Charybdis IRCd vs ircu2
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 | ircu2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 7 · At risk | 51 · Fair |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 230 | ★ 64 |
| First released | 2008 | 1996 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Discord, Slack |
What are Charybdis IRCd and ircu2?
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
ircu2
ircu2 (ircd-undernet) is the IRC server daemon developed for and used by the Undernet IRC network. It can be self-hosted to run an IRC network and supports a feature-rich channel and server model.
- IRC server used by Undernet
- Feature-rich channel model
- Lightweight C daemon
Charybdis IRCd vs ircu2: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Charybdis IRCd's repository is archived and no longer developed, while ircu2 is actively maintained. Both projects are written in C. Ircu2 is the more established project (first released 1996), while Charybdis IRCd arrived in 2008. Charybdis IRCd has the considerably larger community, at 230 GitHub stars versus 64.
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 ircu2 if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Charybdis IRCd or ircu2 better?
Neither is universally better. Charybdis IRCd has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Charybdis IRCd and ircu2 free and open-source?
Yes. Charybdis IRCd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and ircu2 under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Charybdis IRCd and ircu2 with Docker?
Charybdis IRCd: check the project docs for container support. ircu2: check the project docs for container support.