When comparing mIRC vs IRCCloud, the Slant community recommends mIRC for most people. In the question“What are the best IRC clients for Windows?” mIRC is ranked 5th while IRCCloud is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose mIRC is:
mIRC interface is uncluttered, easy to overview and use. Additionally, it is highly customizable where fonts, layouts, aliases, popups, etc can be changed and extendable so it can be made to fit any necessities.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Clean interface
mIRC interface is uncluttered, easy to overview and use. Additionally, it is highly customizable where fonts, layouts, aliases, popups, etc can be changed and extendable so it can be made to fit any necessities.
Pro Highly scriptable with an ever-evolving scripting language
Scripts are short programs (sets of instructions) that can be used to automate tasks in mIRC. mIRC has its own scripting language which can be used to perform many different types of tasks, from managing IRC channels to playing multi-user online games.
mIRC scripts can also be used to perform tasks that are not IRC-related, such as managing files on the computer, sending emails, or backing up a web server.
The scripting language is being improved upon and developed further with each release of mIRC.
Pro Functionality can be extended with a vast array of scripts
A vast array of scripts are available on the web.
Pro Almost all actions can be performed via buttons
mIRC offers easy to use graphical solutions for a wide range of different IRC commands and server configurations so it's possible to use either commands or icons based on preference.
Pro Has been in active development for over 20 years
mIRC was created in 1995 by Khaled Mardam-Bey and is still being actively developed.
Pro Free trial
mIRC offers a free 30-day trial.
Pro Stable
Pro Per-server settings
It's possible to create a list of settings and action that perform when connecting to a specific server. All of these things are easy to set up and use.
Pro Very customisible
Pro Crackable if you NOP CRC
Very easy to crack if you know basic Reverse Engineering.
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 Not free
mIRC is not free but only a trial for 30 days, after that the user is asked to pay $20 to be able to use the software.
Con No command line solution
Con The developer sucks
You cannot get real support, it's everything 90's style there, a forum that created since 1990 and nothing interesting, also when you request something it gets deleted by the developer or you got ban because the developer doesn't agree with your opinion.
Con Vague information on validity of purchased licenses
Developer only says a license is valid for "several years" and is known to have intentionally voided licenses that were specifically described as lifetime licenses for repeat business.
Con Old bones
It doesn't help when a program has old bones.
Con Developer is acting like Hitler uppon feedbacks and replies
By westor
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.