Utilities

What are the best command line IRC clients?

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WeeChat vs Irssi vs ERC

 vs KISS for IRC (kirc) vs Sublime Text vs V-eConnect+ app

Specs

License

GPLv3

Proxy server

Yes

Platforms

-

SSL

-

SASL

-

Multi-channel

-

RFC 2812 Commands

-

Multi Language Support

-

Auto Complete

-

Bracket Matching

-

Integrated Debugger

-

Code Templates

-

Collaborative editing

-

Error Markup

-

Source Control Integration

-

Extension language

-

Unit Testing

-

Supported remote file editing protocols

-

Column selection

-

Plugin Manager

-

Supported keybinding styles

-

RTL

-

Bidi

-

Go To Definition

-

Interactive Console

-

Plugin

-

License

-

Proxy server

-

Platforms

-

SSL

-

SASL

-

Multi-channel

-

RFC 2812 Commands

-

Multi Language Support

-

Auto Complete

-

Bracket Matching

-

Integrated Debugger

-

Code Templates

-

Collaborative editing

-

Error Markup

-

Source Control Integration

-

Extension language

-

Unit Testing

-

Supported remote file editing protocols

-

Column selection

-

Plugin Manager

-

Supported keybinding styles

-

RTL

-

Bidi

-

Go To Definition

-

Interactive Console

-

Plugin

-

License

-

Proxy server

-

Platforms

-

SSL

-

SASL

-

Multi-channel

-

RFC 2812 Commands

-

Multi Language Support

-

Auto Complete

-

Bracket Matching

-

Integrated Debugger

-

Code Templates

-

Collaborative editing

-

Error Markup

-

Source Control Integration

-

Extension language

-

Unit Testing

-

Supported remote file editing protocols

-

Column selection

-

Plugin Manager

-

Supported keybinding styles

-

RTL

-

Bidi

-

Go To Definition

-

Interactive Console

-

Plugin

-

License

MIT

Proxy server

-

Platforms

Linux, Windows (WSL), MacOS

SSL

Yes

SASL

Yes

Multi-channel

Yes

RFC 2812 Commands

Full

Multi Language Support

-

Auto Complete

-

Bracket Matching

-

Integrated Debugger

-

Code Templates

-

Collaborative editing

-

Error Markup

-

Source Control Integration

-

Extension language

-

Unit Testing

-

Supported remote file editing protocols

-

Column selection

-

Plugin Manager

-

Supported keybinding styles

-

RTL

-

Bidi

-

Go To Definition

-

Interactive Console

-

Plugin

-

License

Proprietary

Proxy server

-

Platforms

Windows, macOS, Linux

SSL

-

SASL

-

Multi-channel

-

RFC 2812 Commands

-

Multi Language Support

Yes

Auto Complete

Yes

Bracket Matching

Yes

Integrated Debugger

No

Code Templates

Yes

Collaborative editing

No

Error Markup

No

Source Control Integration

Via plugins

Extension language

Python

Unit Testing

No

Supported remote file editing protocols

FTP (plug-in); SSH (plug-in)

Column selection

Yes

Plugin Manager

Yes (3rd party)

Supported keybinding styles

OSX; Vi; Emacs

RTL

No

Bidi

No

Go To Definition

Yes

Interactive Console

No

Plugin

Yes

License

-

Proxy server

-

Platforms

-

SSL

-

SASL

-

Multi-channel

-

RFC 2812 Commands

-

Multi Language Support

-

Auto Complete

-

Bracket Matching

-

Integrated Debugger

-

Code Templates

-

Collaborative editing

-

Error Markup

-

Source Control Integration

-

Extension language

-

Unit Testing

-

Supported remote file editing protocols

-

Column selection

-

Plugin Manager

-

Supported keybinding styles

-

RTL

-

Bidi

-

Go To Definition

-

Interactive Console

-

Plugin

-

Pros + Cons

Pro
 Terminal-based

WeeChat has a command line interface.
Comment

Pro
 Light and extensible

WeeChat is designed to be light and extensible: a lightweight core with optional plugins.
Comment

Pro
 Fully keyboard driven

Weechat can be fully driven by keyboard shortcuts. Navigating between buffers, switching between windows and changing text styling can all be achieved with keyboard shortcuts.
Comment

Pro
 Built-in script manager

WeeChat has a built-in tool for searching, downloading, installing and updating scripts and plugins.
Comment

Pro
 Can act as a relay for mobile client

It's possible to leave WeeChat running at home/on a server, then connect to it with a smartphone client. This way a choppy mobile internet connection won't disconnect from IRC, and still allow using a touch screen optimized UI.
Comment

Pro
 Interactive configuration plugin

With /fset you can easily customise weechat.
Comment

Pro
 Extensible via plugins and scripts

Supports scripting in C, Python, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Scheme and Javascript.
Comment

Pro
 Mouse support

Mouse click and gestures are supported on a local terminal as well as remote terminal accessed via ssh regardless of screen/tmux. To enable mouse support use /mouse enable command or press alt+m.
Comment

Pro
 Highly customisable buffer plugin

Buflist plugin to display buffers.
Comment

Pro
 Incremental text search

Text is searched through in real time as search terms are being written.
Comment

Pro
 Active and helpful community support

Weechat community can be found on #weechat @ Freenode. The community, including devs, is helpful in answering any WeeChat related questions.
Comment

Pro
 Huge library of scripts

WeeChat scripts repository has hundreds of scripts including url shorteners, music player integrations and bandwidth monitors.
Comment

Pro
 Free and open source

WeeChat is a free program licensed under GPL with source code available on GitHub.
Comment

Pro
 Highly customizable and configurable

With many dotfiles that are publicly available.
Comment

Pro
 Flexible window splitting

Weechat allows very flexible window splitting behavior to show multiple IRC channels at once. Windows can be split vertically and horizontally.
Comment

Pro
 Accessible to less expert users out of the box

WeeChat has an easy to use interface and sane defaults, making it a great client for beginner users.
Comment

Pro
 Smart filtering

Smart filtering lets set a series of rules for IRC channels. For example, it allows instructing the client to show /quit and /join messages only if the user was speaking in the last 20 minutes.
Comment

Pro
 Intuitive, detail-oriented interface

By default WeeChat has a chat area surrounded by a nicklist on the right, title bar on top, and status and input bars at the bottom. The layout, though, can be completely customized and split vertically or horizontally. It supports 256 colors as long as the terminal supports 256 colors as well as bolded, italicized and underlined text. Even includes little touches as differently colored nicknames for people /away.
Comment

Con
 No official GUI option

While there are some unofficial remote graphical interfaces available for WeeChat, it is intended to be used as a terminal client. As such it might be challenging to use to those accustomed to graphical interfaces.
Comment

Pro
 Has a plugin for encrypted communications

Comment

Pro
 Free and open-source

Comment

Pro
 Command line outputs can be sent to a channel or message

/exec -o figlet "Slant.co"
Comment

Pro
 Persistent Connection

Comment

Pro
 Terminal-based

Comment

Pro
 Can be upgraded without losing connection

Upgrading your Irssi client to the latest version can be easily done without losing the connections to the IRC servers and without restarting Irssi.
Comment

Pro
 Perl Scripting

Allows the user to create and use perl scripts to perform actions.
Comment

Pro
 Themes

Allows the modification of IRSSI's look and feel.
Comment

Con
 Cryptic configuration files

Comment

Con
 Gives little direction upfront

Comment

Pro
 Lightweight

Kiss is smaller than 1 MB.
Comment

Pro
 Fast

Kiss is written in C99.
Comment

Pro
 Consistent cross-platform

Sublime Text looks consistently the same across Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Comment

Pro
 Multi-line select and editing

Multiple cursors and column selection allows for versatile ways of editing. ctrl + d will select the current word and each time the command is repeated, it adds the next occurrence of the word to the selection. ctrl + click or middle-mouse click will place another cursor in the place that's clicked. Cursors can then be controlled together. This also permits selecting vertically. ctrl + shift + l will place a cursor on every highlighted line.
Comment

Pro
 Beginner-friendly

When you start using Sublime Text, it doesn't drown you in keyboard shortcuts or non-intuitive use-concepts. However, high-level functionality can still be easily accessed when the need for it arises.
Comment

Pro
 Lightweight

Sublime Text is very lightweight by default. Customization occurs on the fly thanks to Package Control.
Comment
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