SHSelfHostIndex

Remark42 vs irssi

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?
RE Remark42 Privacy-focused lightweight commenting engine VS IR irssi Modular terminal IRC client with scripting
FeatureRemark42irssi
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB32 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,574★ 3,129
First released20171999
ReplacesDisqusSlack

Why pick each one

Choose Remark42 if…

  • Privacy-respecting
  • Simple single-binary deploy
Remark42 details

Choose irssi if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
irssi details

Frequently asked questions

Is Remark42 or irssi better?

Remark42 is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider irssi if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Remark42 and irssi free and open-source?

Yes. Remark42 is licensed under MIT and irssi under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Remark42 and irssi with Docker?

Remark42: yes. irssi: check the project docs for container support.

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