Comparison of Internet Relay Chat services

The following tables compare general and technical information including the differences in feature sets between various IRC services packages. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

Contents

General information

Services Creator/Network Basis Programming Language First public release date Latest stable version (ctcp version/numeric 351) Software license Website
Anope dengel, Rob (staff) Epona C 2003 Anope-1.8.6 GPL [1]
Atheme nenolod, jilles Shrike, Sentinel, ircd-ratbox, charybdis C 2005 6.0.7 BSD [2]
Auspice In Mean (staff) Sirv 2.7 C++ 2000 auspice 2.8.1 GPL [3]
BorkNet Services BorkNet (from scratch) Java 2005 BorkNet Services Rev. 34 GPL [4]
Ecks GamesNET (Kuja) (from scratch) Java 2006 Ecks 0.7 MPL [5]
Epona PegSoft IRC Services 4.3.3 C 2000 Epona 1.5rc1 GPL [6]
GNUWorld Orlando Bassotto, Andrea Cocito (from scratch) C++ 1997  ? GPL [7]
HybServ kreator  ? C  ?  ? GPL [8]
IRCServices Andrew Church (from scratch) C 1997 ircservices-5.1.0 GPL [9]
ModServ Services commx (from scratch) C, PHP 2003 ModServ 2.1.10 GPL [10]
OPAS AustNet, Roger Yerramsetti  ? C N/A OPAS-v2.4 Closed Source  ?
PTlink IRC Services PTlink IRC Software  ? C  ? 3.9.1 GPL [11]
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet development team (from scratch) C  ?  ? Various [12]
Ratbox Services Lee Hardy (from scratch) C 2003 ratbox-services-1.1.1 BSD [13]
Shrike Eric Will (from scratch) C 2003 shrike-1.6 BSD [14]
SirvNET Trevor Klingbeil  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? [15]
Srvx GameSurge (from scratch) C  ? 1.3.1 GPL [16]
SurrealServices saturn, tabris/SurrealChat.net Anope, ConferenceRoom/Auspice, NeoStats (features, not code) Perl, SQL 2005 0.4.2 GPL [17]
Theia freenode (jilles, gxti, nenolod) dancer-services, HybServ C N/A  ? (now replaced by Atheme) GPL  ?
X2 AfterNET (Previously) (from scratch) C  ? 5.2 (now replaced by X3) GPL [18]
X3 AfterNET SRVX, X2 C 2006 X3 1.6+[2187 2008-07-20] GPL [19]

Extending Services (Supplements/Complements like StatServ for statistics and other kinds of extensions):

Services Creator/Network Basis Programming Language First public release date Latest stable version (ctcp version/numeric 351) Software license Website
Denora Trystan Scott Lee, Gabriel Acevedo H, Gabriel Craciunescu Anope 1.7.6, Thales 1.0 C  ? denora-1.4.5 GPL [20]
GNU Thales Lucas Nussbaum, et al. (from scratch) C 2003 1.0 GPL [21]
IRC Defender ChatSpike, Brain (from scratch) Perl 2004 1.4b1 GPL [22]
NeoStats NeoStats Software GeoStats C 2002 NeoStats-3.0.2-beta4 GPL [23]

Operating System support

Services Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix MySQL PostgreSQL SQLite backend LDAP backend IPv6 SSL Module Support Modularised Core Protocol Modules Module Repository
Read Write Realtime Read Write Realtime Read Write Realtime
Anope Yes Yes Yes Yes  ? Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Atheme No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auspice  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
BorkNet Services  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes
Ecks Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No  ? No No Yes Yes Yes No
Epona No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No
GNUWorld No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No  ? Yes No No No
HybServ  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No  ?  ?  ? No No No No
IRCServices No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No
ModServ Services No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 0.9 2.0 2.0 2.0 No No No No Planned No Yes >= 1.2 No No
OPAS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
PTlink IRC Services  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
QuakeNet Services No  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  ? Yes Yes  ? Yes Yes  ? No Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes  ?
Ratbox Services  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes No No
Shrike No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
SirvNET  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 3.0.0 3.0.0 3.0.0 No No No No No No  ?  ?  ? No No No No
Srvx Under Cygwin  ? Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No  ? Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes No
SurrealServices  ?  ? Yes Yes  ? Yes No Yes  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Planned  ? Yes Yes  ?  ?
Theia  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X2  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X3 No  ? Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes  ?  ? Yes No Yes No

Extending Services (Supplements/Complements like StatServ for statistics and other kinds of extensions):

Services Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix MySQL PostgreSQL SQLite backend LDAP backend IPv6 SSL Module Support Modularised Core Protocol Modules Module Repository
Read Write Realtime Read Write Realtime Read Write Realtime
Denora Yes  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No No Yes  ?  ?  ?
GNU Thales No  ? Yes  ?  ? Yes Yes  ? No No No No No No  ? No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
IRC Defender Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No  ? Yes Yes Yes No
NeoStats Yes  ? Yes Yes  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No No Yes  ?  ?  ?

Services Features

Services Nickname/Username Services Email Validation Nick Grouping/Linking Identify As Email Lost Passwords
Anope NickServ Yes Yes No Yes
Atheme NickServ/UserServ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auspice NickServ  ?  ?  ?  ?
BorkNet Services Q Yes N/A N/A No
Ecks SrvAuth Yes No Yes No
Epona NickServ Yes Yes No Yes
GNUWorld NickServ/X Yes No No Yes
HybServ NickServ No Yes No No
IRCServices NickServ Yes Yes No Yes
ModServ Services G Yes No No Yes
OPAS NickOP No Yes No via ASD service
PTlink IRC Services NickServ  ?  ?  ?  ?
QuakeNet Services Q Yes N/A N/A Yes
Ratbox Services NickServ/UserServ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Shrike X Yes No No Yes
SirvNET NickServ Yes No Yes Yes
Srvx AuthServ Yes No Yes Yes
SurrealServices NickServ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Theia NickServ No Yes  ?  ?
X2 No N/A N/A N/A N/A
X3 NickServ/AuthServ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Services Channel Services xOP System Levels System Flags System Successor Suspend Members Op/Voice other users Ban List (AKICK) Channel Passwords Email Lost Passwords Client in Channels Fantasy Commands
Ban Reason Setter Expiry Enforce current users
Anope ChanServ, BotServ Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Atheme ChanServ, BotServ Yes Module Yes Yes Module Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No N/A Yes Yes
Auspice  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
BorkNet Services Q  ? No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes No
Ecks SrvChan Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No N/A Yes Yes
Epona ChanServ, BotServ No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
GNUWorld X No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
HybServ ChanServ No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No  ? No Yes No
IRCServices ChanServ Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No
ModServ Services G Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
OPAS ChanOP Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No N/A Yes `fun
PTlink IRC Services ChanServ  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
QuakeNet Services Q  ? No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Optional No
Ratbox Services ChanServ, BotServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No N/A Yes  ?
Shrike X Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes No
SirvNET ChanServ Yes No No 3.0.0  ?  ? Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes No No
Srvx ChanServ Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No N/A Yes Yes
SurrealServices ChanServ, BotServ Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No N/A Yes Yes
Theia ChanServ  ? Yes No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X2 X2  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X3 X3 Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Services Oper Services DCC Access Set any mode on any channel Global noticer Server Juping Manage Oper Access via IRC/DCC AKILL (netwide ban on user@host) Session Limiting / Clone Detection Services Ignore List
Anope OperServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Atheme OperServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auspice  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
BorkNet Services O No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Ecks SrvOper No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Epona OperServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
GNUWorld EUWorld No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
HybServ OperServ Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
IRCServices OperServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ModServ Services O No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
OPAS OperOP, Sprint, ASD  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PTlink IRC Services OperServ  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
QuakeNet Services O, Newserv, U No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Ratbox Services OperServ, JupeServ, BanServ Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Shrike X No No Yes No No Yes No No
SirvNET OperServ, RootServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Srvx OperServ No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SurrealServices OperServ, AdminServ No CS MODE No Yes Yes No Yes No
Theia  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X2  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X3 O3 No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Miscellaneous Services

Services Communication Services Channel Memos Read Receipt Email Memos Ignore List vHost Services Enable On Identify Sync Group vHosts Request System Help Services Statistical Services
Anope MemoServ Yes Yes Yes No HostServ Yes Yes Yes No Planned
Atheme MemoServ Yes Yes Yes Yes NickServ or HostServ Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Auspice  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
BorkNet Services Planned M Planned Planned Planned Planned V Yes N/A Planned H X
Ecks No N/A N/A N/A N/A No N/A N/A N/A SrvHelp No
Epona MemoServ Yes No Yes No NickServ Yes N/A No HelpServ No
GNUWorld X No No No No No N/A N/A N/A No Stats
HybServ MemoServ Yes No No No No N/A N/A N/A HelpServ StatServ
IRCServices MemoServ Yes No Yes Yes No N/A N/A N/A HelpServ StatServ
ModServ Services N Yes Yes No Planned Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
OPAS NoteOP Yes No No Yes No N/A N/A N/A HelpOP CountOP
PTlink IRC Services MemoServ  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No
QuakeNet Services No N/A N/A N/A N/A No N/A N/A N/A G No
Ratbox Services No N/A N/A N/A N/A No N/A N/A N/A No No
SirvNET MemoServ Yes 3.0.0 Yes No No N/A N/A N/A HelpServ StatServ (3.0.0)
Shrike No No No No No No N/A N/A N/A No No
Srvx MemoServ No No No No No N/A N/A N/A HelpServ No
SurrealServices MemoServ Yes  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes N/A No No No
Theia  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
X2 No N/A N/A N/A N/A No N/A N/A N/A No No
X3 MemoServ Yes (Notes) Yes No Yes AuthServ Yes N/A No HelpServ No

Services IRCd Support

Anope Atheme Auspice BorkNet Services Ecks Epona GNUWorld HybServ IRCServices ModServ Services IRSee Opas OPAS QuakeNet Services Ratbox Services Sirv SRVX SurrealServices Theia X2 X3 Floodworld Denora IRC Defender NeoStats GNU Thales
Asuka No Yes No Yes No No Yes  ? No Partly No No Yes  ?  ? Yes  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes, P10 Yes No
Austhex No No No No No No No  ? No No Yes Yes No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?
Bahamut 1.4 Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No No Yes Yes  ? No  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bahamut 1.8 Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes  ? No  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
beware ircd No Yes No  ? No No No  ? No Partly No No No  ?  ? Yes  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes No No No
Charybdis Yes Yes No No No No No  ? No No No No No Yes  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes No No No
ConferenceRoom No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No  ? No No No No
Dancer No Yes No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes No No
DreamForge Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No  ? Yes No Yes No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes No Yes
Microsoft Exchange 5.5 / 2000 No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No  ?  ?
Farpoint No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ?
Hyperion No Yes No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?  ?  ? Yes No No No
IgnitionServer No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No  ?  ?
InspIRCd Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No  ? Yes Yes Yes No
IRCD No Yes No No No No No  ? ircd-2.8 No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ?  ? ircd-2.10  ?  ?
Hybrid Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
ircu No Yes No  ? No No Yes  ? ircu 2.9 Partly No No No  ?  ? Yes  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes, P10 Yes Yes
IRCXpro Server No Yes No No No No No  ? No  ? No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No  ?  ?
Ithildin No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No  ?  ?
MooIRCd No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No No  ?  ?
Nefarious IRCu 3rd party Yes No  ? No No Yes No No Partly No No No No No Yes  ? No Yes Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes 3rd party
pircd No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ?
PleXusIRCd Yes Yes No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes No Yes No
PTlink Yes Yes No No No No No  ? Yes No No No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
QuakeIRCd No No No No No No No  ? No No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes No No No
RageIRCd Yes No Yes No No No No  ? No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
Ratbox Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No No  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes No No No
ShadowIRCd Yes Yes No No No No No  ? No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
Snircd  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
SolidIRCd Yes Yes No No No No No  ? Yes No Yes No  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
TR-IRCD No No No No No No No  ? Yes No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? No Yes  ?  ?
UltimateIRCd 2.8 Yes No Yes No No Yes No  ? Yes No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
UltimateIRCd 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No No No No  ? Yes No No No No  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
UnrealIRCd 3.1 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No  ?  ? No No No No No  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
UnrealIRCd 3.2 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No  ?  ? No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

See also

External links