Choosing an IRC client

One interacts with IRC through an IRC client. There are many well-established IRC clients and countless more that exist as hobbyist projects. This page exists as an opinionated list of clients recommended by Libera.Chat staff for newcomers to IRC. These are free, open-source, and have maintainers who can respond to potential security issues.

Once you have chosen a client to use and have an account, we recommend setting up SASL to log in to your account, which is supported by every client recommended below. If you’re interested in ensuring the security of your connection, please refer to our connection guide.

Connecting without installing anything

If you cannot or do not wish to install a client on your computer, you can use a web client. We provide two web clients that are pre-configured to connect to Libera.Chat:

Using a web client tends to be less reliable than using native client on a desktop or server. Many browsers like to stop web apps from running in the background indefinitely, which means you may spuriously disconnect if you tab away from the client.

You can also use IRCCloud’s web client which partially mitigates this, but be aware of caveats.

Bouncers

On most IRC networks — including Libera.Chat — your session is tied to your connection to the server. Once you disconnect, your session ends, and you miss out on any messages that were sent while you weren’t connected. Bouncers connect to IRC servers on your behalf and keep your connection alive even when your client disconnects. They incorporate some form of message playback to allow reconnecting clients to catch up on missed messages. They are hosted on devices that have stable internet connections, like VPSes or (sometimes) home computers. While a bouncer isn’t always necessary for a good user experience, it can be helpful if you prefer to chat from a mobile device.

Any well-made IRC client can work with any well-made bouncer, but some clients integrate with specific bouncer software, most commonly with Soju. Other clients have a bouncer-like component that is specifically designed for them. The recommendations below will note when a client either benefits from a particular bouncer or has an optional bouncer-like component.

Desktop Clients

These are clients that are best-used on desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, etc). They have graphical user interfaces that are designed to be navigated with your mouse cursor or touch.

Mobile Clients

Using IRC on a mobile device tends to be less reliable than using it on a desktop. Mobile operating systems like to stop applications from running in the background indefinitely, which means you may spuriously disconnect after switching applications.

At this time, there seems to be only one mobile client which meets the prerequisites for recommendation.

Terminal Clients

Terminal clients, as the name suggests, run in a terminal emulator. They are typically navigated using the keyboard exclusively, though some have mouse support. Terminal clients can be run on servers and used remotely thanks to terminal multiplexers, thus reducing the need for a bouncer. However, they tend to have significant learning curves and can be cumbersome to use on mobile devices.

Note that unless otherwise noted, the following options only support xterm-like terminals. If in doubt, your terminal emulator probably is xterm-like unless it’s Windows Console. If you are on Windows, consider using Windows Terminal or running these clients under WSL.

IRCCloud

IRCCloud essentially provides bouncers as a service, though they use a custom API that in practice only works with their clients, and their server software is closed-source at the time of writing. It is fairly popular as it serves as a convenient and possibly cheaper alternative to setting up a bouncer yourself on a VPS. In addition to its webchat, it also has apps for Android and iOS.

IRCCloud has a limited free plan. While on the free plan, you may be required to have a Libera.Chat account to connect or join some channels. IRCCloud will also disconnect you if you are inactive for more than a couple of hours.

Other Clients

In order to be recommended on this page, clients must:

There are many clients that don’t meet these criteria, or do meet these criteria but cannot be recommended for other reasons. For a more complete list of IRCv3 clients, please see the IRCv3 client support table. Information on the SASL mechanisms supported by each client can be found here.