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IRC in 2026: the complete guide to Internet Relay Chat

Updated July 15, 2026

IRC — Internet Relay Chat — is the original internet chat protocol, created in 1988, older than the web, and still carrying well over 150,000 people at any given moment in 2026. It's where most open-source projects keep their official channels, it runs in a terminal over a connection held together with tape, and no company can buy it out from under you.

This is the map of everything here. If you're brand new, just read what IRC is and then join a channel — that's all it takes to be chatting. Everything below is for when you want to go deeper.

Start here: the five-minute version

  1. What is IRC? — the whole idea in one read.
  2. How to join an IRC channel — from zero to talking.
  3. Use IRC in your browser — try it with nothing to install.
  4. Register a nickname — claim your identity once you're hooked.

Understand IRC

The background — what it is, where it came from, and whether it's worth your time at all.

Use IRC

Getting on, getting comfortable, and not embarrassing yourself.

Pick a client

There's a client for every taste — terminal, desktop, phone, browser.

Networks: where to actually go

Hundreds of networks exist; a dozen matter. This is the part most people come for.

Stay online and connected

Plain IRC forgets everything when you disconnect. Here's how everyone fixes that.

Run and build

For when you want to be on the other side of the connection.

How IRC compares

The honest comparisons with the platforms people ask about.

ircbits is an independent, regularly-updated reference for Internet Relay Chat. Network statistics are drawn from public crawls (chiefly netsplit.de) and refreshed as they change. Spot something out of date? IRC moves slowly, but it does move — and we'd rather be correct than comprehensive.