Berty vs ngIRCd
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
ngIRCd
Lightweight Unix IRC server that is easy to configure
| Feature | Berty | ngIRCd |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 574 |
| First released | 2018 | 2001 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Slack |
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 ngIRCd if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or ngIRCd better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while ngIRCd is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and ngIRCd free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ngIRCd under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and ngIRCd with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. ngIRCd: check the project docs for container support.