KiwiIRC vs Spacebar
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Spacebar
Self-hostable, open-source Discord-compatible chat backend
| Feature | KiwiIRC | Spacebar |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 57 · Fair | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Vue | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 989 | ★ 2,196 |
| First released | 2011 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Discord |
What are KiwiIRC and Spacebar?
KiwiIRC
KiwiIRC is a fully featured IRC client that runs in the browser and can be embedded into any website. It includes a webircgateway component for self-hosting your own embeddable IRC chat.
- Embeddable web IRC widget
- Themeable interface
- Plugin system
- Works without browser plugins
Spacebar
Spacebar is a free, open-source, self-hostable chat platform that is compatible with the Discord client and API. It lets communities run their own Discord-like server infrastructure.
- Discord-API compatible
- Works with existing Discord clients
- Self-hosted communities
- Voice and text channels
KiwiIRC vs Spacebar: key differences
KiwiIRC is written in Vue, while Spacebar is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for KiwiIRC versus AGPL-3.0 for Spacebar. KiwiIRC is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Spacebar. KiwiIRC is the more established project (first released 2011), while Spacebar arrived in 2021. Spacebar has the considerably larger community, at 2,196 GitHub stars versus 989.
Why pick each one
Choose KiwiIRC if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Vue
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- IRC-only
- Needs gateway for direct connections
Choose Spacebar if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Watch out for
- Still in heavy development
- Feature gaps versus Discord
Frequently asked questions
Is KiwiIRC or Spacebar better?
Neither is universally better. Spacebar has the larger community, while KiwiIRC is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are KiwiIRC and Spacebar free and open-source?
Yes. KiwiIRC is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Spacebar under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run KiwiIRC and Spacebar with Docker?
KiwiIRC: yes. Spacebar: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, KiwiIRC or Spacebar?
KiwiIRC has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Spacebar. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.