Charybdis IRCd vs Mumble

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?
FeatureCharybdis IRCdMumble
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-2.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguageCC++
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM64 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 230★ 8,175
First released20082005
ReplacesDiscord, SlackDiscord, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo

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
Charybdis IRCd details

Choose Mumble if…

  • Excellent voice quality
  • Tiny resource footprint
Mumble details

Frequently asked questions

Is Charybdis IRCd or Mumble better?

Mumble is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Charybdis IRCd if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Charybdis IRCd and Mumble free and open-source?

Yes. Charybdis IRCd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Mumble under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Charybdis IRCd and Mumble with Docker?

Charybdis IRCd: check the project docs for container support. Mumble: yes.

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