Irssi
Shares rank 3 of 4 IRC clients by recommenders
A terminal IRC client people recommend for precise keyboard control, scripts and aliases, and use from a phone through tmux. Critics call it bloated.
A terminal IRC client people recommend for precise keyboard control, scripts and aliases, and use from a phone through tmux. Critics call it bloated.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Keyboard control, scripts and aliases
“I use irssi inside tmux from my phone a lot and you can get pretty precise control with keyboard shortcuts”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “GUIs should be fully keyboard-driven” “I have scripts and aliases set up in irssi and I can still use those from my phone.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “IRCv3” Preferred over other chat clients
“I enjoy irssi much more than Gajim, Dino, or Conversations.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked” “significantly worse than irssi or weechat”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked”
Other IRC clients people recommend
The three most recommended other IRC clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Comic Chat | 22 | 9 | 71% | 2 | — | — |
| mIRC | 12 | 1 | 92% | 5 | 30 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| IrssiThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 5 | — | — |
| Goguma IRC client | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have scripts and aliases set up in irssi and I can still use those from my phone.”
“that required me to have a VPS”
“I use irssi inside tmux from my phone a lot and you can get pretty precise control with keyboard shortcuts”
“Simple. Clean. Efficient. Lightweight.”
“I enjoy irssi much more than Gajim, Dino, or Conversations.”
“significantly worse than irssi or weechat”
“bloated, but I've been lazy about finding something leaner”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.