Bonfire 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 | Bonfire | ircu2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 51 · Fair |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Elixir | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 943 | ★ 64 |
| First released | 2020 | 1996 |
| Replaces | Facebook Groups, Discord | Discord, Slack |
What are Bonfire and ircu2?
Bonfire
Bonfire is a flexible, modular framework for building federated social networks and digital communities. It supports ActivityPub federation and is highly customizable through extensions.
- Modular extension architecture
- ActivityPub federation
- Customizable community flavors
- Privacy-focused design
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
Bonfire vs ircu2: key differences
Bonfire is written in Elixir, while ircu2 is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Bonfire versus GPL-2.0 for ircu2. Ircu2 is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Bonfire. Ircu2 is the more established project (first released 1996), while Bonfire arrived in 2020. Bonfire has the considerably larger community, at 943 GitHub stars versus 64. Bonfire lists first-class Docker deployment; ircu2 does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Bonfire if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Elixir
Watch out for
- Still maturing
- Complex to configure
Choose ircu2 if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Bonfire or ircu2 better?
Neither is universally better. Bonfire has the larger community, while ircu2 is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bonfire and ircu2 free and open-source?
Yes. Bonfire is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ircu2 under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bonfire and ircu2 with Docker?
Bonfire: yes. ircu2: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Bonfire or ircu2?
ircu2 has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Bonfire. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.