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.
Not the right match-up?
KiwiIRC
Hosted-anywhere modern web IRC client
VS
Spacebar
Self-hostable, open-source Discord-compatible chat backend
| Feature | KiwiIRC | Spacebar |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 982 | ★ 2,189 |
| First released | 2011 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Discord |
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
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
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.