Comparison of Internet Relay Chat daemons

The following tables compare general and technical information including the differences in feature sets between popular IRC daemons. Grey entries in the list represent supposedly unmaintained daemons.

Please see the individual products' articles or websites or the cited references for further information. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

Contents 1 Servers 2 Operating system support 3 Technology 4 Features 5 Notes 6 See also 7 External links

Servers

IRC daemon	Creator/network	Basis	Programming language	First public release	Latest version (numeric 351)	Software license	Website
Asuka[1]	QuakeNet Dev Team	ircu	C	Unknown	1.2.1 (now replaced by snircd)	GPL	Unknown
Austhex	AustNet Development	ircu2.9	C, Scheme	Unknown	? (now replaced by inspircd)	GPL	Unknown
Bahamut[2]	DALnet	DreamForge, IRCD-Hybrid	C	1999[3]	bahamut-1.8.6	GPL	[2]
bIRCd[4]	DAMnet	DreamForge	C	1999	bIRCd-2.1.0rc4	GPL	[3]
beware ircd[5]	beware	from scratch	Delphi	Unknown	beware1.6	GPL	[4]
Charybdis[6]	atheme.org (nenolod, jilles, dwr, gxti)	ircd-ratbox, IRCD-Hybrid, ircu, ShadowIRCd	C	2005	charybdis-3.3.0	GPL/BSD	[5]
ConferenceRoom	WebMaster Incorporated	from scratch	C++	1996	ConferenceRoom/3.5	Proprietary	[6]
csircd	Comstud	from scratch	C	1998	csircd-1.14	GPL	Unknown
dancer-ircd	freenode	Hybrid 6	C	1999	? (replaced by hyperion)	GPL	Unknown
DreamForge	DALnet	irc2.8.mu3	C	1994 (dal), 1997? (df)	? (replaced by bahamut)	GPL	Unknown
Faerion IRC Server[7]	vhex	DreamForge	C, C++	2003	1.17.7.1[8]	GPL	[7]
hyperion[9]	freenode	dancer-ircd 1.0.35+pre2	C	2005	? (replaced by ircd-seven)	GPL	[8]
InspIRCd [10]	InspIRCd Development Team	from scratch	C++	2002	2.0[11]	GPL	[9]
ignitionServer[12]	The Ignition Project	Pure-IRCD (VB6 version)	Visual Basic	2004	ignitionServer-0.3.6-P1[13]	GPL[14]	[10]
IRCd[15]	Jarkko Oikarinen, IRCnet[16]	from scratch	C[17]	1988	2.95	GPL	[11]
IRCD-Hybrid	Hybrid Development Team, EFnet	irc2.8	C	1997	7.2.3	GPL	[12]
ircd-ratbox	Aaron Sethman, Lee Hardy, EFnet	Hybrid 7-rc1	C	2002	ircd-ratbox-3.0.7	GPL	[13]
ircd-seven	freenode	charybdis 3.1.x/trunk	C	—	stable	GPL	[14]
ircu[18]	Undernet Coder Committee	irc2.7[19]	C[20]	1991	u2.10.12.14[21]	GPL	Unknown
IRCXpro Server	IRCXpro, Paul Heinlein	IRCPlus	Visual Basic	2002	1.2 (build 1572) (now replaced by OfficeIRC)	Proprietary	Unknown
ithildin[22]	Chip Norkus	from scratch	C	2006	1.1[23]	BSD[24]	[15]
Nefarious IRCu	Evilnet Development, AfterNET	ircu2	C	2004	u2.10.11.07+Nefarious(1.2.0)+[2212 2008-08-03]	GPL	[16]
ngIRCd[25]	Alex Barton	from scratch	C	2001[26]	ngircd-17.1[27]	GPL	[17]
OfficeIRC Server	Office IRC Inc, Paul Heinlein	from scratch	VB.NET	2006	2.2	Proprietary	[18]
pircd	Jay F Kominek	from scratch	Perl	1999	? (now unmaintained)	Open Source (custom)	[19]
PleXusIRCd	Rizon, thaprince, static	Hybrid 7.2.3	C	2005	hybrid-7.2.3+plexus-3.0.1(20090612_0-523)	GPL	[20]
pureIRCd	Dennis Fisch aka Diligent	from scratch	C	2002	Unknown	GPL	Unknown
IRC server	PTlink IRC Software	Hybrid 6	C	2001 (v.6)	5.4.0 (now unmaintained)	GPL	[21]
QuakeIRCd	QuakeIRCd Team, Tiburon, blackcomb	UnrealIRCd	C	2003 (v1.1)	? (now unmaintained)	GPL	[22]
RockIRCd[28]	Mike Chambers	from scratch	QuickBASIC[29]	2009	1.0.0-testing	GPL	[23]
ShadowIRCd[30]	Taros, jdhore, jilles, nenolod	Charybdis[30]	C	2003	shadowircd-6.3.1	GPL	[24]
snircd	QuakeNet	ircu2.10.12[31]	C[31]	Unknown	1.3.4a[1]	GPL[31]	[25]
solid-ircd	Toshi Morita, Juan Baez,Gabriel Baez	Bahamut	C	2004[32]	solid-ircd 3.4.8	GPL	[26]
SorIrcd	SorceryNet	dal4.4.10 and irc2.8.mu3	C	1996	? (replaced by Charybdis)	GPL	[27]
Synchronet IRCd[33]	Randy E. Sommerfeld	from scratch	JavaScript	2003	SynchronetIRCd-1.3a(1.151)	GPL	[28]
TR-IRCd [34]	Yusuf Iskenderoglu, Ekim Engin, Dimitris Ginosatiris, Maksut Cagil, Burak Cifter	Hybrid 7 and Bahamut	C	1999	5.6.1	GPL	[29]
UltimateIRCd	ShadowRealm Creations	DreamForge 2.8	C	2001	3.0.2 [35] (now unmaintained)	GPL	[30]
UnrealIRCd[36]	UnrealIRCd Team	EliteIRCd (potvin)[37]	C	1999	Unreal3.2.9[38]	GPL	[31]
Viagra IRCd[39]	Chris Schiffner	Titan	C	2003	1.3.3 (now unmaintained)	GPL	[32]
WeIRCd	Eloxoph IRC Network[40]	from scratch	C	2007	WeIRCd 0.8.2[41]	GPL	[33]
NeoIRCd	Tom Mcloughlin (Macs/XentOS)	charybdis	C	2011	NeoIRCd 0.1[42]	GPL	[34]

Operating system support

The operating systems the daemons can run on without emulation; also supported event dispatch facilities for network sockets (see IRCd for further information).

IRC daemon	Windows	DOS	Mac OS	Linux	BSD	Solaris	HP-UX	AIX	select()	poll()	epoll[43]	kqueue[44]	RT signals[45]	/dev/poll[46]	Windows IOCP[47]	Solaris IOCP[48]
Bahamut	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
bIRCd	Yes	No	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Charybdis	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
ConferenceRoom	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
InspIRCd[49][50]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
IRCD[51]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
ircd-ratbox	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
ircu	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ithildin	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Nefarious IRCu	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ngIRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
OfficeIRC Server	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
PleXusIRCd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
pureIRCd	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
RockIRCd	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ShadowIRCd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
snircd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
solid-ircd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Synchronet IRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
UnrealIRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
WeIRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Technology

Various networking and IRC technology implemented to date.

IRC daemon	Modularity	Remote includes	IPv6	Client SSL	SSL linking	Zip linking	Hostmasking, cloaking	Services integration (built-in services)	LDAP authentication	IRCX support	SASL support	Server protocol
Bahamut	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	TS5 with extensions
bIRCd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	RFC 1459 and TSpre8
beware ircd	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	P10
Charybdis	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	TS6 with extensions
ConferenceRoom	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Proprietary, binary
InspIRCd	Yes[52]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	TS6-based Spanning Tree
IRCD	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	RFC 2813 with IDs
IRCD-Hybrid	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (contrib module)	Yes (contrib module)	No	No	No	TS6
ircd-ratbox	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	TS6
ircu	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	P10
ithildin	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Module-dependent
Nefarious IRCu	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	P10 with extensions
ngIRCd	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	RFC 2813
OfficeIRC Server	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Compatible with DreamForge and UnrealIRCd
PleXusIRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	TS5/TS6
pureIRCd	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
RockIRCd	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ShadowIRCd	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	TS6 with extensions
snircd	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	P10 with extensions
solid-ircd	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	TS5 with extensions
Synchronet IRCd	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	TS5 with extensions
UnrealIRCd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	DreamForge/TS5 with extensions
WeIRCd	Partial	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes (module)	No	No	No	No

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 (In early IRCds, these were simply named channels. At least one modern IRCd (IRCD) uses the + prefix for modeless channels, i.e. no modes are supported other than +t, which is forced. Since no user can become a chanop, no topic can be set. This is described in RFC 2811.)
• #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)

IRC daemon	Channel types	Halfop support (+h %)	Admin/protect support (+a/+u &/!/*)	Founder/owner support (+q ~/.)	Operator prefixing[53]	Advanced operator ACL	Operator "levels"[54]	vHost via I-line (or equivalent)	i18n nicknames[55]	RDBMS integration (SQL)
Bahamut	#	No	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No	No
bIRCd	# &	No	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No	No
Charybdis	# &	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
ConferenceRoom	# &	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial
InspIRCd	#	Yes	Module	Module	Module	Yes	Module	Yes	Module	MySQL, SQLite & PostgreSQL: Authorization, Services Integration, Logging, Operaccess
IRCD	# & ! +	No	No	No	No	Unknown	No	No	No	No
IRCD-Hybrid	# &	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ircd-ratbox	# &	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
ircu	# &	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
ithildin	#	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Nefarious IRCu	# &	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ngIRCd	# & +	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
OfficeIRC Server	# %# & %&	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
PleXusIRCd	# &	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
pureIRCd	#	No	No	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
RockIRCd	#	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	No	Unknown	No
ShadowIRCd	# &	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
snircd	# &	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
solid-ircd	#	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No	No
Synchronet IRCd	# &	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
UnrealIRCd	#	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Third party module[56]	Third party module (netadmins)[57]	Yes, vhost block in conf	iso8859-1/2/7/8-I/9/16, windows-1250/1251, Multibyte	MySQL & PostgreSQL: Third party modules [58]
WeIRCd	#	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SQLite in services module

IRC daemon	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	DNSBL	CGI:IRC/WEBIRC host spoofing
Bahamut	Yes	Yes / No	Yes	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	No
bIRCd	No	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	No
Charybdis	Yes	No / No	Yes	No / No	No / No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ConferenceRoom	Yes	Yes / Yes	Yes	No / Yes	Partial / No	No	Partial	Yes	No
InspIRCd	Yes	Yes / Yes	Yes	Yes / Yes	Yes / Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IRCD	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No
IRCD-Hybrid	Yes	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	Yes (contrib module)
ircd-ratbox	Yes	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	Yes
ircu	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	No	No
ithildin	Module	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown
Nefarious IRCu	Yes	No / No	No	Yes / No	No / No	No	No	Yes	Yes
ngIRCd	No	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	Yes
OfficeIRC Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown
PleXusIRCd	Yes	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	Unknown	Unknown
pureIRCd	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
RockIRCd	No	Yes / No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Unknown
ShadowIRCd	Yes	No / No	Yes	No / No	No / No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
solid-ircd	Yes	Yes / No	Yes	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	Unknown
Synchronet IRCd	Yes	Yes / No	Yes	No / No	No / No	No / No	No	No	Unknown
UnrealIRCd	yes / NO	Yes	Yes	Yes / No	Yes / third party module[59]	No	No	Third party module[60]	Yes
WeIRCd	Partial	No / No	No	No / No	No / No	No	No	No	Yes

Notes

• [50]To run on Windows, IRCD/Services should be compiling the program Cgwin. / But the restricted versions Based on the hybrid versions. / The last-released versions require the updated version of MySQL.

See also

• IRCd
• IRC services
• Internet Relay Chat
• IRCX
• Comparison of IRC clients
• Comparison of IRC services
• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols

External links

• History of IRC
• IRCD distribution
• IRC numerics and modes from major IRCds

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