Libera Chat
Hacker ApprovedIRC network
Free IRC network praised as a lively, well-managed place to chat and a good first stop for newcomers. Critics say a few very active regulars dominate some channels.
Free IRC network praised as a lively, well-managed place to chat and a good first stop for newcomers. Critics say a few very active regulars dominate some channels.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 14 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Active, thriving community
“most of the community of daily users just moved to the new digs and continues to carry on”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Use Protocols, Not Services” “Still plenty of thriving communities on IRC, particularly on Libera but elsewhere too.”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Late.sh – a command-line Clubhouse for computer people” “is a lovely and thriving IRC server”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down” Good for IRC newcomers
“seems a bit more user-friendly and "hand-holding", for the people who prefer that”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “IRCv3” “Libera.chat would be the best introduction if you haven't touched IRC before.”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “The Future of Flipper Zero Development” Well-managed network
“they are infrequent and barely visible on well-managed networks like Libera.Chat”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Leaving Mozilla” “barely visible on well-managed networks like Libera.Chat”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Leaving Mozilla” Relaxed place to hang out
“You can try hanging out on the Libera IRC network in their channel.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: Another "Hacker News" with less AI and more human-focused hacking?” “a nice, relaxing addition to a lazy weekend evening”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “IRCv3”
What people said
16 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“seems a bit more user-friendly and "hand-holding", for the people who prefer that”
“a nice, relaxing addition to a lazy weekend evening”
“Still plenty of thriving communities on IRC, particularly on Libera but elsewhere too.”
“Libera.chat instead of freenode”
“You can try hanging out on the Libera IRC network in their channel.”
“Libera.chat would be the best introduction if you haven't touched IRC before.”
“barely visible on well-managed networks like Libera.Chat”
“they are infrequent and barely visible on well-managed networks like Libera.Chat”
“refusing to jump onto libera.chat. I get network effects make a scene, but still, come on”
“is a lovely and thriving IRC server”
“We continue to talk about this stuff all the time”
“most of the community of daily users just moved to the new digs and continues to carry on”
“I wish they'd all just stick to libera.chat”
“Almost all the channels are dominated by a few terminally-online people with zero emotional intelligence”
“On I2P proxies to Libera.chat, it's just a matter of time to exist”
“The community even felt more unified for a bit.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.