Can IRC be your team chat?

How can IRC help a small business?

It gives your team a private chat of its own, on your server, that anyone on the team can open in a browser.

• Channels by topic. #general, #support, #orders, or one per client project.
• No per-user fees. The server software (InspIRCd, Anope, The Lounge) is free and open source, so adding a person costs nothing.
• You hold the data. Messages stay on a server you control, under retention rules you set.
• Any device, any app. People use the browser client, a desktop app or a phone app. It’s an open protocol, so no one is tied to one vendor’s app.
• Light and long-lived. IRC servers need very little memory or CPU, and the protocol has been in use since 1988.

What doesn’t IRC do?

Voice and video calls, built-in file sharing, message editing and end-to-end encryption. Chat history needs a web client or bouncer, which The Lounge provides.

Teams used to threads, reactions and huddles will miss them. IRCv3 adds some newer features, such as server-side history, on servers and apps that support them, but support varies. If your team needs calls or end-to-end encryption, Matrix is an open alternative you can also run yourself.

Is IRC secure enough for work chat?

For everyday team chat on a private server, yes: TLS on every connection, registered accounts and invite-only channels. It isn’t end-to-end encrypted, so whoever runs the server can read messages.

• Require TLS on port 6697, and don’t open the plain port to the internet.
• Make channels invite-only (/mode #channel +i) and register them with ChanServ.
• Have everyone register a nickname with NickServ, and allow only registered users in (+R on InspIRCd).
• Run The Lounge in private mode, so each person signs in and keeps their own history.
• Decide how long to keep logs, and write it down.

For confidential client files or regulated data (health, legal or financial), use a tool with end-to-end encryption and the compliance features your field requires.

What does a private IRC server cost?

The software is free. You pay for a small Linux server and the time to set it up and look after it.

Most of the real cost is upkeep: certificate renewals, updates, backups and the occasional moderation call. That’s the part worth planning for, or handing to someone.

How does IRC compare with Slack, Discord and Matrix?

IRC is the lightest and most open. Slack and Discord are hosted and full-featured. Matrix sits between them: open, self-hostable and end-to-end encrypted.

How do we set up a private IRC server?

Install an IRC server (InspIRCd), services (Anope) and a web client (The Lounge) on one Linux server, with a TLS certificate for your domain.

1. Point a subdomain such as chat.yourcompany.com at a Linux server.
2. Install InspIRCd with a TLS certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
3. Add Anope for NickServ and ChanServ.
4. Install The Lounge in private mode and create an account for each person.
5. Create your channels, register them, set them invite-only, and invite the team.

That’s the same stack Arynwood runs for its own network: InspIRCd 3 and Anope at irc.arynwood.com, with The Lounge at chat.arynwood.com (in public mode there, for the open rooms). You can try it before deciding: Arynwood Chat.