Anope vs Miaou
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Anope | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 77 · Good | 65 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 365 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 2003 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack | Discord, Slack |
What are Anope and Miaou?
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
Miaou
Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.
- Markdown and code-block friendly chat
- Multi-room with moderation
- OAuth login support
- Popular with developer communities
Anope vs Miaou: key differences
Anope is written in C++, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Anope versus MIT for Miaou. Anope is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Miaou. Anope is the more established project (first released 2003), while Miaou arrived in 2014.
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 Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Anope or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Miaou has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Anope and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. Anope is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Anope and Miaou with Docker?
Anope: check the project docs for container support. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Anope or Miaou?
Anope has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Miaou. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.