mIRC

IRC Clients-mirc-7.17-win7x64.png
Download from: mIRC
Wikipedia English mIRC Wikipedia article
License Shareware
Distribution Model Shareware
SSL Support Yes, after OpenSSL install
Platform Available?
Windows 2000 and up
Linux No, though reportedly works well under Wine
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Extra notes: to send a line that starts with a / without it being parsed as a command, use CTRL+ENTER instead of just ENTER.

MutterIRC

[[File:{{{screenshot}}}|left|400x466px]]

Download from: MutterIRC
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Yes
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Yes
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


Nettalk

IRC Clients-Nettalk-6.7.10-win7x64.png
Download from: Nettalk (in German)
Wikipedia English Nettalk (IRC client) Wikipedia article
License Apache license 2.0
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Win95/98, WinMe, Win2000, WinXP, Vista (32 Bit and 64 Bit) and Windows 7 (32 Bit and 64 Bit)
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


Opera

IRC Clients-Opera-win7x64.png
Download from: Opera
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Yes
Other

There is an IRC Client built into this web browser; hit Ctrl-Alt-K and create a Chat (IRC) account.

Pidgin

IRC Clients-pidgin-2.7.9-win7x64.png
Download from: Pidgin
Wikipedia English Pidgin Wikipedia article
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Yes
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD Yes
Intel Mac See Adium
PPC Mac See Adium
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


PJIRC

IRC Clients-pjirc-2.2.1-win7x64-opera11.png
Download from: PJIRC http://freshmeat.net/projects/pjirc/
Wikipedia English PJIRC Wikipedia article
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Java Runtime Environment
Linux Requires Java Runtime Environment
BSD
Intel Mac
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Java
Other

PJIRC reportedly can run in application mode in any Java Runtime Environment.

PocketChat

400x466px
Download from: [ ]
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows
Linux
BSD
Intel Mac
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser
Other


PocketIRC

400x466px
Download from: [ ]
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows
Linux
BSD
Intel Mac
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser
Other


PSPIRC

IRC Clients-PSPIRC.png
Download from: PSPIRC
Wikipedia No
License Freeware
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other PSP Handheld Console


Quassel IRC

IRC Clients-Quassel-0.6.3-QTInterface-DebianSqueeze.png
Download from: Quassel
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support Built-in SSL v2/3, TLS 1
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac Yes
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser
Other
"Quassel IRC is a modern, cross-platform, distributed IRC client, meaning that one (or multiple) client(s) can attach to and detach from a central core -- much like the popular combination of screen and a text-based IRC client such as WeeChat, but graphical."

savIRC

400x466px
Download from: Sourceforge page
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model GNU GPL
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD
Intel Mac
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other


The official site (savirc.com) seems to be gone, so it's probably not being developed anymore.

SmartIRC

400x466px
Download from: [ ]
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows
Linux
BSD
Intel Mac
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser
Other


Trillian

IRC Clients-TrillianAstraBasic-win7x64.png
Download from: Trillian
Wikipedia English Trillian Wikipedia article
License
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Yes
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) See the paid Pro version
Android Yes
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Yes
Other

Trillian Pro

400x466px
Download from: Trillian Pro
Wikipedia English Trillian Wikipedia article
License unknown
Distribution Model Payware
SSL Support With Stunnel
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) Yes, on iPhone
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

The iOS version doesn't seem to offer all the Trillian Pro features, but it is listed here because it isn't free. At time of writing the App store page had several complaints of users that the App wasn't working properly though.

UtaIRC

400x466px
Download from: UtaIRC/jmIRC-m http://www.getjar.com/mobile/17589/utairc/
Wikipedia No
License Open Source
Distribution Model Open Source
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME Yes
Browser No
Other No


Virca

400x466px
Download from: Virca
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model Open Source
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME Yes
Browser No
Other No


Vortec IRC

IRC Clients-VortecIRC-1.0.2.1021-win7x64.png
Download from: Vortec IRC
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Yes, after OpenSSL install
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


WebIRC

IRC Clients-WebIRC.c4a-DebianSqueeze-Iceweasel 3.5.16.png
Download from: WebIRC Forked From Source
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Javascript enabled
Linux Requires Javascript enabled
BSD
Intel Mac Requires Javascript enabled
PPC Mac Requires Javascript enabled
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser Javascript
Other Confirmed working on the Nintendo 3DS Handheld

Note: If you're using Noscript or similar, add an exception for webchat.chat4all.net

The source for webchat.chat4all.net was forked off the Qwebirc project.

weechat

IRC Clients-Weechat-0.3.5-dev-Lounge-colors-higmon-chanmon-xfer-horizontal buffers-merged private buffers.png
IRC Clients-Weechat-0.3.5-Lounge ascii art fun.png
Download from: WeeChat (Wee Enhanced Environment for Chat)
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeeChat
License GNU General Public License 3
Distribution Model Free Open Source Software
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows Cygwin
Linux Yes
BSD Yes
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac Cygwin
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)
Android
Windows Mobile
Java J2ME
Browser
Other BeOS, Haiku


You can click the screenshots for a short description of some of the features and to see those features/scripts in action.
Extra notes: to send a line that starts with a / without it being parsed as a command, add an extra slash at the beginning to 'escape' it.

WireLess IRC 1

400x466px
Download from: WLIRC 1
Wikipedia No
License LGPL
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME Yes
Browser No
Other No


Only bother if you're on an ancient phone only support MIDP 1.0

WireLess IRC 2

400x466px
Download from: WLIRC 2
Wikipedia No
License LGPL
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME Yes
Browser No
Other No


wmIRC

400x466px
Download from: WMIRC
Wikipedia No
License unknown
Distribution Model
SSL Support
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile Yes
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


Note: The official website for this site seems to not actually be around anymore (or, at the very least, isn't irc related anymore), so this is most likely not being developed anymore. Note 2: I can't even seem to find a download link for it anymore. Should we just delist this?

X-Chat

IRC Clients-Xchat-2.8.8-DebianSqueeze.png
Download from: Xchat
Wikipedia English Wikipedia
License Shareware (Windows), GNU GPL v2 (all others)
Distribution Model Shareware (Windows), Open Source Freeware (all others)
SSL Support Yes
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux Yes
BSD Yes
Intel Mac See Xchat Aqua
PPC Mac See Xchat Aqua
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Extra notes: to send a line that starts with a / without it being parsed as a command, add an extra slash at the beginning to 'escape' it.

X-Chat Silverex

IRC Clients-XchatSilverex-2.8.6-2-win7x64.png
Download from: Xchat (Silverex Build)
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Yes
Platform Available?
Windows Yes
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Extra notes: to send a line that starts with a / without it being parsed as a command, add an extra slash at the beginning to 'escape' it.

X-Chat Aqua

IRC Clients-XchatAqua-0.17.0.rc1-osx10.6.2.png
Download from: Xchat Aqua
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL v2
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac Yes
PPC Mac Yes
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Extra notes: to send a line that starts with a / without it being parsed as a command, add an extra slash at the beginning to 'escape' it.

Yaaic

IRC Clients-Yaaic-Landscape.png
IRC Clients-Yaaic-Portrait.png
Download from: Yaaic GitHub Repository
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL v3
Distribution Model Freeware (Open Source)
SSL Support Built In
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android Yes
Windows Mobile No
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No


zsIRC

IRC Clients-zsIRC.PNG
Download from: zsIRC Open Source zsIRC Google Code page
Wikipedia No
License New BSD License
Distribution Model Freeware (Open Source)
SSL Support yes
Platform Available?
Windows No
Linux No
BSD No
Intel Mac No
PPC Mac No
iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) No
Android No
Windows Mobile Yes
Java J2ME No
Browser No
Other No

Official development for this client has unfortunately halted. However, the developer, Gargaj, has open sourced the project.

Old client info

This is client info from the old IRC-Clients page we used to have. It will slowly be merged into the current template. Freeware Win

  1. AYTTM (Are You Talking To Me) Multi-platform and Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (also available for Linux/*BSD/Windows(NT/2000/XP))
  2. BabbelIRC an IRC client developed in RealStudio with support for Windows XP/Vista/7 and MacOS X 10.2 and up (both PPC and Intel-based). (Alpha stage)
  3. HydraIRC A freeware IRC client which is quite fully featured, even though there doesn't seem to be active development anymore.
  4. Icechat (Screenshot)
  5. irssi (OpenSource) (Can only be used on Windows through CygWin). Also available for Linux, *BSD, MacOSX)
  6. Pidgin Multi-platform and Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (also available for Linux/*BSD/MacOS X/Windows/QTopia) (used to be called Gaim)
  7. savIRC (also available for *NIX/Windows)
  8. Trillian Multi-platform and Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (Basic Version is Freeware, Pro version is Payware)(Comparison between Basic and Pro)
  9. Vortec IRC (Beta Client)
  10. X-Chat Unofficial build for Windows by Silverex (Screenshot)

Payware Win

  1. mIRC (Windows) (Shareware)
  2. Trillian Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (Pro Version is Payware)
  3. X-Chat Official Build The official build has become Payware as of August 23, 2004. For freeware builds (of which some are equally good or better), see above.

NIX

  1. BitchX (Freeware Command Line IRC Client for *NIX)
  2. Pidgin Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (also available for Linux/*BSD/MacOS X/Windows) (Formerly known as Gaim)
  3. AYTTM (Are You Talking To Me) Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (also available for Linux/*BSD/Windows(NT/2000/XP))

http://quassel-irc.org/

Mac OS X

  1. Colloquy Graphical IRC and SILC client (Screenshot)
  2. LimeChat IRC client for Mac OS X written on RubyCocoa (Screenshot)
  3. Linkinus (Payware)
  4. Pidgin Multi-protocol Instant Messaging Client (also available for Linux/*BSD/MacOS X/Windows) (Formerly known as Gaim)
  5. X-Chat Aqua Freeware X-Chat build for Mac OSX

J2ME

  1. WLIrc 1.x WireLess IRC client 1.x branch
  2. WLIrc 2.x WireLess IRC client 2.x branch (requires MIDP 2.0!)
  3. jmIrc Rewrite of WLIrc.

http://www.getjar.com/mobile/17589/utairc/

  1. Virca :> (not under active development; last update 2004)

Win Mobile

  1. zsIRC Free-ware IRC Client. Highly recommendable! Logging, supports multi-windowtabs, wide command range, identd (limited). Automatic On-connect and On-Join commands. SmartPhone + PocketPC!!
  2. wmIRC 2.x Pay-ware IRC Client. Highly recommendable! Logs, supports multi-windowtabs, wide command range, colours and SSL + identd (limited). SmartPhone + PocketPC!!
  3. SmartIRC.Net a (Free!) dotNet client for Windows Mobile. Good compatibility, stable, single window, startup commands supported. SmartPhone + PocketPC!!
  4. PocketIRC A (payware) PocketPC Only!!! Client
  5. PocketChat A (Free!) PocketPC Only!!! Client

Java

  1. PJIRC One of the most widely used Java IRC Applets.

External Links

  1. More Clients for UNIX
  2. More Clients for UNIX/X
  3. More Clients for Windows
  4. Index of IRC Client Reviews by IRCReviews.Org (Might be out of date some of the times..)
  5. mIRCScripts.com Useful site for extending your mIRC with scripts and learn about mIRC Scripting
  6. mIRCScripts.org Another mIRC Scripting resource site
  7. TCL Plugin for X-Chat 2.x
  8. TCL Developer Xchange Site More info about TCL Scripting
  9. ScriptKitties Handy Site for Scripting in TCL for X-Chat.
  10. LinuxQuestions.ORG - X-Chat Linux Documentation of X-Chat
Retrieved from "https://wiki.chat4all.org/index.php?title=IRC-Client&oldid=2906"