HexChat icon
HexChat icon

HexChat

 215 likes

HexChat is an IRC client based on XChat for Linux , but unlike XChat it’s completely free for both Windows and Unix-like systems.

HexChat screenshot 1

License model

  • FreeOpen Source

Platforms

  • Windows  All version after 2.9.4 are Windows Vista+ only
  • Linux
  • BSD
  • PortableApps.com
  • MacPorts  Requires XQuarts
  • XQuartz
Discontinued

The version 2.16.2 is the final version of the software. The author announced that "The project has largely been unmaintained for years now and nobody else stepped up to do that work."

3.9 / 5 Avg rating (8)
215 likes
8comments

Features

Suggest and vote on features
  1.  Portable
  2.  IRC

HexChat News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

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Recent activities

  • BIGLINUX liked HexChat
    8 days ago
  • App icon
    POX added HexChat as alternative to Ergo
    2 months ago
  • ezjpzy and ForkedForMyLife liked HexChat
    4 months ago
  • App icon
    Pashok11 added HexChat as alternative to Halloy
    9 months ago
  • wimejen63 and titadi_manut liked HexChat
    11 months ago
  • App icon
    POX added HexChat as alternative to Chatty App
    12 months ago
  • POX updated HexChat
    12 months ago
Show all activities

HexChat information

  • Licensing

    Open Source (GPL-2.0) and Free product.
  • Written in

  • Rating

    Average rating of 3.9
  • Alternatives

    67 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Category

Social & Communications

GitHub repository

  •  3,110 Stars
  •  538 Forks
  •  768 Open Issues
  •   Updated Aug 19, 2024 (Archived)
View on GitHub

Popular alternatives

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Our users have written 8 comments and reviews about HexChat, and it has gotten 215 likes

HexChat was added to AlternativeTo by TheWeirdo on Oct 12, 2010 and this page was last updated Feb 19, 2024. HexChat is sometimes referred to as XChat-WDK, XChat WDK.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Weltall
  
Top positive commentJun 26, 2021

Not really much to say. Best free mIRC alternative I have found since W7. It looks nice and simple and downloads can be automated (for things I want to download through it).

I do not really chat on mIRC anymore, just visit it to download things, so at least for that, it is good enough.

1
Guest
  
Top negative commentMay 5, 2022

The biggest disappointment is that it cannot do tiled or split windows like in mIRC or kvirc. It is a very signficant drawback for people accustomed to those features to the point that I (along with many others) wont adopt HexChat. Other than that, it is a decent client.

0
zapannda
  
Positive commentOct 26, 2023

I tried mIRC but it didn't work at all for me. and hexchat works perfectly for me. never had any hiccups.

0
arpeters
  
Positive commentJan 25, 2020

Best fully open source IRC client software

0
Guest
  
Positive commentJan 21, 2019

Because is the best alternative to chatzilla

0
vlaker
  
Positive commentFeb 3, 2016

Pidgin's notifications don't work all the time.

1
Shigure
  
Positive commentOct 18, 2015

I use it in Linux Mint and I haven't been disappointed by it. It has options like word highlighting, user name highlighting etc. The overall look is also good. It can also be minimized to tray.

Hexchat linux mint

1
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7 of 8 comments

What is HexChat?

HexChat is an IRC client based on XChat for Linux icon XChat for Linux , but unlike XChat it’s completely free for both Windows and Unix-like systems. HexChat was originally called XChat-WDK which in turn was a successor of freakschat.

Features

  • Easy to use and customizable interface
  • Cross-platform on Windows, OS X, and Unix-like OSes
  • Highly scriptable with Python and Perl
  • Translated in multiple languages
  • Fully open source and actively developed
  • Multi-network with auto-connect, join, and identify
  • Spellcheck, Proxies, SASL, DCC support and more

Official Links