ircu2 vs Solanum
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | ircu2 | Solanum |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 51 · Fair | 71 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 64 | ★ 262 |
| First released | 1996 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are ircu2 and Solanum?
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
Solanum
Solanum is an IRCv3 server daemon descended from the Charybdis lineage. It is the software that powers the Libera.Chat IRC network and is suitable for running large IRC infrastructures.
- Powers Libera.Chat
- IRCv3 protocol support
- Scales to large networks
- Charybdis-derived codebase
ircu2 vs Solanum: key differences
Both projects are written in C. Ircu2 is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Solanum. Ircu2 is the more established project (first released 1996), while Solanum arrived in 2020. Solanum has the considerably larger community, at 262 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 Solanum if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ircu2 or Solanum better?
Neither is universally better. Solanum has the larger community, while ircu2 is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ircu2 and Solanum free and open-source?
Yes. ircu2 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Solanum under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ircu2 and Solanum with Docker?
ircu2: check the project docs for container support. Solanum: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, ircu2 or Solanum?
ircu2 has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Solanum. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.