ircu2 vs Tox
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | ircu2 | Tox |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 51 · Fair | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 64 | ★ 2,685 |
| First released | 1996 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Skype, Discord |
What are ircu2 and Tox?
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
Tox
Tox is a free, peer-to-peer instant messaging protocol with end-to-end encryption and no central servers. The c-toxcore library is the reference implementation that powers a range of Tox clients.
- Fully peer-to-peer
- End-to-end encryption
- No central servers
- Voice and video calls
ircu2 vs Tox: key differences
Both projects are written in C. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for ircu2 versus GPL-3.0 for Tox. Ircu2 is the more established project (first released 1996), while Tox arrived in 2013. Tox has the considerably larger community, at 2,685 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 Tox if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ircu2 or Tox better?
Neither is universally better. Tox has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ircu2 and Tox free and open-source?
Yes. ircu2 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tox under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ircu2 and Tox with Docker?
ircu2: check the project docs for container support. Tox: check the project docs for container support.