Charybdis IRCd vs Miaou
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 | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 7 · At risk | 65 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 230 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 2008 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Discord, Slack |
What are Charybdis IRCd and Miaou?
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
Miaou
Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.
- Markdown and code-block friendly chat
- Multi-room with moderation
- OAuth login support
- Popular with developer communities
Charybdis IRCd vs Miaou: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Charybdis IRCd's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Miaou is actively maintained. Charybdis IRCd is written in C, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Charybdis IRCd versus MIT for Miaou. Charybdis IRCd is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Miaou. Charybdis IRCd is the more established project (first released 2008), while Miaou arrived in 2014. Miaou has the considerably larger community, at 553 GitHub stars versus 230.
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 Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Charybdis IRCd or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Miaou has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Charybdis IRCd and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. Charybdis IRCd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Charybdis IRCd and Miaou with Docker?
Charybdis IRCd: check the project docs for container support. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Charybdis IRCd or Miaou?
Charybdis IRCd has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Miaou. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.