SHSelfHostIndex

Miaou vs The Lounge

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?
MI Miaou Self-hosted multi-room chat with markdown and code blocks VS The Lounge Modern, self-hosted web IRC client
FeatureMiaouThe Lounge
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectUnder-an-hour setup
Health score65 · Good91 · Excellent
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageJavaScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 553★ 6,336
First released20142014
ReplacesDiscord, SlackIRCCloud, Slack

What are Miaou and The Lounge?

Miaou

Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.

  • Markdown and code-block friendly chat
  • Multi-room with moderation
  • OAuth login support
  • Popular with developer communities

The Lounge

The Lounge is a modern web-based IRC client that you host yourself, staying always connected and synchronizing across devices. It offers a responsive interface accessible from any browser.

  • Always-on IRC connection
  • Synchronized multi-device experience
  • Responsive web and mobile UI
  • Push notifications

Read the full The Lounge guide →

Miaou vs The Lounge: key differences

Miaou is written in JavaScript, while The Lounge is built with TypeScript. The Lounge has the considerably larger community, at 6,336 GitHub stars versus 553. The Lounge lists first-class Docker deployment; Miaou does not.

Why pick each one

Choose Miaou if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Written in JavaScript
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Miaou details

Choose The Lounge if…

  • Great IRC experience in the browser
  • Multi-user support

Watch out for

  • IRC-only
  • No built-in voice or video
The Lounge details

Frequently asked questions

Is Miaou or The Lounge better?

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

Are Miaou and The Lounge free and open-source?

Yes. Miaou is licensed under MIT and The Lounge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Miaou and The Lounge with Docker?

Miaou: check the project docs for container support. The Lounge: yes.

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