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Add to SafariWhen comparing Mozilla Thunderbird vs IRCCloud, the Slant community recommends Mozilla Thunderbird for most people. In the question“What are the best IRC clients for Windows?” Mozilla Thunderbird is ranked 9th while IRCCloud is ranked 15th.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Free (as in freedom and beer)
Pro Available on Linux, OS X and Windows
Pro Very reliable
Version after version, Mozilla Thunderbird works as expected.
Pro Good filtering system
Mozilla Thunderbird offers a flexible filtering system with the ability to set flags and read/unread, as well as sort/assign to new mail directories. There are also numerous plugins available to assist in the filtering.
Pro Large assortment of plugins available
Mozilla Thunderbird offers a huge amount of extensions to expand the usability and options of the client.
Pro Great flexibility
More options and extended settings than most power users could dream of. Get it working how YOU want.
Pro Tabs for navigation
Pro Lightning Calendar and Address Book integration
Pro Consistent and involving a moderate learning curve
The app design of Mozilla Thunderbird has not changed significantly since its beginning, making its learning curve almost non-existent.
Pro Send large files easy
Install pCloud plugin for Thunderbird and your files (upto 20 GB free storage included) will be received as download links
Pro Inline media
IRCCloud has the ability to embed pictures, youtube videos, vines, etc straight within the chat window.
Pro Can stay connected while user is absent
IRCCloud offers an option to keep idling in a channel even when the user is not connected. This way no conversations or mentions will be missed while away.
Pro Drag and drop filesharing
Files can be shared simply by dragging and dropping them into a channel. They will be hosted on IRCCloud's servers and linked.
Pro Simple interface
IRCCloud has a simple two-pane interface with a chat window on the left and server and channel lists on the right. It includes colorized nicknames to easier tell users apart and allows customizing details such as clock format, usermode symbols and alerts.
Pro Pastebin integration
IRCCloud will suggest putting long snippets of text on pastebin and link that instead of flooding the channel.
Pro Free tier
While IRCCloud is generally a subscription service, a limited free tier is available. It's limited to 2 external IRC networks besides irc.irccloud.com, accounts get disconnected after 2h while no frontend is used (does not apply for the first 7 days) and 100MB file sharing limit as well as it lacks a number of team and enterprise oriented features.
Pro Native emoji support
Pro Cloud saving of logs
Never lose logs again, IRCCloud keeps them backed up and can email a zip of them to you on request.
Pro BNC by default
All other irc clients are only connected to the network as long as you are online. IRCCloud provides a bouncer by default, i.e. an irc proxy that maintains your presence and logs all chat. Said BNC remains online for 3 hours by default, papering over connectivity losses, or for a small fee of 4€ per month, you can remain online forever (good for travels and such).
Pro Private servers for teams
Pro Amazing mobile app
Available on android and apple stores. It's just as good as the desktop client, comparable with discord though not as fully featured, being IRC.
Pro Prototype web wrapper client
There is a primitive, but consistently updated web wrapper that can act as a desktop client available on github. They don't exactly publicize it, but it is being actively developed all the same. It will likely evolve into a full-featured dedicated desktop client in time.
Pro Takes security seriously
Offers bounties for reporting security bugs through HackerOne.
Pro Custom authentication support for enterprises
Pro On-premises hosting for enterprises
Cons
Con Development slowed to only focus on stability and security
Mozilla Thunderbird has slowed down its development of features to only focus resources on security and stability.
Con Outdated interface
Thunderbird's interface is very outdated and unpleasant. It feels more like a Windows XP application than like a modern MacOS one.
Con Terrible integration with macOS
Simple things - drag/dropping pictures doesn't work, for instance.
Con Subject lines can (temporarily) disappear from the list
This is sporadic behavior.
Con Serious bugs
Clicking on a subject line can bring up the wrong email.
Con Lack of bold, strikethrough, italic and color codes
This seems like something that should have been obvious.
Con Potential for networks blocking IRCCloud's connections
Since IRCCloud acts as a bouncer with all user connections coming from the same IP range, IRCCloud might be shut off from a network once a network's session limit is reached.
