irssi vs Soketi

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?
FeatureirssiSoketi
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageCTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM32 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 3,129★ 5,631
First released19992021
ReplacesSlackPusher

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
irssi details

Choose Soketi if…

  • Drop-in Pusher replacement
  • Lightweight
Soketi details

Frequently asked questions

Is irssi or Soketi better?

Soketi is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider irssi if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are irssi and Soketi free and open-source?

Yes. irssi is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Soketi under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run irssi and Soketi with Docker?

irssi: check the project docs for container support. Soketi: yes.

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