Comparison of IRCds

The following tables compare general and technical information including the differences in feature sets between popular IRCds. Please see the individual products' websites for further information. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

General information

IRCd	Creator/Network	Basis	Programming Language	First public release date	Latest stable version (numeric 351)	Software license
Asuka	QuakeNet Dev Team	ircu2	C	?	1.2.1	GPL
Austhex	AustNet Development	?	C, C++, Scheme	?	austhex.servd7.5.pre13.dbuf.ghash3.sec.	GPL
Bahamut	DALnet	DreamForge and Hybrid	C	2002	bahamut-1.8(03)	GPL
beware ircd	Bas Steendijk	(from scratch)	Delphi	?	beware1.5.7	GPL
chaosircd	Roman Senn	(from scratch)	C	2003	?	GPL
Charybdis	nenolod, jilles, gxti	ircd-ratbox, IRCD-Hybrid, ircu, shadowircd	C, (C++, Python -- modules in charybdis -devel)	2005	charybdis-2.1.0	GPL
ConferenceRoom	WebMaster Incorporated	(from scratch)	C++	1996	ConferenceRoom/3.0	Proprietary
dancer-ircd	Freenode (now unmaintained)	Hybrid 6	C	1999	(Replaced by hyperion-ircd)	GPL
DreamForge	DALnet (now unmaintained)	?	C	?	(Replaced by Bahamut)	GPL
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000	Microsoft	?	C (Theorised)	1997	(~6.0.6249.0 / Service Pack 3 ?)	Proprietary
Faerion	vhex	DreamForge	C, C++	2003	?	GPL
Farpoint	Caelestia.net	(modules/extensions for UnrealIRCD)	C, C++, Tcl	?	?	GPL
hyperion-ircd	Freenode (jilles, gxti, nenolod, asuffield, lilo)	dancer-ircd	C	2005	hyperion-1.0.2(230).	GPL
ignitionServer	The Ignition Project	Pure-IRCD (VB6 version)	Visual Basic	2004	ignitionServer-0.3.6-P1.20050515	GPL
InspIRCd	ChatSpike, Brain, Craig, et al.	(from scratch)	C++	2002	InspIRCd-1.1.0 Beta 4	GPL
IRCD	IRCnet	(the original ircd)	C	1988	irc2.11.1p1	GPL
IRCD-Hybrid	IRCD-Hybrid Development Team	irc2.8 (IRCD)	C	1997	ircd-hybrid-7.2.1	GPL
ircd-ratbox	EFnet	Hybrid 7-rc1	C	2002	ircd-ratbox-2.2.3	GPL
ircu	Undernet Coder Committee	irc2.7 (IRCD)	C	?	ircu2.10.12.04	GPL
IRCXpro Server	IRCXpro, Paul Heinlein	IRCPlus	Visual Basic	?	?	Proprietary
ithildin	Chip Norkus	(from scratch)	C	2006	1.1.2 / 1.0r0	BSD license
MooIRCd	MooIRCd Consortium (and Network)	IRCD-Hybrid	C	?	?	GPL
Nefarious IRCu	Evilnet Development, AfterNET	ircu2	C	2004	u2.10.11.07+Nefarious(1.0.1)+[1755 2006-08-26]	GPL
NeoIRCd	NeoStats Software	Hybrid 7	C	?	?	GPL
ngIRCd	Alexander Barton	?	C	?	?	GPL
pircd	Jay F Kominek	?	Perl	?	?	Open Source (custom)
PleXusIRCd	cjunky, thaprince	Hybrid 7	C	?	PleXusIRCd-2.0.9p1	GPL
PTlink IRC Server	PTlink IRC Software	Hybrid 6	C	2001 (v.6)	Hybrid6/PTlink6.19.6	GPL
pureIRCd	Dennis Fisch aka Dilligent	(from scratch)	Visual Basic	2002	?	GPL
QuakeIRCd	QuakeIRCd Team, Tiburon	UnrealIRCd	C	2003 (v1.1)	QuakeIRCd-2.0.0-Beta1	GPL
RageIRCd	Kyle Williamson	?	C, C#	?	?	GPL
ShadowIRCd	nenolod, anifinder, Eko	ircd-hybrid, openircd	C	2002	shadowircd-5.0p1	GPL
SorIrcd	SorceryNet (no longer maintained)	dal4.4.10 and irc2.8.mu3	C	1996	(Replaced by Charybdis)	GPL
TR-IRCD	Yusuf Iskenderoglu, Ekim Engin, Dimitris Ginosatiris, hybridus, Maksut Cagil, burak	Hybrid 7 and Bahamut	C	?	TR-IRCD 5.7.3	GPL
UnrealIRCd	UnrealIRCd Team	DreamForge	C	1999	Unreal3.2.5	GPL
UltimateIRCd	ShadowRealm Creations	DreamForge	C	?	UltimateIRCd(Tsunami)-3.0(01)	GPL
Viagra IRCd	OvErRiTe	Bahamut	C	2003	ViagraIRCd 1.3.3	GPL
WavServ	WavNetworks	ignitionServer 0.1.1	VB6	2005	WavServ 0.2.0	Proprietary

Operating system support

The operating systems the daemons can run on without emulation. Also supported socket engines (see IRCd for further information).

IRCd	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	select()	poll()	epoll (Linux since 2.6)	kqueue (FreeBSD since 4.1)	rtsigio() (Linux since 2.6)	/dev/poll (Solaris since version 7)
Asuka	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Austhex		?				?	?	?	?	?	?
Bahamut
beware ircd		?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
chaosircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Charybdis
ConferenceRoom
dancer-ircd
DreamForge	?
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000						?	?
Faerion	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Farpoint	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
hyperion-ircd
ignitionServer
InspIRCd											Planned
IRCD	?	?
IRCD-Hybrid		?			?						Broken
ircd-ratbox	?	?
ircu						?	?	?	?	?	?
IRCXpro Server						?	?
ithildin	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
MooIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Nefarious IRCu
NeoIRCd	Cygwin 1.3+	?						?
ngIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
pircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PleXusIRCd	?	?	?	?	?						Broken
PTlink IRC Server	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
pureIRCd						?	?
QuakeIRCd						?	?	?	?	?	?
RageIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SorIrcd	?						?	?	?	?	?
TR-IRCD		?				?	?	?	?	?	?
UnrealIRCd							Planned	Planned	Planned		Planned
UltimateIRCd		?
Viagra IRCd	Cygwin 1.3+
WavServ

Technology

Various networking and IRC technology implemented to date.

IRCd	Modularity	Remote Includes	IPv6	Client SSL	SSL Linking	Zip Linking	Meshed Linking	Hostmasking / Cloaking	Services Integration (built-in services)	LDAP Authentication	IRCX Support	SASL Support	Server Protocol
Asuka						?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Austhex		?			?	?		, VW		?		?	P13
Bahamut													EFnet TS5 with extensions
beware ircd	?	?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	P10 Undernet
chaosircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Charybdis													EFnet TS6 with extensions
ConferenceRoom												?	Binary ConferenceRoom Protocol
dancer-ircd				?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		EFnet TS3 with extensions
DreamForge				?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		2.8 protocol with TS hacks
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000		?		?						?			Binary Microsoft Chat Protocol
Faerion	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		DreamForge-based
Farpoint	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
hyperion-ircd			Partial		?	?	?			?	?		EFnet TS5 with extensions
ignitionServer				Planned	Planned	Planned							RFC 1459 + IRCX + Custom
InspIRCd	Yes		Planned				Planned		Planned			Planned	Dependent upon linking module
IRCD				?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
IRCD-Hybrid			7.0.3	7.2.0					?	?	?		EFnet TS5/TS6
ircd-ratbox										?			EFnet TS5/TS6
ircu			2.10.12	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		P10
IRCXpro Server						?	?	?					?
ithildin													Dependent upon protocol module
MooIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		?	EFnet TS5/TS6 + IRCX
Nefarious IRCu													P10 Nefarious
NeoIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	EFnet TS5 with services extensions
ngIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	RFC2811
pircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PleXusIRCd										?			EFnet TS5/ts6
PTlink IRC Server	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	EFnet TS5 + ptlink extensions
QuakeIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
RageIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SorIrcd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		DreamForge
TR-IRCD		?			?	?	?			?	?		?
UnrealIRCd	Yes	Libcurl					Planned			Planned			A mixture of DreamForge and EFnet TS with SJOIN, extra user modes, SPAMFILTER, etc.
UltimateIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ViagraIRCd

Features

IRC server features, mostly extensions to RFC 1459. Probably also implementations of RFC 2810, RFC 2811, RFC 2812, RFC 2813, and possibly IRCX.

+channels (named channels).
#channels ("+channels" were later replaced with "#channels" in version 2.7, numeric channels were removed entirely and channel bans (mode +b) were implemented.)
&channels (irc2.8, those that exist only on the current server, rather than the entire network)
!channels (irc2.10, those that are theoretically safe from suffering from the many ways that a user could exploit a channel by "riding a netsplit"; IRCds using timestamping provide (most of) this functionality on #channels)
%#channels (#channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)
%&channels (&channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)
%!channels (!channels whose name are in UTF-8 for IRCX)

IRCd	Channel Types	Halfop Support (+h %)	Admin/Protect Support (+a/+u &/!/*)	Founder/Owner Support (+q ~)	Operator Prefixing	Advanced Operator ACL	Operator "Levels"	vHost via i:line (or equivalent)	i18n Nicknames	RDBMS Integration (SQL)
Asuka	# &
Austhex	#					?	?	?		?
Bahamut	#						?
beware ircd	?				?	?	?	?	?	?
chaosircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Charybdis	# &
ConferenceRoom	# &
dancer-ircd	#						?
DreamForge	#					?	?
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000	at least # %#	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Faerion	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Farpoint	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
hyperion-ircd	#						?
ignitionServer	# (partial support for %#)					Planned
InspIRCd	#						m_operlevels.so			MySQL and PostgreSQL: Authorization, Services Integration, Logging, Operaccess
IRCD	# & ! +					?
IRCD-Hybrid	# &	(since 7.0)					?		?
ircd-ratbox	# &						?
ircu	# &		?	?	?	?	?		?	?
IRCXpro Server	# %# & %&	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ithildin	#	No	Planned	No	Yes	Yes	via privilege system	Yes	No	No
MooIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Nefarious IRCu	# &
NeoIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ngIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
pircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PleXusIRCd	?						?		?
PTlink IRC Server	# &					?	?	?	?	?
QuakeIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
RageIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SorIrcd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TR-IRCD	?				?	?	?	?	?	?
UnrealIRCd	#						Commercial Module		iso8859-1/2/7/8-I/9/16, windows-1250/1251/1255, Multibyte	Commercial Modules for MySQL: Authorization, Services Integration, Logging
UltimateIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Viagra IRCd	# &

IRCd	Connect-flood detection	Channel flood controls Basic / Advanced	Join throttling	Spamfilter Regexp / Glob	Channel Censor IRCd Config / Chanop-Controlled	Variable per-channel banlist size	Timed bans
Asuka	?	?
Austhex	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Bahamut		Yes / No		No / No	No / No
beware ircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Charybdis
chaosircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ConferenceRoom		Yes / Yes		No / Yes	Partial / No
dancer-ircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
DreamForge	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Faerion	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Farpoint	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
hyperion-ircd		Yes / No		No / ?	No / No
ignitionServer		Yes / Planned	Planned	No / Yes	Planned / No
InspIRCd		Yes / No		Yes / Yes	Yes / Yes
IRCD	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
IRCD-Hybrid		No / No		No / No	No / No
ircd-ratbox		No / No		No / No	No / No
ircu	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
IRCXpro Server	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ithildin	Yes (module)	No	No	No	No	No	No
MooIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Nefarious IRCu	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
NeoIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ngIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
pircd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PleXusIRCd		No / No		No / No	No / No
PTlink IRC Server	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuakeIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
RageIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SorIrcd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TR-IRCD	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
UnrealIRCd		Yes / Yes		Yes / Planned	Yes / Free Module		Commercial Module
UltimateIRCd	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Viagra IRCd		Yes / No

External links

🪦 Wikipedia History

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IRCSoftware comparisons

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Sources

http://access1.sun.com/techarticles/devpoll.html

http://bahamut.dal.net/

http://coder-com.undernet.org/

Additional preserved links are available in the archive details below.

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Outgoing Wikipedia links (50)

AfterNETAustNetBSDBSD licenseC Plus PlusC programming languageC SharpCaelestia.netComparison of instant messaging clientsComparison of instant messaging protocolsComparison of IRC clientsComparison of IRC servicesCygwinDALnetDelphi programming languageEFnetFreeBSDFreenodeGlob()GNU General Public LicenseInternet Relay ChatIPv6IRC servicesIRCdIRCnetIRCXLightweight Directory Access ProtocolLinuxMac OS XMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft WindowsNetwork floodOpen-source licenseOperating systemPerlProgramming LanguagePythonQuakeNetRegular expressionSASLScheme programming languageSecure Sockets LayerSoftware licenseSolaris Operating EnvironmentSorceryNetTclUndernetUnixVisual BasicZlib

External links (48)

ftp://ftp.irc.org/irc/server/

http://access1.sun.com/techarticles/devpoll.html

http://bahamut.dal.net/

http://coder-com.undernet.org/

http://dev-com.quakenet.org/

http://evilnet.sourceforge.net/

http://faerion.sourceforge.net/ircd.html.var

http://freenode.net/hyperion.shtml

http://freshmeat.net/projects/dancer-ircd/

http://ircd-hybrid.com/

http://ircd.bircd.org/