Comparison of IRC services - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The following tables compare general and technical information including the differences in feature sets between various IRC services

IRC services

Internet Relay Chat services is a name for a set of features implemented on many modern Internet Relay Chat networks. Services are automated bots with special status which are generally used to provide users with access with certain privileges and protection...

packages. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

General information

Services	Creator/Network	Basis	Programming Language Programming language A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....	First public release date	Latest stable version (ctcp version/numeric 351)	Software license	Website
Anope	dengel, Rob (staff)	Epona	C	2003	Anope-1.8.5	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.anope.org
Atheme	nenolod, jilles	Shrike, Sentinel, ircd-ratbox, charybdis	C	2005	6.0.7	BSD BSD licenses BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....	http://www.atheme.net
Auspice	In Mean (staff)	Sirv 2.7	C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...	2000	auspice 2.8.1	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://auspice.sourceforge.net/
BorkNet Services	BorkNet	(from scratch)	Java Java (programming language) Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...	2005	BorkNet Services Rev. 34	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.borknet.org/dev-com/
Ecks	GamesNET (Kuja)	(from scratch)	Java Java (programming language) Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...	2006	Ecks 0.7	MPL Mozilla Public License The Mozilla Public License is a free and open source software license. Version 1.0 was developed by Mitchell Baker when she worked as a lawyer at Netscape Communications Corporation and version 1.1 at the Mozilla Foundation...	http://code.google.com/p/ecks/
Epona	PegSoft	IRC Services 4.3.3	C	2000	Epona 1.5rc1	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.epona.org
GNUWorld	Orlando Bassotto, Andrea Cocito	(from scratch)	C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...	1997	?	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.gnuworld.org/
HybServ	kreator	?	C	?	?	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.hybserv.net/
IRCServices	Andrew Church	(from scratch)	C	1997	ircservices-5.1.0	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.ircservices.za.net/
ModServ Services	commx	(from scratch)	C, PHP PHP PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...	2003	ModServ 2.1.10	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://sourceforge.net/projects/modserv
OPAS	AustNet, Roger Yerramsetti	?	C	N/A	OPAS-v2.4	Closed Source	?
PTlink IRC Services	PTlink IRC Software	?	C	?	3.9.1	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://sourceforge.net/projects/ptlinksoft/
QuakeNet Services	QuakeNet QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels... development team	(from scratch)	C	?	?	Various	http://dev-com.quakenet.org/
Ratbox Services	Lee Hardy	(from scratch)	C	2003	ratbox-services-1.1.1	BSD BSD licenses BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....	http://services.ircd-ratbox.org/
Shrike	Eric Will	(from scratch)	C	2003	shrike-1.6	BSD BSD licenses BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....	http://www.malkier.net/projects.php?p=shrike
SirvNET	Trevor Klingbeil	?	?	?	?	?	http://www.sirv.net/main.html
Srvx	GameSurge GameSurge GameSurge is a popular Internet Relay Chat network devoted to the online multiplayer gaming community. Games commonly seen referenced on GameSurge include many first person shooters and MMORPGs .GameSurge is...	(from scratch)	C	?	1.3.1	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.srvx.net/
SurrealServices	saturn, tabris/SurrealChat.net	Anope, ConferenceRoom/Auspice, NeoStats (features, not code)	Perl Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular... , SQL SQL SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....	2005	0.4.2	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.surrealchat.net/wiki/SurrealServices
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	freenode Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation... (jilles, gxti, nenolod)	dancer-services, HybServ	C	N/A	? (now replaced by Atheme)	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	?
X2	AfterNET (Previously)	(from scratch)	C	?	5.2 (now replaced by X3)	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://x2serv.sourceforge.net/index.php
X3	AfterNET	SRVX, X2	C	2006	X3 1.6+[2187 2008-07-20]	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://evilnet.sourceforge.net/x3/

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

Services	Creator/Network	Basis	Programming Language Programming language A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....	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 GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://denorastats.org/
GNU Thales	Lucas Nussbaum, et al.	(from scratch)	C	2003	1.0	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://www.gnu.org/software/thales/
IRC Defender	ChatSpike, Brain	(from scratch)	Perl Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...	2004	1.4b1	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://ircdefender.org/
NeoStats	NeoStats Software	GeoStats	C	2002	NeoStats-3.0.2-beta4	GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	http://ne0stats.sf.net/

Operating System support

Services	Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...	Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...	Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...	BSD	Unix Unix Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...	MySQL			PostgreSQL			SQLite backend			LDAP backend	IPv6 IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...	SSL	Module Support	Modularised Core	Protocol Modules	Module Repository
Services				BSD		Read	Write	Realtime	Read	Write	Realtime	Read	Write	Realtime	LDAP backend		SSL	Module Support	Modularised Core	Protocol Modules	Module Repository
Anope					?
Atheme
Auspice	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
BorkNet Services	?	?
Ecks															?
Epona
GNUWorld																	?
HybServ	?	?													?	?	?
IRCServices
ModServ Services								0.9	2.0	2.0	2.0					Planned			>= 1.2
OPAS	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?	?
PTlink IRC Services	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels...		?						?			?			?			?				?
Ratbox Services	?	?													?	?	?
Shrike
SirvNET	?	?	?	?	?	3.0.0	3.0.0	3.0.0							?	?	?
Srvx	Under Cygwin	?													?		?
SurrealServices	?	?			?				?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Planned	?			?	?
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X3		?														?	?

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

Services	Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...	Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...	BSD	Unix Unix Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...	MySQL			PostgreSQL			SQLite backend			LDAP backend	SSL	Module Support	Modularised Core	Protocol Modules	Module Repository
Services			BSD		Read	Write	Realtime	Read	Write	Realtime	Read	Write	Realtime	LDAP backend	SSL	Module Support	Modularised Core	Protocol Modules	Module Repository
Denora	?	?	?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?			?	?	?
GNU Thales	?		?	?			?							?	?	?	?	?	?
IRC Defender															?
NeoStats	?			?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?			?	?	?

Services Features

Services	Nickname/Username Services	Email Validation	Nick Grouping/Linking	Identify As	Email Lost Passwords
Anope	NickServ
Atheme	NickServ/UserServ
Auspice	NickServ	?	?	?	?
BorkNet Services	Q
Ecks	SrvAuth
Epona	NickServ
GNUWorld	NickServ/X
HybServ	NickServ
IRCServices	NickServ
ModServ Services	G
OPAS	NickOP				via ASD service
PTlink IRC Services	NickServ	?	?	?	?
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels...	Q
Ratbox Services	NickServ/UserServ
Shrike	X
SirvNET	NickServ
Srvx	AuthServ
SurrealServices	NickServ
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	NickServ			?	?
X2
X3	NickServ/AuthServ

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
Services	Channel Services	xOP System	Levels System	Flags System	Successor	Suspend Members	Op/Voice other users	Ban	Reason	Setter	Expiry	Enforce current users	Channel Passwords	Email Lost Passwords	Client in Channels	Fantasy Commands
Anope	ChanServ, BotServ
Atheme	ChanServ, BotServ		Module			Module
Auspice	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
BorkNet Services	Q	?
Ecks	SrvChan
Epona	ChanServ, BotServ
GNUWorld	X
HybServ	ChanServ												?
IRCServices	ChanServ
ModServ Services	G
OPAS	ChanOP															`fun
PTlink IRC Services	ChanServ	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels...	Q	?
Ratbox Services	ChanServ, BotServ															?
Shrike	X
SirvNET	ChanServ				3.0.0	?	?		?	?	?	?
Srvx	ChanServ
SurrealServices	ChanServ, BotServ
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	ChanServ	?			?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X2	X2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X3	X3

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
Atheme	OperServ
Auspice	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
BorkNet Services	O
Ecks	SrvOper
Epona	OperServ
GNUWorld	EUWorld
HybServ	OperServ
IRCServices	OperServ
ModServ Services	O
OPAS	OperOP, Sprint, ASD	?
PTlink IRC Services	OperServ	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels...	O, Newserv, U
Ratbox Services	OperServ, JupeServ, BanServ
Shrike	X
SirvNET	OperServ, RootServ
Srvx	OperServ
SurrealServices	OperServ, AdminServ		CS MODE
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X3	O3

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					HostServ					Planned
Atheme	MemoServ					NickServ or HostServ
Auspice	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
BorkNet Services	Planned M	Planned	Planned	Planned	Planned	V			Planned	H	X
Ecks										SrvHelp
Epona	MemoServ					NickServ				HelpServ
GNUWorld	X										Stats
HybServ	MemoServ									HelpServ	StatServ
IRCServices	MemoServ									HelpServ	StatServ
ModServ Services	N				Planned
OPAS	NoteOP									HelpOP	CountOP
PTlink IRC Services	MemoServ	?	?	?	?		?	?	?
QuakeNet Services QuakeNet QuakeNet is currently the largest Internet Relay Chat network, with a peak average of about 135,000 users and 100,000 channels. The network was founded in 1997 by Garfield and Oli as a new home for their respective countries' Quake channels...										G
Ratbox Services
SirvNET	MemoServ		3.0.0							HelpServ	StatServ (3.0.0)
Shrike
Srvx	MemoServ									HelpServ
SurrealServices	MemoServ		?	?
Theia Freenode freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
X2
X3	MemoServ	(Notes)				AuthServ				HelpServ

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								?		Partly				?	?		?		?	?	?		, P10
Austhex								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?		?	?
Bahamut 1.4																	?		?	?
Bahamut 1.8																	?		?	?
beware ircd				?				?		Partly				?	?		?		?	?	?
Charybdis								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
ConferenceRoom																					?
Dancer								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
DreamForge								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
Microsoft Exchange Microsoft Exchange Server Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products... 5.5 / 2000								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
Farpoint								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?		?	?	?
Hyperion								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
IgnitionServer								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
InspIRCd																					?
IRCD								?	ircd-2.8						?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?	ircd-2.10	?	?
Hybrid																	?		?	?	?
ircu Ircu ircu is the name of the IRC daemon software written for and used on the Undernet IRC network.ircu is one of the few servers that is based on the irc2.7 codebase of the original IRCd....				?				?	ircu 2.9	Partly				?	?		?		?	?	?		, P10
IRCXpro Server								?		?				?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
Ithildin								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
MooIRCd								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
Nefarious IRCu	3rd party			?						Partly							?				?				3rd party
pircd								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?		?	?	?
PleXusIRCd								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
PTlink								?					?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
QuakeIRCd								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
RageIRCd								?					?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Ratbox																	?		?	?	?
ShadowIRCd								?					?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Snircd	?	?	?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SolidIRCd								?					?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TR-IRCD								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?			?	?
UltimateIRCd 2.8								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
UltimateIRCd 3.0								?						?	?	?	?		?	?	?
UnrealIRCd 3.1														?	?						?
UnrealIRCd 3.2														?	?

External links

IRC services packages compared to Anope