Everything About IRC

Browse a complete list of articles published on ircbits.com, ordered by publication date where new articles are at the top. If you would rather start broad, the networks and clients hubs group the most useful guides by topic. You may also browse by tag for a list of all available topics, or subscribe to the available RSS-feed.

basics

How to find IRC channels worth joiningIRC has no global directory and no algorithm suggesting rooms — finding good channels is a skill. Project documentation, alis, netsplit.de, and how to judge whether a channel is alive.
How to join an IRC channel in 2 minutes (no account needed)How to join an IRC channel today, in a browser, with no account and no download. The quick method, proper client setup, the commands you need, and the mistakes every newcomer makes.
How to register a nickname on IRC (NickServ and SASL)Registering your IRC nickname takes one minute, protects your identity, and unlocks channels that require it. This guide covers NickServ registration and setting up SASL so you never have to log in manually again.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) explained: what it is and how it worksInternet Relay Chat is the original internet chat protocol, older than the web itself and still running today. What it is, how it works, real examples of who uses it in 2026, and how to try it yourself in five minutes.
IRC etiquette: the unwritten rules, written downIRC has thirty years of cultural norms that nobody tells you about until you break one. Here they are, written down — from "don't ask to ask" to pastebin discipline and the patience problem.
IRC in 2026: the complete guide to Internet Relay ChatEverything on ircbits, organised. What IRC is, how to get on it in five minutes, which networks matter in 2026, and how to run and build on it — a map of the whole site, start to finish.
IRC security and privacy: TLS, SASL, cloaks and not leaking your IPIRC is an old protocol with some sharp edges. The handful of settings that matter — encrypted connections, SASL login, hiding your IP with a cloak, safe DCC, and the VPN/Tor rules — so you can use it without leaking anything you didn't mean to.
Web IRC: how to use IRC in your browserEvery major IRC network runs a web client you can open right now — no download, no account. The webchat address for each network, what a browser tab can and cannot do, and the web clients that stay connected after you close it.

bots

IRC bots: from eggdrop to your first ten lines of PythonBots are half of IRC's culture: loggers, games, ops helpers, bridges. The classic bot software, the etiquette rules that now have teeth, and a minimal Python bot to start from.
IRC services and tools worth knowing: the ecosystem around the chatIRC is more than the chat window. Network services that guard your identity, search engines that index hundreds of networks, bridges to Discord and Matrix, history and paste tools, statistics sites — the supporting cast that makes IRC actually usable in 2026.
Twitch IRC explained: connect any IRC client to Twitch chatTwitch chat is IRC, so your existing client can join it — server irc.chat.twitch.tv on port 6697, your Twitch name in lowercase, and an OAuth token as the server password. The settings for every client, where to get the token now that the old generator is gone, and how to bot it.
Writing an IRC bot: from a raw socket to something you'd actually runWriting an IRC bot is the classic weekend project because the protocol is just lines of text. Here's the whole arc: a working bot in raw Python you fully understand, then how to do it properly with TLS, SASL, reconnection and a real library — plus the etiquette that now has teeth.

bouncers

IRC bouncer (BNC) explained: what it is, ZNC vs soju, and how to pick oneAn IRC bouncer (also called a BNC) stays connected for you and replays what you missed. Plain IRC forgets everything the moment you disconnect — a bouncer is the classic fix. How it works, ZNC vs soju, and which one to pick.
soju setup guide: the modern IRC bouncersoju is the bouncer built for the IRCv3 era: chathistory-native, multi- network, and the engine behind clients like goguma and gamja. Installation, configuration, and connecting your devices.
The Lounge setup guide: self-hosted web IRC that stays onlineThe Lounge is a self-hosted web IRC client that doubles as your always-on connection: history, push notifications, every browser. Installation with Node or Docker, reverse proxy, and the settings worth changing.
ZNC setup guide: the classic IRC bouncer, step by stepZNC keeps you connected to IRC around the clock and replays what you missed. Installation, the makeconf walkthrough, connecting your clients, and the modules worth enabling.

bridges

Bridging IRC and Discord: a working config, and the two settings everyone missesKeeping a project on IRC without losing the people who only use Discord takes about fifteen lines of TOML. The complete config, the privileged intents that make it fail silently, and why a user account gets you banned.
Bridging IRC and Matrix: what still runs in 2026The software is fine; the hosting is what keeps collapsing. Which networks you can still join from Matrix without running anything, why Libera.Chat's bridge died, and how to choose between matrix-appservice-irc and Heisenbridge if you host your own.
Bridging IRC to Discord, Matrix, Twitch and everything elseWhich bridge to use for which platform, which ones have quietly died, and the etiquette that applies to all of them. Plus the one platform that needs no bridge at all: Twitch chat is IRC.
Matterbridge setup guide: one binary, sixteen protocolsMatterbridge relays messages between IRC and Discord, Slack, Telegram, Matrix, XMPP, Mumble and a dozen more. Install it from the community fork — not the stalled original — and the config is one TOML file with three kinds of block.

clients

Best IRC clients for Android in 2026IRC on a phone fails without persistence — Android kills background connections. The clients that solve it in 2026, with install links and screenshots: goguma, IRCCloud, Quasseldroid, and the bouncer setups that make mobile IRC actually work.
Best IRC clients for iOS in 2026The best IRC clients for iOS in 2026 that actually survive iPhone's aggressive background suspension: goguma, IRCCloud, Igloo, and bouncer- backed setups, with App Store links and screenshots for each.
Best IRC clients for Linux in 2026The Linux desktop IRC field after HexChat: Halloy, Konversation, Polari and Srain compared with Flathub links and screenshots — plus where HexChat's removal from Debian testing and Flathub leaves its users.
Best IRC clients for macOS in 2026Textual is sunset, LimeChat and Colloquy are long dead — the macOS IRC field in 2026 is smaller and better than it looks. What actually works on a Mac now: Halloy, the terminal clients, IRCCloud, and what to make of Mango 3.0.
Best IRC clients for Windows in 2026The Windows IRC client field, checked against reality in 2026: mIRC, AdiIRC, Halloy and KVIrc are alive; HexChat is not. Verified download links, prices, screenshots, and a comparison table.
Best IRC clients in 2026: desktop, terminal, mobile and webA current, opinionated guide to IRC clients — graphical, terminal, mobile, and cloud — with screenshots, install links, and honest maintenance status for every client. Updated July 2026.
Best terminal IRC clients in 2026: WeeChat, Irssi and the minimalistsWeeChat vs Irssi, compared honestly, plus the modern minimalists — senpai, tiny, catgirl — and a straight answer on which terminal IRC client belongs in your tmux session in 2026.
Best web IRC clients in 2026 (and what replaced Mibbit)Mibbit is gone, but IRC in a browser tab is better than ever. The Lounge, gamja, KiwiIRC and IRCCloud compared — which web client fits which user, with screenshots and honest notes on hosting and cost.
goguma setup guide: the mobile IRC client done rightgoguma is the best IRC client on a phone, full stop — built around IRCv3 and the soju bouncer so history and notifications work like a modern messenger. Install links for Android and iOS, and the setup that makes it shine.
Halloy setup guide: config, servers, and the keybindings that matterA complete Halloy setup: install, connect to a network with SASL, configure multiple servers, wire up a soju bouncer, and the config.toml options worth knowing about — themes, notifications, and keybindings.
Halloy: a modern IRC client that feels like 2026Halloy is an open source IRC client written in Rust that finally looks and feels contemporary — fast, clean, IRCv3-capable, cross-platform. What it does well, what it skips, and how to set it up.
HexChat is dead — what to use instead in 2026HexChat's final release was February 2024; since then it has been delisted from Flathub and dropped from Debian testing. What that means for users, and the honest migration paths — Halloy, KVIrc, AdiIRC, Konversation — per platform and per temperament.
HexChat setup guide: from install to identified in ten minutesHexChat remains the friendliest graphical IRC client. Installation, the network list, SASL configuration, sensible settings, and the quirks worth knowing in 2026.
HydraIRC in 2026: is it still alive, and should you use it?HydraIRC is a free, open source Windows IRC client with its own HydraScript scripting language. It went dormant for years, then came back — here's its current status, what it does well, and who should actually pick it.
IRC clients for professionals: setups that never miss a messageIf IRC is where your team, your project or your infrastructure talks, "my laptop was asleep" is not an acceptable answer. The always-on setups that professionals actually run — hosted and self-hosted — with costs stated plainly.
IRCCloud explained: hosted IRC in the cloudIRCCloud keeps your IRC connection alive in the cloud: synced history, push notifications, polished apps everywhere. How it works, what the free tier limits, and the trade-offs of putting a company in the middle.
Irssi setup guide: the classic terminal client, configured properlyIrssi has been the terminal IRC client of record since 1999: lightweight, Perl-scriptable, indestructible. A modern configuration with TLS, SASL, autojoin, and the tmux pattern.
mIRC in 2026: the Windows classic, thirty years onmIRC turned thirty in 2025 and is still updated. What the most famous IRC client of all time offers today, the scripting culture it created, and an honest take on whether to choose it now.
Revolution IRC is unmaintained — what to use on Android in 2026Revolution IRC's last release was April 2023 and its Google Play listing is gone. The F-Droid build still works, but nothing is coming. What to install instead — goguma, IRCCloud, Quasseldroid — and how to move your networks across.
WeeChat setup guide: the terminal IRC client done rightWeeChat is the most capable terminal IRC client: scriptable, IRCv3-aware, with a relay protocol that can replace a bouncer. A modern setup from install to SASL to the essential keybindings.

comparisons

IRC vs Discord: an honest comparisonDiscord won the masses; IRC kept the infrastructure people. An honest comparison of the two — features, ownership, privacy, longevity — and a realistic take on which one fits which community.
IRC vs Matrix: two open chat protocols comparedIRC and Matrix are both open, federated-ish, and beloved by the same crowd — which makes choosing between them genuinely hard. A practical comparison of the two open chat protocols.
IRC vs Slack: what got reinvented and what got lostSlack famously began as a polished take on ideas IRC pioneered — channels, /commands, integrations. What Slack added, what it took away, and when each makes sense.

history

A history of IRC: from a Finnish university in 1988 to Libera.ChatAlmost nothing built on the 1980s internet is still in daily use. IRC is. The full arc — the summer it was written, live war reporting, the great network splits, the rise and fall of Freenode, and the stable niche it holds in 2026.
Freenode vs Libera.Chat: how the largest IRC network destroyed itself in 2021For twenty years Freenode WAS open-source IRC. In the spring of 2021 it came apart in three weeks. The full timeline of the takeover, the staff walkout that created Libera.Chat, the channel seizures and the database wipe — and what it means if your old docs still say "Freenode."
Is IRC dead in 2026? The actual numbers, not the vibesPeople have filed IRC's obituary every year since 2005. Here are the real 2026 numbers, what actually died, what didn't, and an honest answer to whether you should bother.
QuakeNet in 2026: is it still running, and what happened to it?QuakeNet is still online in 2026 — about 5,500 users, down from a record 243,394 at once in 2005. No, it did not "officially close in 2024," despite what auto-generated articles claim. Here's the real rise, fall, and what's left.

networks

DALnet: the network that gave IRC NickServ and ChanServEvery time you register a nickname on IRC, you're using an idea DALnet invented in 1994. The network that pioneered services, its reputation as the friendly one, and how to connect today.
EFnet: IRC's wild original, still runningEFnet is the direct descendant of the first IRC network — and still has no nickname registration, no channel services, no safety rails. How it works, why people love it, and how to survive there.
hackint: the IRC network of the European hacker scenehackint is the home network of the Chaos Computer Club and Europe's hacker community — conferences, CTF teams, security research. Small in headcount, large in influence. How to connect.
IRCnet: the European giant without a rulebookIRCnet split from EFnet in 1996 and remains one of the largest networks, strongest in Europe and the Nordics. No services, channel reops via !channels, and decades-old communities — a guide.
Libera.Chat: a complete guide to the largest IRC networkLibera.Chat is where open source lives on IRC: ~30,000 users, 22,000+ channels. Connecting, registering, cloaks, channel namespaces, and the policies — VPN, Tor, bots — that actually affect you.
OFTC: the quieter home of free software IRCOFTC hosts Debian, Tor, and a constellation of infrastructure projects — smaller and quieter than Libera, deliberately so. Connecting, registration, and how it differs in practice.
Rizon IRC server: anime, fansubs and a general-purpose networkRizon server address, port and webchat link, plus how to register with anope services, get a vhost, and what to know about the XDCC and fansub culture that makes Rizon what it is.
The 'Big Four' of IRC: what the term means and who's in it nowFor years, IRC's largest networks were grouped as the 'Big Four.' Who the term originally meant, how the lineup changed, and why it doesn't quite fit the 2026 landscape — where the biggest network didn't even exist until 2021.
The big IRC networks in 2026: a connect-ready list with server addressesEvery IRC network that still matters in 2026, in one table — what each is for, how many people are actually on it right now, the server address you paste into your client, and a link to the network's own site. Bookmark this one.
Undernet: the 1992 giant that's still one of IRC's largestUndernet split from the original IRC in 1992 and, three decades later, is still one of the biggest networks running — around 16,000 users. How it works, the X service, and why it never went FOSS-only.

news

bIRC is a new native macOS IRC client — and the timing could not be betterA genuinely new Mac client with deep IRCv3 support, bouncer compatibility, DCC and JavaScript scripting, arriving into a platform that just lost Textual and has been watching LimeChat rot. The catch: it is closed source.
Ergo 2.19.1 fixes three security holes — update your IRC server nowTwo high-severity authorization bugs and one SSRF, all affecting every Ergo release up to and including 2.19.0. Account suspensions could be bypassed and users could delete messages they had no right to touch. Upgrade to 2.19.1.
Halloy 2026.7 released, with a new Windows installerHalloy 2026.7 continues the monthly-ish cadence of the best modern IRC client — and swaps the Windows MSI for a per-user installer. Update paths for every platform.
Halloy 2026.8 released — channel monitor, in-app config editor, keyring supportThe July release adds a combined view of every joined channel, lets you edit the config without leaving the app, and moves passwords into the system keyring. Undo/redo in the input box too, which is rarer than it should be.
HexChat dropped from Debian testing, two years after its final releaseDebian has removed HexChat from testing, and Flathub has delisted it — the slow packaging goodbye that follows a discontinued upstream. What HexChat users on Linux should expect next.
IRC in the first half of 2026: what actually changedReplies and reactions became real IRC features this year, not experiments. Six dead clients were struck off the record, AI provenance got its first disclosure norm, and a Commodore 64 got an IRC client. The developments that actually reach users, and what they mean.
IRCv3 drops six abandoned clients from its support tablesHexChat, LimeChat, IceChat, Colloquy, Ambassador and Moon Moon were removed from ircv3.net on 7 August, each with a stated reason. It is the clearest single signal yet of which desktop clients the ecosystem now considers over.
IRCv3 now flags AI-assisted clients in its support tablesA small grey robot icon has appeared next to three entries on ircv3.net, meaning "development assisted using AI". The Lounge is one of them. The change landed on 4 August and is the first disclosure norm of its kind in IRC tooling.
mIRC 7.84 releasedThirty-one years in, mIRC keeps shipping: 7.84 is out with the usual mix of fixes and refinements. Where to get it, and why the update cadence itself is the story.
Palaver has disappeared from the App StorePalaver, one of the last classic native iOS IRC clients, was quietly removed from the App Store in early January. What its users should do, and what is left for IRC on iPhone.
Textual, the macOS IRC client, has been sunsetAfter fifteen years, Textual's developer has archived the repository and ended development. The final release is 7.2.7. What existing users should know, and where new Mac users should look instead.
The Lounge 4.5 is out — and now requires Node 22The Lounge 4.5 drops Node 18 support and requires Node 22 or newer. What self-hosters need to check before upgrading, and the patch releases that followed.
WeeChat 4.10 adds themes — and finally stops looking wrong on light terminalsA real theming system: a /theme command, themable config options, and a built-in light theme applied automatically the first time you start WeeChat in a light terminal. Plus faster /upgrade and a quicker chat area.
WeeChat 4.9.4 fixes two serious relay and logger vulnerabilitiesWeeChat 4.9.4 is a security release: an authentication bypass in the relay plugin and a path traversal in the logger. If you run a relay — and relay users are exactly who this hits — update now.
WeeChat 4.9.5: this time the bugs are not just in the relayA week after 4.9.4, WeeChat shipped three more advisories — and two of them are in the IRC plugin itself, triggered by traffic from the server you are connected to. One affects every version since 0.3.6. Update.

reference

DCC explained: IRC's peer-to-peer file transfersDCC lets two IRC users connect directly for chat and file transfer, with the server only brokering the handshake. How it works, why it fights with NAT, and the safety rules that never expired.
IRC channel modes explained+t, +n, +m, +i, +k, +b — channel modes are IRC's entire moderation toolkit compressed into single letters. What each one does, how lists and parameters work, and which modes vary by network.
IRC commands cheat sheetEvery IRC command you'll actually use, in one page: joining and leaving channels, private messages, registering with NickServ, ChanServ operator commands, and the channel modes you'll run into. Works the same in HexChat, WeeChat, Irssi, mIRC, or any web client.
IRC glossary: every term you'll run intoOp, voice, k-line, CTCP, ghost, cloak, services — IRC has three decades of jargon. An alphabetical glossary of the terms you will actually encounter.
IRC user modes explainedChannel modes get all the attention, but users have modes too: invisibility, cloaking, TLS markers, wallops. What the common user modes do and which ones are worth setting.
The IRC protocol explained: the whole thing fits on one pageThe IRC protocol specification, explained in plain language: the port (6697 with TLS), the message format, the handshake, the commands that matter, numeric replies, and how IRCv3 bolted on the modern bits — short enough to read in one sitting.
The WEBIRC command explainedWEBIRC is the command a web gateway sends before anything else, telling the IRC server who is really on the other end. The syntax, why bans would otherwise be useless, and what an operator has to configure to trust it.
What is a netsplit?Half the channel just quit at the same instant — congratulations, you have witnessed a netsplit. What netsplits are, why they happen, and why a wave of simultaneous quits is nothing to worry about.
What is IRCv3? The quiet modernization of IRCIRC's protocol froze in the 1990s — officially. Unofficially, the IRCv3 working group has spent the last decade retrofitting modern chat features: message history, reactions-ready tags, better auth, and — as recently as 2026 — a browser-native transport. What IRCv3 is and what it changes.
XDCC explained: how IRC file-serving bots workXDCC is a bot sitting in a channel with a numbered list of files, handing them out over a direct connection. The commands, what a pack number is, why the search engines exist — and the safety and legal reality.

servers

Ergo setup guide: a modern IRC server in one eveningErgo packs server, services, and message history into a single Go binary with one YAML config. A practical walkthrough: install, TLS, registration, history, and the settings worth changing before inviting people.
Host your own IRC webchatPutting a "chat with us" button on your project's site, from a copy-paste embed that needs no server to a self-hosted KiwiIRC or qwebirc gateway — and the WEBIRC step people forget until the bans start landing.
How to run your own IRC server in 2026A private IRC server for your community is a one-evening project in 2026. Choosing between Ergo, InspIRCd, UnrealIRCd and solanum, what hardware you need (almost none), and the decisions to make before launch.
IRC server software compared: Solanum, UnrealIRCd, InspIRCd, Ergo and friendsThe IRCd is the program that *is* the server. Which one the big networks run, which one to pick for your own, and the one real architectural fork in the road — classic federated daemons versus the modern all-in-one Ergo.