Best web IRC clients in 2026 (and what replaced Mibbit)
Updated July 22, 2026
A generation of users got onto IRC through Mibbit, which makes its quiet shutdown in August 2024 a small landmark: the era of "just use the webchat someone else runs" giving way to webchats you run — or pay for — yourself. That is less convenient and considerably better, because the modern web clients are also persistence solutions: the browser tab is a window onto a connection that survives the tab.
At a glance
| Client | Hosting | Price | Persistence | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lounge | Self-hosted (Node.js) | Free | Yes — it stays connected | thelounge.chat |
| IRCCloud | Their cloud | Free / $6 per month | Yes — on their servers | irccloud.com |
| gamja | Self-hosted (static) | Free | With a soju bouncer | codeberg.org/emersion/gamja |
| KiwiIRC | Self-host or network-hosted | Free | No (direct connection) | kiwiirc.com |
The Lounge — the self-hosted default
Both halves of a modern IRC setup live in one Node.js process here: The Lounge is a polished web client and an always-on connection that keeps history while you are away. Open it on your desktop, add it to your phone's home screen as a PWA, and one small server serves your whole household. Actively maintained (4.5.2 shipped July 2026 — note version 4.5 requires Node 22).
Get it: thelounge.chat — free, npm or Docker. Installation, reverse proxy included, in the setup guide.
IRCCloud — the hosted one
The Lounge's proposition with the ops outsourced: IRCCloud's servers hold your connection, their apps and web UI are the windows, push notifications and synced history included. Free until you idle for two hours; permanently connected at $6 per month or $60 per year. You accept a company in the middle; you get back every hour you would have spent on a VPS. The full picture.
Get it:
- irccloud.com — sign up in the browser
- Android app — free
- iOS app — free
gamja — the soju frontend
From the soju/goguma developer, gamja is a deliberately small static web client — a handful of files you drop behind a web server, pointed at a soju bouncer. No Node process, no database; the bouncer does the remembering and gamja does the showing. The natural web face of the soju ecosystem, and the lightest thing on this page by an order of magnitude.
Get it: codeberg.org/emersion/gamja — free, static files.
KiwiIRC and network webchats
Many of the webchats networks embed on their own sites run on KiwiIRC — Libera.Chat's among them. It is what most people mean by "IRC in the browser without an account anywhere". As a drop-in door to a network it is exactly right; as a daily client it forgets you when the tab closes, which is the difference between it and everything above. Fine for a first visit — how to join a channel — and fine forever for the occasional drop-in.
Recommendations
- Own a VPS or a Raspberry Pi: The Lounge — the best web IRC currently gets.
- Want it hosted and don't mind paying: IRCCloud.
- Already run soju: gamja next to it.
- Just visiting a channel once: the network's own webchat, and no setup at all — the browser how-to covers every door in.