Charybdis IRCd vs Tox
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 | Tox |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 7 · At risk | 86 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 230 | ★ 2,685 |
| First released | 2008 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Skype, Discord |
What are Charybdis IRCd and Tox?
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
Tox
Tox is a free, peer-to-peer instant messaging protocol with end-to-end encryption and no central servers. The c-toxcore library is the reference implementation that powers a range of Tox clients.
- Fully peer-to-peer
- End-to-end encryption
- No central servers
- Voice and video calls
Charybdis IRCd vs Tox: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Charybdis IRCd's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Tox is actively maintained. Both projects are written in C. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Charybdis IRCd versus GPL-3.0 for Tox. Charybdis IRCd is the more established project (first released 2008), while Tox arrived in 2013. Tox has the considerably larger community, at 2,685 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 Tox if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Charybdis IRCd or Tox better?
Neither is universally better. Tox has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Charybdis IRCd and Tox free and open-source?
Yes. Charybdis IRCd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tox under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Charybdis IRCd and Tox with Docker?
Charybdis IRCd: check the project docs for container support. Tox: check the project docs for container support.