Glowing Bear vs ZNC
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?
| Feature | Glowing Bear | ZNC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 975 | ★ 2,123 |
| First released | 2014 | 2004 |
| Replaces | IRCCloud, Slack | IRCCloud |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Glowing Bear or ZNC better?
Neither is universally better. ZNC has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Glowing Bear and ZNC free and open-source?
Yes. Glowing Bear is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZNC under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glowing Bear and ZNC with Docker?
Glowing Bear: yes. ZNC: yes.