Compare UnrealIRCd and Centrifugo on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Team Chat tools, open-source vs Open Source / Freemium pricing to decide…
At a Glance
UnrealIRCd
Centrifugo
Primary category
Team Chat
Team Chat
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
open-source
Open Source / Freemium
Starting price
Free
Free (self-hosted)
Free plan
Not documented
Yes
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Mac, Windows
Not documented
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Yes
Yes
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
UnrealIRCd
Open Source — Free n/a
Centrifugo
Open Source (Apache 2.0) — Free N/A
Centrifugo PRO — Custom N/A
Pros & Cons
UnrealIRCd
Pros
Completely free and open source with no licensing cost
Mature codebase with more than two decades of continuous development
Widely deployed, giving it a large community for support and troubleshooting
Strong built-in security tooling including SSL/TLS, IP cloaking, and spam filtering
Modular design makes it extensible without modifying the core server
Cons
Requires self-hosting and manual server administration; no managed cloud offering
Configuration and module management can be complex for IRC newcomers
IRC as a protocol has declined in mainstream popularity relative to modern chat platforms
Community support channels rather than a dedicated paid support contract
Centrifugo
Pros
Free, Apache 2.0-licensed core with no per-connection or per-message fees
Production-proven at scale by companies including VK, Badoo, ManyChat, and Grafana
Supports multiple transports and scaling backends rather than locking teams into one stack
Broad official SDK coverage across web, mobile, and backend languages
Cons
Requires engineering effort to deploy, secure, and integrate versus a plug-and-play hosted API
Centrifugo PRO pricing is not publicly listed, requiring direct contact for enterprise features
Self-hosted operation means the adopting team is responsible for uptime, scaling, and monitoring
No official company headquarters or large support organization behind the open-source core
Use Cases
UnrealIRCd
Community IRC networks — Hobbyist and open-source communities run UnrealIRCd to host their own real-time chat network.
Gaming and Discord-alternative chat — Gaming groups and privacy-focused communities self-host UnrealIRCd as an alternative to centralized chat platforms.
Legacy enterprise or technical support channels — Some technical organizations maintain UnrealIRCd-based networks for internal support or developer chat.
Centrifugo
In-App Chat & Live Comments — Development teams use Centrifugo to power real-time chat and live comment features without depending on a hosted third-party API.
AI Response Streaming — Applications use Centrifugo to stream partial LLM/AI responses to clients as they are generated.