ircd-hybrid vs Miaou
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | ircd-hybrid | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 69 · Good | 65 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 1997 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Discord, Slack |
What are ircd-hybrid and Miaou?
ircd-hybrid
ircd-hybrid is a long-standing IRC server daemon known for stability and a lightweight footprint. It supports modern IRC features and modular extensions, and can be self-hosted to run an IRC network.
- Stable lightweight IRC daemon
- Modular extensions
- Long-standing project
Miaou
Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.
- Markdown and code-block friendly chat
- Multi-room with moderation
- OAuth login support
- Popular with developer communities
ircd-hybrid vs Miaou: key differences
Ircd-hybrid is written in C, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for ircd-hybrid versus MIT for Miaou. Ircd-hybrid is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Miaou. Ircd-hybrid is the more established project (first released 1997), while Miaou arrived in 2014. Miaou has the considerably larger community, at 553 GitHub stars versus 200.
Why pick each one
Choose ircd-hybrid if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ircd-hybrid or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Miaou has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ircd-hybrid and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. ircd-hybrid is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ircd-hybrid and Miaou with Docker?
ircd-hybrid: check the project docs for container support. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, ircd-hybrid or Miaou?
ircd-hybrid has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Miaou. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.