Open Source C IRC Clients

See https://pidgin.im/about/ for more information. Pidgin is an instant messaging program which lets you log in to accounts on multiple chat networks simultaneously. It runs on Windows, Linux, and other UNIX operating systems. Pidgin is compatible with the following chat networks out of the box: AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, MXit, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr. It is written in C and makes heavy use of GLib and GTK+. Finch is a command line instant messaging program. It also lets you log in to accounts on multiple chat network simultaneously, and it is compatible with the same chat networks as Pidgin. It is written in C and makes heavy use of GLib and ncurses.

Miranda IM is an open source, multi-protocol instant messaging client designed to be very light on system resources, extremely fast and customizable. A powerful plugin-based architecture make Miranda IM one of the most flexible clients on the planet.

Windows (XP/Vista/7/8/10) ports of the Eggdrop IRC bot

BitchX is an IRC client based on ircII/EPIC4. It includes many features that are usually relegated to scripts such as CDCC and flood protection -- you can just start it and go. Development was on hiatus for a while but is now resuming.

X-Chat Aqua is X-Chat with an Aqua interface for MacOS X. X-Chat Aqua uses the irc engine from X-Chat, and is designed to look and feel like the GTK+ front end.

Ghost is an open source irc bot project. It is loosely based off of eggdrop 1.4. Created by Einride and Ievil. No longer maintained, and has a weakness in its encryption used for linking.

Miranda NG is a successor of a popular multi-protocol instant messaging client for Windows, Miranda IM. Very light on system resources and extremely fast. Supports Em-LAN Facebook, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ / MRA, IRC Internet Relay Chat, Jabber XMPP, MinecraftDynmap, Omegle, Sametime, SkypeWeb, Steam, Tox, Twitter, and VKontakte. Linux is not a natively supported operating system, but Miranda is known to run on Linux under Wine. PluginUpdater is responsible for keeping your Miranda up-to-date. It checks for updates for all installed plugins and other components like icon sets and langpack regularly (depending on its settings) and performs updating automatically.

Bot Sentry is a Pidgin (libpurple) plugin to prevent Instant Message (IM) spam. It allows you to ignore IMs unless the sender is in your Buddy List, the sender is in your Allow List, or the sender correctly answers a question you have predefined.

Rhapsody is a text console IRC client for Unix operating systems. It is small, fast, portable, easy to use and full featured. An intuitive menu-driven user interface makes rhapsody ideal for beginner to intermediate users.

A pidgin plugin that allows user to assign global hotkeys (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+g) for togglling buddy list and reading queued message. When "Toggle List" hotkey is enabled, it makes the buddy list hidden from your taskbar and task switcher (similar to ICQ).

libircclient is a small but powerful library, which implements client-server IRC protocol. It has all features needed to create your own IRC client or bot, including multi-threading support, sync and async interfaces, CTCP/DCC support, colors, SSL connections and so on.

Undernet Coder Committee -- ircu development

muh is a smart IRC-bouncing tool that remains on IRC all the time. You can take control over your nick by connecting to muh with an IRC client that is able to supply a password for the server connection.

X-Chat is an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) program for Linux and Windows.

Ayttm is an instant messenger program, supporting various protocols such as MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber, and more. It is the heir of the Everybuddy project, and aims to continue improving the program and addressing its shortcomings.

Features include: authentication, channel control, a full-featured Memo system, a Seen system, logging capabilities, a help system, the ability to act as a file sharing node and the ability to share data and perform functions together with other bots.

IRCD-Hybrid is a lightweight, high-performance Internet Relay Chat server.

[ Please read https://sourceforge.net/p/darkbot/news/2014/01/darkbots-revitalization/ ] Darkbot is a portable IRC chat robot written in the C language that can be taught responses to user inquiries, and even have conversations with them. Darkbot was originally created by Jason Hamilton as an aid for help channels on Intenet Relay Chat.

WinLop is a port of the linux version of Lopster to Windows. See lopster.sourceforge.net for more details.

Wraith is an open source IRC bot written in C++. It has been in development since late 2003. It is based on Eggdrop 1.6.12 but has since evolved into something much different at its core.

srvx IRC Services is a ground-up implementation of services for IRC networks (supporting IRCu2.10, Bahamut, and other IRC server dialects). Features include POSIX threading, generalized proxy detection and all the standard services users expect.

A free Win32 instant messaging client. Smaller, Faster, Easier.

Eggdrop is the most advanced IRC robot available. It has been under development since December 1993, and unlike most other bots, it is still regularly updated.

Irssi is a terminal based IRC client for UNIX systems. It also supports SILC and ICB protocols via plugins.

An automated IRC trivia bot. Features an advanced string matching algorithm designed to match answers phonetically.