Berty vs ircd-hybrid
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Berty
Peer-to-peer messaging app that works offline
VS
ircd-hybrid
Lightweight and stable IRC server daemon
| Feature | Berty | ircd-hybrid |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2018 | 1997 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Slack, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose Berty if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose ircd-hybrid if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or ircd-hybrid better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while ircd-hybrid is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and ircd-hybrid free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ircd-hybrid under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and ircd-hybrid with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. ircd-hybrid: check the project docs for container support.