Anope vs KiwiIRC
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Anope | KiwiIRC |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 77 · Good | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 365 | ★ 989 |
| First released | 2003 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Anope and KiwiIRC?
Anope
Anope is a set of IRC services that provides NickServ, ChanServ, and related registration features for IRC networks. It works with most major IRCd implementations and supports SQL and LDAP backends.
- NickServ and ChanServ
- Works with many IRCds
- SQL and LDAP integration
- Web panel available
KiwiIRC
KiwiIRC is a fully featured IRC client that runs in the browser and can be embedded into any website. It includes a webircgateway component for self-hosting your own embeddable IRC chat.
- Embeddable web IRC widget
- Themeable interface
- Plugin system
- Works without browser plugins
Anope vs KiwiIRC: key differences
Anope is written in C++, while KiwiIRC is built with Vue. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Anope versus Apache-2.0 for KiwiIRC. Anope is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for KiwiIRC. Anope is the more established project (first released 2003), while KiwiIRC arrived in 2011. KiwiIRC has the considerably larger community, at 989 GitHub stars versus 365. KiwiIRC lists first-class Docker deployment; Anope does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Anope if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose KiwiIRC if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Vue
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- IRC-only
- Needs gateway for direct connections
Frequently asked questions
Is Anope or KiwiIRC better?
Neither is universally better. KiwiIRC has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Anope and KiwiIRC free and open-source?
Yes. Anope is licensed under GPL-2.0 and KiwiIRC under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Anope and KiwiIRC with Docker?
Anope: check the project docs for container support. KiwiIRC: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Anope or KiwiIRC?
Anope has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for KiwiIRC. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.