View source for Comparison of IRC clients

{{short description|none}}
{{Dynamic list}}
{{for|a comparison of instant messaging clients (including multi-protocol clients that support IRC)|Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients}}
{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=August 2012}}
{{cleanup rewrite|date=November 2022}}

The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of notable [[IRC client]] programs which have been discussed in independent, reliable prior published sources.

== General ==
Basic general information about the notableclients: creator/company, license, etc. Clients listed on a light purple background <!-- RH2 - light purple -->are no longer in active development.
<!-- In each table, link one instance of terms, remove other WP:REPEATLINK(s). -->
{{sort-under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center;"
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[software developer|Primary developers]]
! Distribution model
! [[Software license]]
! [[User interface]]
! [[Programming language]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Adium]]
| Thijs Alkemade
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| GUI
| [[Objective-C]] and [[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[AmIRC]]
| Oliver Wagner, Nicolas Sallin, Costel Mincea
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License]]}}
| GUI
| ?
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]{{Anchor|Bersirc}}<ref>[http://bersirc.org/index.php/about/ Bersirc IRC Client - about Bersirc] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812090202/http://bersirc.org/index.php/about/ |date=2011-08-12 }}</ref>
| Jamie Frater, Nicholas Copeland
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL]]}}
| GUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]] ([[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]] originally)
|-
| {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]{{Anchor|BitchX}}
| Colten Edwards
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[BSD licenses|BSD]]}}
| [[text user interface|TUI]], GUI
| [[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]{{Anchor|ChatZilla}}
| James Ross, Robert Ginda, Samuel Sieb, Gijs Kruitbosch
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[Mozilla Public License|MPL]], [[GNU General Public License|GPL]], LGPL<br />[[tri-license]]}}
| GUI{{r|group=Note|webbrowser}}
| [[JavaScript]], [[XUL]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (IRC client)|Colloquy]]{{Anchor|Colloquy}}
| Timothy Hatcher, Kiji Roshi
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|Desktop: [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]<br />Mobile: [[BSD licenses|BSD]]}}
| GUI
| [[Objective-C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]{{Anchor|ERC}}
| Alexander L. Belikoff, Sergey Berezin
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| TUI, GUI
| [[Emacs Lisp]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hexchat.net/index.html |title=HexChat website}}</ref>
| Berke Viktor
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| TUI, GUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Instantbird]]
| Florian Quèze
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL]]}}
| [[graphical user interface|GUI]]
| [[C++]], [[JavaScript]], [[CSS]], [[XUL]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[ircII]]{{Anchor|ircII}}
| Michael Sandrof
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[BSD licenses|BSD]]}}
| TUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]{{Anchor|Ircle}}
| Onno Tijdgat
| Commercial, 30-day trial
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]{{Anchor|Irssi}}
| [[Timo Sirainen]]
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| TUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]{{Anchor|KVIrc}}
| Szymon Stefanek
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL]]}}
| GUI
|[[C++]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Konversation]]{{Anchor|Konversation}}
| [[KDE]]
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| GUI
|[[C++]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[LeafChat]]{{Anchor|LeafChat}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/leafChat.shtml |title=Download leafChat Free |publisher=Mac.softpedia.com |date=2010-01-21 |access-date=2012-11-18}}</ref>
| Samuel Marshall
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| GUI
|[[Java (programming language)|Java]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]{{Anchor|Linkinus}} 
| Conceited Software
| Commercial, 15-day trial
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
|[[Objective-C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]{{Anchor|Mibbit}}
| Jimmy Moore
| [[Web banner|Textual Adbar]]
| {{proprietary}}
| [[web application|Web]]
|[[JavaScript]] frontend,<br />[[Java (programming language)|Java]] backend
|-
| {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]{{Anchor|mIRC}}
| Khaled Mardam-Bey
| [[Shareware]], 30-day trial<ref>
{{cite web
| url        = http://www.mirc.com/register.html
| title      = mIRC: Register mIRC
|access-date=2009-07-14
}}</ref>
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]/[[C++]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mirc.com/pfaq.html |title = mIRC: Personal FAQ |access-date=2011-04-09}}</ref>
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| Nicolas Kruse
|[[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[Apache license|Apache-2.0]]}}
| GUI
| [[Visual Basic]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]]
|
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| GUI
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]{{Anchor|PIRCH}}
| Northwest Computer Services
|[[Shareware]]
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
|[[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]{{Anchor|PJIRC}}
| Philippe Detournay
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL]]}}
| GUI
|[[Java (programming language)|Java]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]{{Anchor|Quassel}}
| Manuel Nickschas, Marcus Eggenberger, Alexander von Renteln
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-3.0]]}}
| TUI{{r|group=Note|ncomp}}, GUI{{r|group=Note|cldaemon}}
|[[C++]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]{{Anchor|rcirc}}
| Ryan Yeske
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| TUI
| [[Emacs Lisp]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]{{Anchor|Smuxi}}
| Mirco Bauer
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]}}
| GUI, TUI, server{{r|group=Note|cldaemon}}
|[[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Snak]]{{Anchor|Snak}}
| Kent Sorensen
| Commercial
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
| ?
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Mozilla Thunderbird|Thunderbird]]{{Anchor|Thunderbird}}
| [[Mozilla Foundation]]
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[Mozilla Public License|MPL-2.0]]}}
| GUI
| [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[JavaScript]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]{{Anchor|Visual IRC}}
| Jesse McGrew
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL]]}}
| GUI
|[[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]{{Anchor|WeeChat}}
| Sebastien Helleu
| [[Free software]]
| {{open source|[[GNU General Public License|GPL-3.0-or-later]]}}
| TUI, GUI{{r|group=Note|dev}}
|[[C (programming language)|C]]
|-
| {{rh}} | [[XiRCON]]{{Anchor|XiRCON}}
| Mark Hanson
| [[Freeware]]
| {{proprietary}}
| GUI
| [[Borland C++]], scripted with [[Tcl]]
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[software developer|Primary developers]]
! Distribution model
! [[Software license]]
! [[User interface]]
! [[Programming language]]
|}
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<!--
<ref name=standaloneandbrowser>Can be used as a standalone application or as part of a [[XUL]]-based [[web browser]]</ref>
-->
<ref name=webbrowser>Can be installed as part of a [[web browser]]</ref>
<ref name=cldaemon>Separate client and [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]</ref>
<ref name=ncomp>Incomplete, proof of concept</ref>
<ref name=dev>No official GUI, several options available (e.g. Glowing Bear, a web frontend)</ref>

}}

== Release==
A brief overview of the release history.

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center; table-layout: fixed;"
|- class="unsortable sort-under"
!
! colspan="2" | First public release
! colspan="2" | First stable release
! rowspan="2" | Latest stable release
|- class="sortable sort-under"
! [[Client (computing)|Client]]
! Date
! Version
! Date
! Version
|-
! {{rh}} | [[AmIRC]]
| 1995
| 
|
|
|
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| 1999
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Bersirc}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| 1996
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/BitchX}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| 2001
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/ChatZilla}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (IRC client)|Colloquy]]
| 2005
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Colloquy}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[DMDirc]]	
| 2007	
|	
|	
|	
| {{Latest stable software release/DMDirc}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]	
| 1999?
| 
|	
|	
| {{Latest stable software release/ERC}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]
| 2009-10-04
| r249
| 2009-10-09
| 2.86.0
| {{Latest stable software release/HexChat}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ircII]]
| 1989
| 2.0.0
| 1989
| 2.0.0
| {{Latest stable software release/ircII}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]
| 1995
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Ircle}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]
| 1999
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Irssi}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]
| 1998
| 0.6.0
| 1999-12-21
| 1.0.0
| {{Latest stable software release/KVIrc}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Konversation]]
| 2002
|
|
|
| {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|Q379066|P348|P548=Q2804309}} {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q379066|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[LeafChat]]
| ?
|1.0
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/LeafChat}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]
| 2007
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Linkinus}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]
| 2008
|
|
|
| [[web application]], no version
|-
! {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]
| 1995
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/mIRC}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| 2004
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Nettalk}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| 1995
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/PIRCH}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]
| 2002
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/PJIRC}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| 2008-08-27
| 0.3.0
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Quassel IRC}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]
| ?
| ?
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/rcirc}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]
| 2008-07-29
| 0.6
| 2010-09-03
| 0.8
| {{Latest stable software release/Smuxi}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Snak]]
| 1997
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Snak}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]
| 1995
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/Visual IRC}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]
| 2003
|
|
|
| {{Latest stable software release/WeeChat}}
|- class="unsortable sort-under"
! rowspan="2" | [[Client (computing)|Client]]
! Date
! Version
! Date
! Version
! rowspan="2" | Latest stable release
|- class="unsortable sort-under"
! colspan="2" | First public release
! colspan="2" | First stable release
|}

==Operating system support==
The [[operating system]]s on which the clients can run natively (without emulation).
<div style="overflow-x: auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: smaller; table-layout: fixed;"
|-
! Client
! [[Windows 7]], [[Windows Vista|Vista]]
! [[Windows XP|XP]], [[Windows 2000|2000]]
! [[Windows NT 4.0|NT 4.0]]
! [[Windows NT|NT 3.x]]
! [[Windows Me|Me]], [[Windows 98|98]]
! [[Windows 95|95]]
! [[Windows 3.1x|3.1x]]
! [[ReactOS]]
! [[macOS]] (Intel/PPC)
! [[Mac OS 9|OS 9]]
! [[Mac OS 8|OS 8]]
! [[System 7]] (PPC/68k)
! [[BeOS]], [[Haiku (operating system)|Haiku]]
! [[OS/2]], [[eComStation|eCS]], [[ArcaOS]]
! [[AmigaOS]] (68k)
! [[AmigaOS 4]], [[MorphOS]] (PPC)
! [[DOS]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[AmIRC]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|Requires [[Cygwin]]<ref name=bitchxinstall>{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitchx/files/|title=SourceForge: BitchX files See "INSTALL" included with BitchX |access-date=2009-09-18}}</ref><ref name="weechat cygwin">{{cite web |url=http://wiki.flashtux.org/wiki/WeeChat_cygwin |title=WeeChat cygwin |access-date=2009-09-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912170438/http://wiki.flashtux.org/wiki/WeeChat_cygwin |archive-date=2009-09-12 }}</ref>|name=bitchxinstall|group=Note}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (software)|Colloquy]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Which versions of Windows are supported? |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/efaq-w32.html |access-date=19 March 2023}}</ref>
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Emacs 29 has been ported to the Haiku operating system. |url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/master/etc/NEWS.29 |access-date=19 March 2023}}</ref>
| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ecsoft2.org/emacs |website=The Complete OS/2 Software Encyclopedia |title=Emacs &#124; eCSoft/2 }}</ref>
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=EmacsForDOS |url=https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsForDOS}}</ref>
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[HexChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{dropped}} (2.9.5)
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[ircII]]
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Ircle]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=reqosx group=Note>Requires OS X v10.4.3 or later</ref>
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Irssi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Konversation]]
| {{partial}}
| {{partial}}
| {{partial}}
| {{no}}
| {{partial}}
| {{partial}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{partial}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[KVIrc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref>[https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Connect_to_the_ReactOS_IRC_Channels Connect to the ReactOS IRC Channels]</ref>
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref>[http://www.kvirc.net/?id=news&story=2012.07.03.03.15.1.story&dir=latest 2012-07-03: 4.2.0 Released!]</ref>
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[LeafChat]]
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Linkinus]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=reqosx group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Mibbit]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[mIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{partial}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{partial}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{partial}}{{#tag:ref|Does not support [[Windows 95]] or [[Windows 98]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.ntalk.de/Nettalk/en/index.php?page=Download |title=Nettalk: Download |access-date=2009-10-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507061510/http://en.ntalk.de/Nettalk/en/index.php?page=Download |archive-date=2009-05-07 }}</ref>|name=nowin95|group=Note}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[PJIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[rcirc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Smuxi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Snak]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[Visual IRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} class="table-rh" | [[WeeChat]]
| {{partial}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{partial}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{partial}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{partial}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{partial}}<ref name=bitchxinstall group=Note />
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{partial}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|- class="sortbottom"
! Client
! Windows 7, Vista
! XP, 2000
! NT 4.0
! NT 3.x
! Me, 98
! 95
! 3.1x
! ReactOS
! OS X (Intel/PPC)
! OS 9
! OS 8
! System 7 (PPC/68k)
! BeOS, Haiku
! OS/2, eCS
! AmigaOS (68k)
! AmigaOS 4, [[MorphOS]] (PPC)
! DOS
|}
{{reflist|group=Note}}
</div>

[[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] operating systems:
* Unix ([[BSD]]): [[386BSD]], [[BSD/OS]], [[FreeBSD]], [[NetBSD]], [[OpenBSD]], [[SunOS]], [[ULTRIX]]
* Unix ([[System V]]): [[AIX]], [[A/UX]], [[HP-UX]], [[IRIX]], [[SCO OpenServer]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[UnixWare]]
* Unix-like: [[Linux]], [[NeXTSTEP]], [[OpenVMS]]{{citation needed|reason=when has OpenVMS been a unixlike?|date=April 2016}}, [[OSF/1]], [[QNX]], [[Tru64 UNIX]]
<div style="overflow-x: auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: smaller; table-layout: fixed;"
|-
! Client
! [[386BSD]]
! [[BSD/OS]] (BSD/386, BSDI)
! [[FreeBSD]], [[NetBSD]], [[OpenBSD]]
! [[SunOS]]
! [[ULTRIX]]
! [[AIX]]
! [[A/UX]]
! [[HP-UX]]
! [[IRIX]]
! [[SCO OpenServer]]
! [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]
! [[UnixWare]]
! [[Linux]]
! [[NeXTSTEP]]
! [[OpenVMS]]
! [[OSF/1]]
! [[QNX]]
! [[Tru64 UNIX]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|BitchX is known to work on BSDI 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.0; FreeBSD 2.x, 3.x, 4.0; NetBSD 3.x, 4.x; SunOS 4.1.4; Ultrix; AIX; HP-UX 9.x, 10.x; IRIX 5.x, 6.x; Solaris 5.x and later; Linux; OSF/1 (DEC Alpha); QNX |name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A|group=Note}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_BitchX_A group=Note />
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (software)|Colloquy]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ircII]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Konversation]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[LeafChat]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Snak]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|WeeChat tested on FreeBSD 4.11, 5.4, 6.0; NetBSD 2.0, 2.1; OpenBSD 3.6, 3.7, 3.8; Solaris 5.10; QNX 6.3<ref name="weechat supported os">{{cite web |url=http://www.weechat.org/download/ |title=WeeChat: Supported OS |access-date=2009-09-18}}</ref>|name=Unix_operating_system_support_WeeChat_A|group=Note}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{partial}}{{#tag:ref|In development<ref name="weechat supported os" />|name=Unix_operating_system_support_WeeChat_B|group=Note}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_WeeChat_A group=Note />
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=Unix_operating_system_support_WeeChat_A group=Note />
| {{dunno}}
|- class="sortbottom"
! Client
! 386BSD
! BSD/OS (BSD/386, BSDI)
! FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
! SunOS
! ULTRIX
! AIX
! A/UX
! HP-UX
! IRIX
! SCO OpenServer
! Solaris
! UnixWare
! Linux
! NeXTSTEP
! OpenVMS
! OSF/1
! QNX
! Tru64 UNIX
|}
</div>
{{reflist|group=Note}}

== Protocol support ==
What IRC related protocols and standards are supported by each client.

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center"
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[IPv6]]
! [[Secure Sockets Layer|SSL]]
! [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]]
! [[DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities|DANE]]
! [[Online Certificate Status Protocol|OCSP]]
! [[Certificate revocation list|CRL]]
! [[Simple Authentication and Security Layer|SASL]]
! [[Off-the-Record Messaging|OTR]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{partial|script}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (IRC client)|Colloquy]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://colloquy.info/project/ticket/3915
| title=Ticket 3915 requesting OTR support
| access-date=2017-03-17
| archive-date=2019-10-01
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001025612/http://colloquy.info/project/ticket/3915
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|patch}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|plugin}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ircII]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=irssi-news>
{{cite web
| url=https://irssi.org/posts/#irssi-1-2-0-otr-migration-path
| title=Irssi 1.2.0 OTR Migration Path
| access-date=2020-06-22
}}</ref>
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Konversation]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://bugs.quassel-irc.org/issues/1418
| title=Issue 1418 requesting OTR support
}}</ref>
|-
! {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://smuxi.im/issues/show/651
| title=Issue 651 requesting OTR support
}}</ref>
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Snak]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}<ref name=cypherpunks_otr>
{{cite web
| url=https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/software.php
| title=Cypherpunks - OTR-Enabled Software
| access-date=2014-03-16
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=https://github.com/mmb/weechat-otr
| title=GitHub - weechat-otr - WeeChat script for Off-the-Record messaging
| website=[[GitHub]]
| access-date=2014-03-16
}}</ref>{{r|group=Note|plugin}}
|- class="sortbottom"
! Client
! IPv6
! SSL
! TLS
! DANE
! OCSP
! CRL
! SASL
! OTR
|}
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<!-- <ref name=Protocol_support_Mibbit_A>Cannot send files, can receive files up to 2 MB only</ref> -->
<!-- <ref name=nsuccess>DCC does not always succeed at this stage</ref> -->
<ref name=patch>Supported via patch</ref>
<ref name=plugin>Supported via plugin</ref>
<!-- <ref name=osx>OS X supports this natively for SSL sockets</ref> -->
}}

=== Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) support ===
The Direct Client-to-Client Protocol (DCC) has been the primary method of establishing connections directly between IRC clients for a long time now. Once established, DCC connections bypass the IRC network and servers, allowing for all sorts of data to be transferred between clients including files and direct chat sessions.
<div style="overflow-x: auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center; table-layout: fixed;"
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC CHAT|CHAT]]

! [[Dcc send|SEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC RESUME|RESUME]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC TSEND|TSEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC SEND T|SEND T]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC XMIT|XMIT]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#Passive DCC|Passive DCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC Server|Server]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#RDCC|RDCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC REVERSE|REVERSE]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC RSEND|RSEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#Reverse / Firewall DCC|Reverse / Firewall DCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#File servers (FSERVs)|File servers (FSERVs)]]
! [[XDCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC VOICE|VOICE]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC Whiteboard|Whiteboard]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}<ref>
{{cite web
| url        = https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=285630
| title      = Mozilla ChatZilla: Bugzilla Bug 285630: chatzilla does not support resume for dcc downloads
| date       = 2009-02-20
| access-date = 2009-07-14
}}</ref>
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}{{r|group=Note|planned}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (IRC client)|Colloquy]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ircII]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Konversation]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|Supported_Via_Scripting}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|Supported_Via_Scripting}}
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|Incompatible with other IRC clients<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kvirc.net/doc/doc_dcc_connection.html|title= DCC negotiation and connection|access-date=2014-12-16}}</ref>|name=voice|group=Note}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|Supports the DCC Resume protocol<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mirc.com/help/dccresum.txt|title= DCC Resume protocol|access-date=2009-07-14}}</ref>|name=dcc|group=Note}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{#tag:ref|Supported via a script<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sysreset.com/|title=SysReset mIRC FileServer|access-date=2009-07-14}}</ref>|name=script|group=Note}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|script}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{partial}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|dcc}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Snak]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|dcc}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|voice}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{No}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC CHAT|CHAT]]
! [[Dcc send|SEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC RESUME|RESUME]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC TSEND|TSEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC SEND T|SEND T]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC XMIT|XMIT]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#Passive DCC|Passive DCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC Server|Server]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#RDCC|RDCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC REVERSE|REVERSE]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC RSEND|RSEND]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#Reverse / Firewall DCC|Reverse / Firewall DCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#File servers (FSERVs)|File servers (FSERVs)]]
! [[XDCC]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC VOICE|VOICE]]
! [[Direct Client-to-Client#DCC Whiteboard|Whiteboard]]
|}
</div>
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=planned>Planned for a later version</ref>
<ref name=Supported_Via_Scripting>Supported via scripting</ref>
}}

=== IRCv3 support ===
This software is compliant natively; other software may be compliant with extensions.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ircv3.net/software/clients | title=Clients - IRCv3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ircv3.net/software/libraries | title=Libraries - IRCv3 }}</ref>
<div style="overflow-x: auto">
{{sort-under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under"
! Clients || CAP || CAP 302 || Cap-notify || Account-notify || account-tag || Away-notify || batch || Bot Mode || chghost || echo-message || extended-join || Invite-notify || labeled-response || message-tags || Monitor || msgid || multi-prefix || SASL v3.1 || SASL v3.2 || server-time || setname || sts || userhost-in-names || UTF8ONLY || WHOX || +typing || draft/<br/>chathistory || WebIRC || draft/<br/>account-registration || draft/<br/>extended-monitor || draft/<br/>multiline || +draft/<br/>react || +draft/<br/>reply
|-
| [[BitchX]] || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[Colloquy (software)|Colloquy]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}}
|-
| [[HexChat]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 2.16 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 2.16 || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 2.16 || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 2.16 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[Irssi]] || {{yes}} || Git || Git || Git || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || Git || Git || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[KVIrc]] || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{yes}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || Git || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[Konversation]] || {{yes}} || v20.11.80+ || v21.03.80+ || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || v21.03.80+ || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || v21.04.0+ || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[Mibbit]] || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}}
|-
| [[Mozilla Thunderbird]] || {{yes}} || 72.0+ || 72.0+ || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || 73.0+ || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 72.0+ || 60.0+ || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[Quassel IRC]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 0.14+ || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 0.14+ (opt in) || {{yes}} || 0.14+ || {{no}} || 0.14+ || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 0.14+ || 0.14+ || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[WeeChat]] || {{yes}} || 2.2+ || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || 2.2+ || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 2.2+ || {{no}} || 3.3+ || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 3.3+ || {{yes}} || 3.3+ || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 3.3+ || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
| [[mIRC]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 7.62+ || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 7.62+ || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|}
</div>

==== IRCv3 SASL mechanisms ====
IRC SASL authentication primarily uses the same mechanisms as SASL in other protocols. Most commonly:
* PLAIN as defined by [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4616#section-2 RFC 4616]
* EXTERNAL as defined by [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4422#appendix-A RFC 4422]
* SCRAM-SHA-256 as defined by RFC 7677

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" 
! Client || EXTERNAL || PLAIN || SCRAM-SHA-256
|-
| [[BitchX]] || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| Colloquy || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| HexChat || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| Irssi || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| KVIrc || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| Konversation || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| Mozilla Thunderbird || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| WeeChat || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 3.2+
|-
| catgirl || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| mIRC || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || 7.68+
|-
| pydle(lib.) || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| senpai || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
| zIRC(lib.) || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|}

== Features ==
Information on what features each of the clients support.

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="width: auto; text-align: center"
|-
! [[client (computing)|Client]]
! [[IRC server|Multi-server]]
! [[UTF-8]]
! [[Proxy server]]
! [[URI scheme|irc:// URI scheme]]
! [[software update|Automatic updates]]
! [[Scripting language]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Bersirc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{n/a}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[BitchX]]
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| Enhanced [[IrcII]] script
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ChatZilla]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| [[JavaScript]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Colloquy (IRC client)|Colloquy]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|Features_Colloquy_(IRC_client)_A}}
| [[AppleScript]], [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]], F-Script, JavaScript, [[Python (programming language)|Python]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ERC (software)|ERC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|ERC_Proxy_Support}}
| {{yes}}<ref>{{cite web |title=irc |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/url/irc.html}}</ref>
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|ERC_Auto_Updates}}
| [[Emacs Lisp]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[HexChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|[[Perl]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Tcl]], [[Lua (programming language)|Lua]]{{r|group=Note|Features_HexChat_A}}, [[JavaScript]], [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], and via [[D-Bus]].
|-
! {{rh}} | [[ircII]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|Features_ircII_A}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| [[IrcII]] script
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Ircle]]
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|[[AppleScript]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Irssi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| [[Perl]]
|-
! {{rh}}  | [[Konversation]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
|[[Shell script]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Perl]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[C++]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], [[JavaScript]]{{r|group=Note|Features_Konversation_A}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[KVIrc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| KVS (custom), [[Perl]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[C++]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[LeafChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| [[Java (programming language)|Java]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Linkinus]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|[[AppleScript]], [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Mibbit]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}}
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[mIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}{{r|group=Note|mIRC_Updates}}
| [[mIRC scripting language|mIRC script]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Nettalk (IRC client)|Nettalk]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| [[SOCKS]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| [[VBScript]], custom
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PIRCH (IRC client)|PIRCH]]
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[PJIRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| Partial, [[JavaScript]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Quassel IRC|Quassel]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! {{rh}} | [[rcirc]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{no}}
| [[Emacs Lisp]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Smuxi]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{yes}} (language agnostic)
|-
! {{rh}} |  [[Snak]]
|{{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|[[AppleScript]], [[IrcII]] script
|-
! {{rh}} | [[Visual IRC]]
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| [[Versus programming language|Versus]]
|-
! {{rh}} | [[WeeChat]]
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| [[C (programming language)|C]], [[Perl]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[Lua (programming language)|Lua]], [[Tcl]], [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] ([[GNU Guile|Guile]])
|- class="sortbottom"
! Client
! Multi-server
! UTF-8
! Proxy server
! irc:// URI scheme
! Automatic updates
! Scripting language
|}

{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=ERC_Auto_Updates>Supports automatic updates via the Emacs package manager</ref>
<ref name=ERC_Proxy_Support>Can be added with [http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ErcProxy separate packages].</ref>
<ref name=Features_Colloquy_(IRC_client)_A>Automatically updates via the [[Sparkle (software)|Sparkle]] framework</ref>
<ref name=Features_Konversation_A>Any language which supports [[Desktop communication protocol|DCOP]] may be used for Konversation scripting. Virtually any language can be made to support Konversation scripting by executing the command line "dcop" program.</ref>
<ref name=Features_ircII_A>Supported as of version 20050921</ref>
<ref name=Features_HexChat_A>Since 2.9.5 HexChat is shipped only with Perl and Python.</ref>
<ref name=mIRC_Updates>Only looks for updates, they need to be manually downloaded and installed.</ref>
}}

== See also ==
* [[Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients]]
** [[Comparison of user features of messaging platforms]]
** [[Comparison of instant messaging protocols]]
* [[Comparison of VoIP software]]
** [[List of SIP software]]
* [[Comparison of LAN messengers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{IRC footer}}

[[Category:IRC clients| ]]
[[Category:Network software comparisons|Internet Relay Chat clients]]