Glowing Bear vs KiwiIRC
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Glowing Bear | KiwiIRC |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 978 | ★ 989 |
| First released | 2014 | 2011 |
| Replaces | IRCCloud, Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Glowing Bear and KiwiIRC?
Glowing Bear
Glowing Bear is a web front end that connects to a WeeChat relay, giving the powerful WeeChat IRC client a modern browser interface. It supports notifications, themes, and mobile use.
- WeeChat relay front end
- Browser-based IRC
- Push notifications
- Theme support
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
Glowing Bear vs KiwiIRC: key differences
Glowing Bear is written in JavaScript, while KiwiIRC is built with Vue. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Glowing Bear versus Apache-2.0 for KiwiIRC. Glowing Bear 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 Glowing Bear arrived in 2014.
Why pick each one
Choose Glowing Bear if…
- Leverages WeeChat power
- Works on mobile browsers
Watch out for
- Requires WeeChat relay
- IRC focused
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 Glowing Bear or KiwiIRC better?
Neither is universally better. KiwiIRC has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Glowing Bear and KiwiIRC free and open-source?
Yes. Glowing Bear is licensed under GPL-3.0 and KiwiIRC under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glowing Bear and KiwiIRC with Docker?
Glowing Bear: yes. KiwiIRC: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glowing Bear or KiwiIRC?
Glowing Bear 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.