When comparing HydraIRC vs Nettalk, the Slant community recommends HydraIRC for most people. In the question“What are the best IRC clients for Windows?” HydraIRC is ranked 13th while Nettalk is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose HydraIRC is:
Source code available [here](http://svn.hydrairc.com/hydrairc/).
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free and open source
Source code available here.
Pro Functionality can be extended via plugins
Pro Good identity manager
Pro Feature rich
Pro Can overlay incoming messages
Nettalk can be set up to overlay incoming messages. Especially useful for games.
Pro Built-in spellcheck
Pro Free and open source
Pro Multi-lingual interface
Nettalk is available in English, Spanish, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Hungarian and German.
Pro Easy interface
Simple and good looking interface.
Pro Encryption support
Pro Scriptable
Pro Functionality can be extended via plugins
Cons
Con Development stopped
Latest version of HydraIRC was released in 2008.
Con No scripting support
Con No longer developed
Development ceased some time ago (2012).
Con Poor log management
It stores all logs in one file in a custom format.
Con German language
Is primarily a German language client, so the spell check, etc. is in German.