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Quassel IRC

Free plan AndroidiPhoneLinuxMacSelf-hostedWindows

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Quassel IRC's own site

What Quassel IRC is

Quassel IRC is free IRC client software built with the Qt framework and designed to run across platforms. Clients can attach to a central core that remains online, detach, and reconnect later with session state and activity restored. A local installation can combine client and core in one binary. Its interface includes dockable nick and topic bars, dockable channel and query buffers, and default or custom views. Users can create log files on demand from backlog content in custom formats. The 0.14.0 release added many IRCv3 capabilities, HAProxy protocol support, and Prometheus metrics support. SSL can encrypt client-to-core connections, with a PEM certificate required for the core. Quassel supports Linux, Windows, macOS, self-hosted setups, Android through Quasseldroid, and listed mobile platforms. Windows builds and macOS packages lack PostgreSQL storage support. DCC chat and file transfers are not supported.

Who it suits

It suits IRC users who want persistent sessions through a central core, including people managing self-hosted installations. Quasseldroid provides an Android client.

What it does well

  • Persistent sessions through a central core
  • Cross-platform desktop clients
  • Dockable interface panels
  • On-demand backlog logging
  • SSL client-to-core encryption

What to know first

  • DCC chat is unsupported
  • File transfers are unsupported
  • PostgreSQL unavailable on Windows and macOS packages

Plans

PlanBilled and limitsPrice
Quassel IRCFree software distributed under the GPLFree

As quassel-irc.org lists them, read 11 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Verdict

Quassel IRC provides a distributed IRC setup with persistent sessions and configurable views across desktop platforms. Its missing DCC and file-transfer support, plus storage limits on some packages, are important constraints.

Facts from Quassel IRC's own pages

Android client
Quasseldroid is identified as the Android mobile client benefiting from improved core-side activity tracking and highlight rules. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Channels
Yes · quassel-irc.org, 20 Sept 2026
Core connection security
Quassel supports SSL encryption between clients and the core, which requires a PEM certificate for the core. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Data storage
The downloads page says macOS packages and Windows builds do not support the PostgreSQL storage backend. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Free plan
Yes · quassel-irc.org, 20 Sept 2026
Interface
The GUI includes dockable nick and topic bars, dockable channel and query buffers, and default or custom views. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
IRCv3
The 0.14.0 release highlights the addition of many IRCv3 capabilities. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Known limitation
The project wiki lists DCC chat and file transfers as not supported. · wiki.quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Logging
The project describes on-demand creation of log files in custom formats from the backlog. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Maker
The About page names the core development team as Manuel “Sputnick” Nickschas and Marcus “EgS” Eggenberger. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Monolithic mode
Quassel can combine client and core functionality in one binary for a local installation. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Other release features
The 0.14.0 release also added HAProxy protocol support and Prometheus metrics support. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Persistent sessions
One or more clients can attach to and detach from a central core that stays online, and reconnecting restores the session state and activity that happened while away. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Platforms
The project says it develops and tests Quassel on Linux, Windows, and MacOS X; third-party mobile clients exist for Android and iOS. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Purpose
Quassel IRC is a cross-platform, distributed IRC client based on the Qt framework. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026
Support
The project invites questions and ideas in its #quassel community channel on Libera Chat. · quassel-irc.org, 11 Oct 2026

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