Anope vs Solanum
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Anope | Solanum |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 77 · Good | 71 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 365 | ★ 262 |
| First released | 2003 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Anope and Solanum?
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
Solanum
Solanum is an IRCv3 server daemon descended from the Charybdis lineage. It is the software that powers the Libera.Chat IRC network and is suitable for running large IRC infrastructures.
- Powers Libera.Chat
- IRCv3 protocol support
- Scales to large networks
- Charybdis-derived codebase
Anope vs Solanum: key differences
Anope is written in C++, while Solanum is built with C. Anope is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Solanum. Anope is the more established project (first released 2003), while Solanum arrived in 2020.
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 Solanum if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Anope or Solanum better?
Anope is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Solanum if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Anope and Solanum free and open-source?
Yes. Anope is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Solanum under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Anope and Solanum with Docker?
Anope: check the project docs for container support. Solanum: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Anope or Solanum?
Anope has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Solanum. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.