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Halloy: a modern IRC client that feels like 2026

Updated June 4, 2026

Most IRC clients look like the year they were born, and most were born before 2010. Halloy is the exception: an open source client written in Rust (using the Iced GUI toolkit), under active development, that looks like software designed this decade — and behaves like it, with first-class IRCv3 support.

What stands out

  • Speed and footprint. Native code, instant startup, low memory — the anti-Electron.
  • Modern protocol support. SASL, chathistory, server-time and friends; paired with a soju bouncer you get proper scrollback across devices.
  • A pane-based layout. Multiple channels visible side by side, arranged freely — terminal-multiplexer thinking with GUI polish.
  • Text-file configuration. Settings live in a readable TOML file, which means your setup is versionable and portable. A config UI also exists for the allergic.
  • Cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, same experience.

Setup in five minutes

Download from the project site (or your package manager — Homebrew, Flathub and others carry it). The default config already includes Libera.Chat; make it yours by editing config.toml:

[servers.liberachat]
nickname = "yournick"
server = "irc.libera.chat"
port = 6697
use_tls = true
channels = ["#yourchannel"]

[servers.liberachat.sasl.plain]
username = "youraccount"
password = "yourpassword"

Restart, and you are connected, identified (registration guide) and joined. Highlights, notifications, themes and the pane layout are all further keys in the same file — the documentation lists them exhaustively.

What it deliberately is not

Halloy is an IRC client, not a kitchen sink: no script engine to rival mIRC's or WeeChat's, no DCC bells, fewer knobs than the twenty-year veterans. The project's taste is visible precisely in what it leaves out — the result is a client you can hand to someone who has never seen IRC without apologizing for anything.

Who it is for

Anyone whose reaction to existing GUI clients was "this looks ancient": Halloy removes that objection completely. macOS users who found nothing native they liked. And experienced users who want a clean second client next to their terminal setup. It is the easiest client to recommend in the 2026 lineup — and the strongest sign in years that IRC's client ecosystem is alive.