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binhex-hexchat

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

  • Productivity
  • Tools & Utilities
HexChat is an IRC client based on XChat, but unlike XChat it's completely free for both Windows and Unix-like systems. Since XChat is open source, it's perfectly legal. For more info. HexChat was originally called XChat-WDK which in turn was a successor of freakschat.

Platform availability

Available on 1 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

32/100 Low

Maintained
52last commit 209 days ago
Popular
102 GitHub stars
Easy to install
201 install platform, Docker image
Light to run
No data

Based on 3 of 4 factors.

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 9 days ago

GitHub stars
2
Open issues
2
Last commit
2026-03-18
Latest release
2.16.2-5-08
License
GPL-3.0
Activity
stale

Checked 7 days ago - source: GitHub (binhex/arch-hexchat)

Resources & Compatibility

ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is not supported.

Checked 14 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

No first-install notes yet.

Alternatives (8)

  • Adium
  • Convos - Convos is a self-hosted multiuser web client for IRC that keeps channels online in the browser for users who want an always-on chat presenc…
  • Pidgin - Pidgin is a cross-platform chat program that lets you log into multiple messaging networks at once, such as XMPP (Extensible Messaging and…
  • Quassel IRC - Quassel IRC is a modern, cross-platform, distributed IRC client based on the Qt5 framework.
  • SeaMonkey - SeaMonkey is an all-in-one internet suite.
  • XChat for Linux - XChat is an IRC chat program for both Linux and Windows.
  • mIRC - Windows IRC client for real-time worldwide chat with group and private messaging, multi-server access, scripting, encryption, logging, and…
  • weechat - WeeChat is a free and open-source Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.

Checked yesterday - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

How do I access HexChat in a web browser?

Open the noVNC page on port 6080 and use the remote resize query string with autoconnect enabled. If you set VNC_PASSWORD, it must be at least 6 characters or it will be ignored.

Which container ports should I publish?

Publish 5900 for standard VNC clients and 6080 for the noVNC web page.

Where should I store persistent container settings?

Mount your host folder to /config, as in the example that uses /apps/docker/hexchat. The example also mounts /etc/localtime read-only.

Can I install extra packages inside the container?

Set ENABLE_STARTUP_SCRIPTS=yes to allow startup scripts in /config/home/scripts to install packages from the Arch Repository or AUR. A sample script is included at /config/home/scripts/example-startup-script.sh.

How do I control the container user and group?

Set PUID and PGID to the desired numeric user and group IDs. Use the id command on the host to find the values for the user you want.

Answers sourced from github.com

Community

Collected 13 days ago - public community threads