irssi vs Nextcloud Talk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
irssi
Modular terminal IRC client with scripting
VS
Nextcloud Talk
Chat, video calls and webinars integrated into Nextcloud
| Feature | irssi | Nextcloud Talk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,129 | ★ 2,172 |
| First released | 1999 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Slack | Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams |
Why pick each one
Choose irssi if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Choose Nextcloud Talk if…
- Tight Nextcloud integration
- End-to-end encrypted calls
Frequently asked questions
Is irssi or Nextcloud Talk better?
Neither is universally better. irssi has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are irssi and Nextcloud Talk free and open-source?
Yes. irssi is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Nextcloud Talk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run irssi and Nextcloud Talk with Docker?
irssi: check the project docs for container support. Nextcloud Talk: yes.