Charybdis IRCd vs Glowing Bear
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Charybdis IRCd | Glowing Bear |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 7 · At risk | 62 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 230 | ★ 978 |
| First released | 2008 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | IRCCloud, Slack |
What are Charybdis IRCd and Glowing Bear?
Charybdis IRCd
Charybdis is an IRCv3-capable IRC server daemon descended from ratbox, designed to power large IRC networks. It has been used as the basis for several other IRC server projects and is fully self-hostable.
- IRCv3-capable IRC server
- Designed for large networks
- Basis for other IRC daemons
Glowing Bear
Glowing Bear is a web front end that connects to a WeeChat relay, giving the powerful WeeChat IRC client a modern browser interface. It supports notifications, themes, and mobile use.
- WeeChat relay front end
- Browser-based IRC
- Push notifications
- Theme support
Charybdis IRCd vs Glowing Bear: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Charybdis IRCd's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Glowing Bear is actively maintained. Charybdis IRCd is written in C, while Glowing Bear is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Charybdis IRCd versus GPL-3.0 for Glowing Bear. Charybdis IRCd is the more established project (first released 2008), while Glowing Bear arrived in 2014. Glowing Bear has the considerably larger community, at 978 GitHub stars versus 230. Glowing Bear lists first-class Docker deployment; Charybdis IRCd does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Charybdis IRCd if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Glowing Bear if…
- Leverages WeeChat power
- Works on mobile browsers
Watch out for
- Requires WeeChat relay
- IRC focused
Frequently asked questions
Is Charybdis IRCd or Glowing Bear better?
Neither is universally better. Glowing Bear has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Charybdis IRCd and Glowing Bear free and open-source?
Yes. Charybdis IRCd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Glowing Bear under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Charybdis IRCd and Glowing Bear with Docker?
Charybdis IRCd: check the project docs for container support. Glowing Bear: yes.