Ergo vs KiwiIRC
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Ergo
Modern IRC server with IRCv3 and bouncer features
VS
KiwiIRC
Hosted-anywhere modern web IRC client
| Feature | Ergo | KiwiIRC |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,333 | ★ 989 |
| First released | 2016 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord |
What are Ergo and KiwiIRC?
Ergo
Ergo, formerly known as Oragono, is a modern IRC server written in Go that combines an IRCd with bouncer-like features. It supports IRCv3, has built-in account management, and stores message history.
- Full IRCv3 support
- Built-in account registration
- Persistent message history
- Single binary deployment
KiwiIRC
KiwiIRC is a fully featured IRC client that runs in the browser and can be embedded into any website. It includes a webircgateway component for self-hosting your own embeddable IRC chat.
- Embeddable web IRC widget
- Themeable interface
- Plugin system
- Works without browser plugins
Ergo vs KiwiIRC: key differences
Ergo is written in Go, while KiwiIRC is built with Vue. Licensing differs — MIT for Ergo versus Apache-2.0 for KiwiIRC. Ergo is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for KiwiIRC. KiwiIRC is the more established project (first released 2011), while Ergo arrived in 2016. Ergo has the considerably larger community, at 3,333 GitHub stars versus 989.
Why pick each one
Choose Ergo if…
- No external services needed
- Easy to run
Watch out for
- IRC protocol limitations
- No web UI included
Choose KiwiIRC if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Vue
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- IRC-only
- Needs gateway for direct connections
Frequently asked questions
Is Ergo or KiwiIRC better?
Neither is universally better. Ergo has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ergo and KiwiIRC free and open-source?
Yes. Ergo is licensed under MIT and KiwiIRC under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ergo and KiwiIRC with Docker?
Ergo: yes. KiwiIRC: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Ergo or KiwiIRC?
Ergo has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for KiwiIRC. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.