Etherpad vs ngIRCd
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?
Etherpad
Real-time collaborative document editor
VS
ngIRCd
Lightweight Unix IRC server that is easy to configure
| Feature | Etherpad | ngIRCd |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 18,481 | ★ 574 |
| First released | 2011 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Google Docs | Slack |
Why pick each one
Choose ngIRCd if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Etherpad or ngIRCd better?
Neither is universally better. Etherpad has the larger community, while ngIRCd is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Etherpad and ngIRCd free and open-source?
Yes. Etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ngIRCd under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Etherpad and ngIRCd with Docker?
Etherpad: yes. ngIRCd: check the project docs for container support.