IRC-Client

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Revision as of 21:25, 31 January 2011 by FiXato (talk | contribs) (→‎Colloquy)
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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. Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim)
  7. Quassel IRC
  8. savIRC
  9. Trillian Basic
  10. Vortec IRC
  11. weechat (via CygWin)
  12. 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. Pidgin
  6. Quassel IRC
  7. weechat

Linux users can also look at the Webbased Clients list

Mac OS X Clients

  1. Adium
  2. BabbleIRC
  3. Colloquy
  4. LimeChat
  5. Linkinus
  6. Pidgin
  7. weechat
  8. 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

iOS (iPhone/iPad)

Webbased Clients

Java Applets

#PJIRC

Flash

AJAX

All Listed IRC Clients

Overview

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
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
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 Stunnel GUI Yes No Yes No
Trillian Pro Payware Stunnel GUI Yes No No No
weechat Freeware (Open Source) 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)
jmIrc Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
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
Vortec IRC Freeware {{}} No No No Yes
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)
#PJIRC Freeware No No No Yes

Adium

400x466px
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.

AYTTM

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-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)

Colloquy

IRC Clients-Colloquy-ChatWithSidebar.png
IRC Clients-Colloquy-2.0-2C8-OSX10.3-ppc.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


Mobile Colloquy

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


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; instructions for Stunnel are linked from their wiki above.

Icechat

IRC Clients-Icechat-7.70-win7x64.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


irssi

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


jmIrc

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


Konversation

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


LimeChat

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


Linkinus

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


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


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(User Page)
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support No
Platform Available?
Windows Requires Java
Linux Requires Java
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


Quassel IRC

400x466px
Download from: Quassel
Wikipedia No
License GNU GPL
Distribution Model Open Source Freeware
SSL Support
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: [ ]
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


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

400x466px
Download from: Trillian
Wikipedia English Trillian Wikipedia article
License
Distribution Model Freeware
SSL Support With Stunnel
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: [ ]
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


Virca

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


Vortec IRC

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


weechat

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


WireLess IRC 1

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


WireLess IRC 2

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


wmIRC

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


X-Chat

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

X-Chat Silverex

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

X-Chat Aqua

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


zsIRC

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


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
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