ircu2 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 | ircu2 | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 51 · Fair | 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 | ★ 64 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 1996 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Discord, Slack |
What are ircu2 and Miaou?
ircu2
ircu2 (ircd-undernet) is the IRC server daemon developed for and used by the Undernet IRC network. It can be self-hosted to run an IRC network and supports a feature-rich channel and server model.
- IRC server used by Undernet
- Feature-rich channel model
- Lightweight C daemon
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
ircu2 vs Miaou: key differences
Ircu2 is written in C, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for ircu2 versus MIT for Miaou. Ircu2 is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Miaou. Ircu2 is the more established project (first released 1996), while Miaou arrived in 2014. Miaou has the considerably larger community, at 553 GitHub stars versus 64.
Why pick each one
Choose ircu2 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 ircu2 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 ircu2 and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. ircu2 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ircu2 and Miaou with Docker?
ircu2: check the project docs for container support. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, ircu2 or Miaou?
ircu2 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.