irssi vs Openfire
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
irssi
Modular terminal IRC client with scripting
VS
Openfire
Real-time collaboration XMPP server written in Java
| Feature | irssi | Openfire |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,129 | ★ 3,052 |
| First released | 1999 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Slack | Slack, 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
Frequently asked questions
Is irssi or Openfire 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 Openfire free and open-source?
Yes. irssi is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run irssi and Openfire with Docker?
irssi: check the project docs for container support. Openfire: yes.