Comparison of IRC daemons
The following tables compare general and technical information including the differences in feature sets between popular IRC daemons. Please see the individual products' articles or websites for further information. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.
General information
IRC daemon |
URL |
Creator/network |
Basis |
Programming language |
Public release |
Latest stable version (numeric 351) |
Software license |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asuka |
QuakeNet Dev Team |
ircu |
C |
? |
1.2.1 |
GPL |
|
Austhex |
AustNet Development |
ircu2.9 |
C, Scheme |
? |
austhex.servd7.5.pre13.dbuf.ghash3.sec. |
GPL |
|
Bahamut |
DALnet |
DreamForge and IRCD-Hybrid |
C |
2002 |
bahamut-1.8(04) |
GPL |
|
bircd |
beware |
(from scratch) |
Delphi |
2002? |
1.5.7 |
Proprietary |
|
Charybdis |
nenolod, jilles, gxti |
ircd-ratbox, IRCD-Hybrid, ircu, ShadowIRCd |
C |
2005 |
charybdis-2.2.0 |
GPL/BSD |
|
ConferenceRoom |
(from scratch) |
C++ |
1996 |
ConferenceRoom/3.2.2 |
Proprietary |
||
dancer-ircd |
none |
freenode (now unmaintained) |
Hybrid 6 |
C |
1999 |
(replaced by hyperion) |
GPL |
DreamForge |
DALnet (now unmaintained) |
irc2.8.mu3 |
C |
1994 (dal), 1997? (df) |
(replaced by bahamut) |
GPL |
|
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000 |
none |
Microsoft (IRCd removed in >=2003) |
? |
C (theorized) |
1997 |
6.0.6249.0 |
Proprietary |
hyperion |
freenode (jilles, gxti, nenolod, asuffield, lilo) |
dancer-ircd 1.0.35+pre2 |
C |
2005 |
hyperion-1.0.2(230). |
GPL |
|
InspIRCd Development Team |
(from scratch) |
C++ |
2002 |
1.1.15+Wensleydale |
GPL |
||
IRCD |
IRCnet |
irc2.2 (ircd) |
C |
around 1991 |
irc2.11.1p1 |
GPL |
|
ircd |
none |
Jarkko Oikarinen (now unmaintained) |
(the original ircd) |
C |
1988 |
(replaced by IRCD) |
GPL |
IRCD-Hybrid |
Hybrid Development Team |
irc2.8 (IRCD) |
C |
1997 |
ircd-hybrid-7.2.3 |
GPL |
|
ircd-ratbox |
EFnet |
Hybrid 7-rc1 |
C |
2002 |
ircd-ratbox-2.2.6 |
GPL |
|
ircu |
Undernet Coder Committee |
1991-1999 versions are based on ircd2.8.10 (IRCD), 2000-2007 versions are based on ircu2.10.07 |
C |
1991 |
ircu2.10.12.10 |
GPL |
|
IRCXpro Server |
IRCXpro, Paul Heinlein |
IRCPlus |
Visual Basic |
? |
(replaced by OfficeIRC) |
Proprietary |
|
ithildin |
Chip Norkus |
(from scratch) |
C |
2006 |
1.1.2 / 1.0r0 |
BSD |
|
Nefarious IRCu |
Evilnet Development, AfterNET |
ircu2 |
C |
2004 |
u2.10.11.07+Nefarious(1.0.1)+[1755 2006-08-26] |
GPL |
|
OfficeIRC Server |
Office IRC Inc, Paul Heinlein |
IRCXpro |
Visual Basic? |
2006 |
2.0? |
Proprietary |
|
pircd |
Jay F Kominek |
(from scratch) |
Perl |
1999 |
Beta One |
Open Source (custom) |
|
PleXusIRCd |
Rizon, thaprince, static |
Hybrid 7.2.3 |
C |
2005 |
ircd-plexus-3.0.0-20070708_0-495 |
GPL |
|
PTlink IRC Server |
PTlink IRC Software |
Hybrid 6 |
C |
2001 (v.6) |
Hybrid6/PTlink6.19.6 |
GPL |
|
pureIRCd |
Dennis Fisch aka Diligent |
(from scratch) |
Visual Basic |
2002 |
? |
GPL |
|
QuakeIRCd |
QuakeIRCd Team, Tiburon |
C |
2003 (v1.1) |
QuakeIRCd-2.1-Amber |
GPL |
||
solid-ircd |
Gabriel Baez |
Bahamut |
C |
? |
solid-ircd 3.4.8 |
GPL |
|
SorIrcd |
SorceryNet (now unmaintained) |
dal4.4.10 and irc2.8.mu3 |
C |
1996 |
(replaced by Charybdis) |
GPL |
|
Synchronet IRCd |
Randy E. Sommerfeld |
(from scratch) |
JavaScript |
2003 |
SynchronetIRCd-1.3a(1.151) |
GPL |
|
UltimateIRCd |
ShadowRealm Creations |
DreamForge 2.8 |
C |
2001 |
UltimateIRCd(Tsunami)-3.0(01) |
GPL |
|
UnrealIRCd |
UnrealIRCd Team |
DreamForge |
C |
1999 |
Unreal3.2.7 |
GPL |
|
Viagra IRCd |
OvErRiTe |
bahamut |
C |
2003 |
ViagraIRCd 1.3.3 |
GPL |
|
WeIRCd |
Eloxoph IRC Network |
(from scratch) |
C |
2007 |
WeIRCd 0.3.5.0.1 |
Freeware (Custom) |
|
IRC daemon |
URL |
Creator/network |
Basis |
Programming language |
Public release |
Latest stable version (numeric 351) |
Software license |
Operating system support
The operating systems the daemons can run on without emulation; also supported event dispatch facilities for network sockets (see IRCd for further information).
IRC daemon |
Windows |
Mac OS X |
Linux |
BSD |
Solaris |
HP-UX |
AIX |
select() |
poll() |
kqueue |
RT signals |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asuka |
|||||||||||||||
Austhex |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||||
Bahamut |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
bircd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||
Charybdis |
|||||||||||||||
ConferenceRoom |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
dancer-ircd |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
DreamForge |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
Microsoft Exchange |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
hyperion |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
InspIRCd |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
IRCD |
|||||||||||||||
ircd |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
IRCD-Hybrid |
|||||||||||||||
ircd-ratbox |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
ircu |
|||||||||||||||
IRCXpro Server |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
ithildin |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
Nefarious IRCu |
? |
||||||||||||||
OfficeIRC Server |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
pircd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||||
PleXusIRCd |
|||||||||||||||
PTlink IRC Server |
|||||||||||||||
pureIRCd |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
QuakeIRCd |
|||||||||||||||
solid-ircd |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
SorIrcd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
||||||
Synchronet IRCd |
? |
? |
|||||||||||||
UltimateIRCd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||||||||||
UnrealIRCd |
|||||||||||||||
Viagra IRCd |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||||
WeIRCd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||||||||
IRC daemon |
Windows |
Mac OS X |
Linux |
BSD |
Solaris |
HP-UX |
AIX |
select() |
poll() |
kqueue |
RT signals |
||||
Technology
Various networking and IRC technology implemented to date.
IRC daemon |
Modularity |
Remote Includes |
IPv6 |
Client SSL |
SSL Linking |
Zip Linking |
Meshed Linking |
Hostmasking / Cloaking |
Services Integration (built-in services) |
LDAP Authentication |
IRCX Support |
SASL Support |
Server Protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asuka |
P10 with extensions |
||||||||||||
Austhex |
? |
? |
? |
, VW |
? |
? |
P13 |
||||||
Bahamut |
TS5 with extensions |
||||||||||||
bircd |
P10 with extensions |
||||||||||||
Charybdis |
TS6 with extensions |
||||||||||||
ConferenceRoom |
? |
Proprietary, binary |
|||||||||||
dancer-ircd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
TS3 with extensions |
||||
DreamForge |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
2.8 protocol with TS hacks |
||||
Microsoft Exchange |
Binary Microsoft Chat Protocol |
||||||||||||
hyperion |
TS5 with extensions |
||||||||||||
InspIRCd |
Dependent upon linking module |
||||||||||||
IRCD |
|||||||||||||
ircd |
|||||||||||||
IRCD-Hybrid |
TS5/TS6 |
||||||||||||
ircd-ratbox |
TS5/TS6 |
||||||||||||
ircu |
|||||||||||||
IRCXpro Server |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||
ithildin |
Dependent upon protocol module |
||||||||||||
Nefarious IRCu |
P10 Nefarious |
||||||||||||
OfficeIRC Server |
? |
? |
? |
||||||||||
pircd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|
PleXusIRCd |
? |
EFnet TS5/ts6 |
|||||||||||
PTlink IRC Server |
EFnet TS5 + ptlink extensions |
||||||||||||
pureIRCd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
QuakeIRCd |
Unreal3.2 with Extensions |
||||||||||||
solid-ircd |
TS5 with extensions |
||||||||||||
SorIrcd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
DreamForge |
|
Synchronet IRCd |
TS5 with extensions |
||||||||||||
UltimateIRCd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
UnrealIRCd |
A mixture of DreamForge and EFnet TS with SJOIN, extra user modes, SPAMFILTER, etc. |
||||||||||||
Viagra IRCd |
? |
||||||||||||
WeIRCd |
|||||||||||||
IRC daemon |
Modularity |
Remote Includes |
IPv6 |
Client SSL |
SSL Linking |
Zip Linking |
Meshed Linking |
Hostmasking / Cloaking |
Services Integration (built-in services) |
LDAP Authentication |
IRCX Support |
SASL Support |
Server Protocol |
Features
IRC server features, mostly extensions to RFC 1459. Probably also implementations of RFC 2810, RFC 2811, RFC 2812, RFC 2813, and possibly IRCX.
- +channels (In early IRCds, these were simply named channels. At least one modern IRCd (IRCD) uses the + prefix for modeless channels, ie no chanops and channel mode forced to +nt. This is described in RFC 2811.)
- #channels ("+channels" were later replaced with "#channels" in version 2.7, numeric channels were removed entirely and channel bans (mode +b) were implemented.)
- &channels (irc2.8, those that exist only on the current server, rather than the entire network)
- !channels (irc2.10, those that are theoretically safe from suffering from the many ways that a user could exploit a channel by "riding a netsplit"; IRCds using timestamping provide (most of) this functionality on #channels)
- %#channels (#channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)
- %&channels (&channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)
- %!channels (!channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)
IRC daemon |
Channel Types |
Halfop Support (+h %) |
Admin/Protect Support (+a/+u &/!/*) |
Founder/Owner Support (+q ~/.) |
Operator Prefixing |
Advanced Operator ACL |
Operator "Levels" |
vHost via i:line (or equivalent) |
i18n Nicknames |
RDBMS Integration (SQL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asuka |
# & |
|||||||||
Austhex |
# |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||||
Bahamut |
# |
|||||||||
bircd |
#, & |
|||||||||
Charybdis |
# & |
|||||||||
ConferenceRoom |
# & |
|||||||||
dancer-ircd |
# |
? |
||||||||
DreamForge |
# |
? |
? |
|||||||
Microsoft Exchange |
# %# & %& |
|||||||||
hyperion |
# |
? |
||||||||
InspIRCd |
# |
|||||||||
IRCD |
# & ! + |
? |
||||||||
ircd |
# & |
? |
||||||||
IRCD-Hybrid |
# & |
(since 7.0) |
? |
? |
||||||
ircd-ratbox |
# & |
? |
||||||||
ircu |
# & |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|||
IRCXpro Server |
# %# & %& |
|||||||||
ithildin |
# |
|||||||||
Nefarious IRCu |
# & |
|||||||||
OfficeIRC Server |
# %# & %& |
|||||||||
pircd |
# |
? |
||||||||
PleXusIRCd |
# & |
? |
? |
|||||||
PTlink IRC Server |
# & |
|||||||||
pureIRCd |
# |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
||
QuakeIRCd |
# |
iso8859-1/2/7/8-I/9/16, windows-1250/1251, Multibyte |
||||||||
solid-ircd |
# |
|||||||||
SorIrcd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Synchronet IRCd |
# & |
|||||||||
UltimateIRCd |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
UnrealIRCd |
# |
iso8859-1/2/7/8-I/9/16, windows-1250/1251, Multibyte |
Commercial Modules for MySQL: Authorization, Services Integration, Logging |
|||||||
Viagra IRCd |
# & |
|||||||||
WeIRCd |
# |
? |
||||||||
IRC daemon |
Channel Types |
Halfop Support (+h %) |
Admin/Protect Support (+a/+u &/!/*) |
Founder/Owner Support (+q ~) |
Operator Prefixing |
Advanced Operator ACL |
Operator "Levels" |
vHost via i:line (or equivalent) |
i18n Nicknames |
RDBMS Integration (SQL) |
IRC daemon |
Connect-flood detection |
Channel flood controls |
Join throttling |
Spamfilter |
Channel Censor |
Variable per-channel banlist size |
Timed bans |
DNSBL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asuka |
? |
? / ? |
||||||
Austhex |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
Bahamut |
||||||||
bircd |
||||||||
Charybdis |
||||||||
ConferenceRoom |
? |
|||||||
dancer-ircd |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
DreamForge |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
Microsoft Exchange |
||||||||
hyperion |
? |
|||||||
InspIRCd |
||||||||
IRCD |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
ircd |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
IRCD-Hybrid |
? |
|||||||
ircd-ratbox |
? |
|||||||
ircu |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
|
IRCXpro Server |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
||||
ithildin |
? |
|||||||
Nefarious IRCu |
||||||||
OfficeIRC Server |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
||||
pircd |
? |
|||||||
PleXusIRCd |
? |
|||||||
PTlink IRC Server |
||||||||
pureIRCd |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
QuakeIRCd |
||||||||
solid-ircd |
||||||||
SorIrcd |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
Synchronet IRCd |
||||||||
UltimateIRCd |
? |
? / ? |
? |
? / ? |
? / ? |
? |
? |
? |
UnrealIRCd |
Yes / Free Module |
|||||||
Viagra IRCd |
? / ? |
? / ? |
||||||
WeIRCd |
||||||||
IRC daemon |
Connect-flood detection |
Channel flood controls |
Join throttling |
Spamfilter |
Channel Censor |
Variable per-channel banlist size |
Timed bans |
DNSBL |
See also
- IRCd
- IRC services
- Internet Relay Chat
- IRCX
- Comparison of IRC clients
- Comparison of IRC services
- Comparison of instant messaging clients
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols