Best IRC clients for Linux in 2026

Linux is where IRC lives, so it is mildly embarrassing that the standard desktop recommendation spent a decade being HexChat — a client that stopped development in February 2024, was delisted from Flathub, and was dropped from Debian testing in January 2026. The distributions have noticed even where the listicles have not. Here is the maintained field. (Terminal clients are half the story on this platform and get their own page; this one is the GUI side.)

At a glance #

Client	Toolkit	Status	Install
Halloy	Iced (Rust)	Very active — June 2026	Flathub · Snap
Konversation	Qt/KDE	Active — monthly releases	Flathub · distro repos
Polari	GTK/GNOME	Active — GNOME 50, May 2026	Flathub · distro repos
Srain	GTK	Marginal — 1.8.1, 2025	Flathub (unverified publisher)
KVIrc	Qt	Alive — Dec 2025	distro repos · kvirc.net
HexChat	GTK	Discontinued Feb 2024	still in Debian stable/Ubuntu/Fedora repos, on borrowed time

Halloy — start here #

The strongest GUI recommendation on Linux is Halloy, for the same reasons as everywhere else — fast, modern, actively developed, first-class IRCv3.

It is on Flathub with a verified publisher and monthly-ish releases, which after the HexChat episode is worth something.

TOML configuration means your setup rides along in your dotfiles.

Download (free):

• Flathub
• Snap
• halloy.chat — all install options

More in the first look.

Konversation — the KDE citizen #

For twenty years, Konversation has been the sane KDE choice — and still is: comfortable defaults, proper KDE integration, and — a genuine rarity on this list — a monthly release cadence as part of KDE Gear. It will not win a modernity contest with Halloy, but it has never needed to; it simply keeps working and keeps shipping.

Download (free):

• your distribution's repositories
• Flathub

Polari — the GNOME citizen #

IRC dressed as a GNOME core app: Polari is minimal, pretty, and opinionated to the point of hiding most of what makes IRC IRC. For a casual presence in two channels it is genuinely pleasant; power users will hit its walls within the hour. It is released on GNOME's cadence — 50.0 arrived with GNOME 50 in May 2026.

Download (free):

• your distribution's repositories
• Flathub

Srain — the small one #

A footnote worth having: Srain is a small GTK client with IRCv3 ambitions and a 2025 release, maintained by a very small team. Worth a look if the citizens above feel too big and Halloy too new; do not build a workflow on it.

Download (free):

• srain.silverrainz.me
• Flathub — community-published, and flagged as such

HexChat — where its users stand #

Yes, HexChat still works today, and on Linux the situation is more graceful than on Windows — your distribution's build at least gets rebuilt. But the direction is one-way: development ended in February 2024, Flathub delisted it, Debian dropped it from testing in January 2026 (it remains in Debian 13 stable, Ubuntu and Fedora for now), and each release cycle will subtract another distribution.

No panic required; migration advice when you are ready: HexChat is dead — what to use instead.

The rest of the field #

KVIrc #

At 5.2.10 (December 2025), KVIrc remains the maximalist Qt option, scripting language included — the closest thing to a HexChat-degree of knobs still being maintained.

Download: your distribution's repositories · kvirc.net — free.

Quassel #

The split core/client design of Quassel has aged into dormancy — no stable release since January 2022. goguma plus soju does the same trick better now.

The Lounge #

Not a desktop app at all — but The Lounge is the best answer for anyone who wants one IRC setup shared between their Linux desktop, laptop and phone.

Recommendations #

• Most people: Halloy from Flathub.
• KDE desktop: Konversation — it matches the furniture.
• GNOME, casual use: Polari.
• Leaving HexChat, want knobs: KVIrc.
• Actually a terminal person: you knew before reading — WeeChat or Irssi.

And the standard day-one trio applies: TLS, SASL, registered nick — start here.