JeliaWhat it is
IRC is one of the oldest chat protocols on the internet, and still one of the simplest: channels, nicknames, messages. Its traditional weakness was that you only saw what was said while you were connected. Close the laptop and the conversation carried on without you.
The Lounge fixes that. It is a web-based IRC client that runs on the server rather than on your machine, so it stays connected around the clock. When you come back, from a laptop, a phone or a borrowed computer, the history is there, mentions are highlighted, and you pick up where you left off. It looks and behaves like a modern chat app.
Why I run it instead of the SaaS alternative
Slack, Microsoft Teams and Discord are excellent at what they do. Integrations, threads, voice, file sharing and polished mobile apps come built in, and for most teams Slack or Teams is the sensible answer. I use Slack myself for alerts, because it reaches my phone reliably.
The Lounge exists here for a different reason: a team channel that does not depend on any SaaS. The history sits on my disk. There is no per-seat price, no free-tier limit on how far back you can scroll, and no vendor deciding to change the product. If every hosted service I use disappeared tomorrow, this channel would still be there.
It is also light. A text chat system does not need much of a server, and IRC clients exist for every platform ever made.
How it is set up here
- A self-hosted IRC server. The estate runs its own IRC server, so the channels are not on a public network shared with strangers.
- The Lounge as the always-on client. The Lounge runs in its own container, holds the connection to the IRC server permanently and stores the history.
- Browser access through the edge. It is reached through the same nginx edge and TLS certificates as everything else, so there is nothing to install.
- History on my own disk. The scroll-back lives on the estate server, inside the same backup routine as everything else, rather than in someone else's cloud.
- Watched with the rest. The web interface is in the five-minute content checks, and its certificate is in the daily expiry sweep.
What it replaces
- A hosted chat workspace for teams whose needs are simply channels and history.
- The scroll-back limits of free chat tiers.
- A dependence on one vendor for the place a team talks when something is broken.
What it costs to run is very little in server terms. The real cost is that it is plainer than Slack. No built-in video, fewer integrations, and people need to get used to it.
What I would do for a client
For most clients I would not suggest replacing Slack or Teams. I would audit how it is configured: who is a guest, which channels are shared with outside organisations, what retention is set to, and which apps have been granted access to everything.
Where a team needs a channel that is entirely theirs, for an operations bridge that must work when the main platform is down, or for a group that wants no vendor holding its conversation, I would build it as it runs here: your own IRC server, The Lounge in front of it, single sign-on where it fits, and backups that leave the server.
Questions people ask
Is IRC not a bit old?
It is old in the way that email is old. The protocol is simple and well understood. The Lounge gives it a modern interface, so most people would not guess what is underneath.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It runs in the mobile browser and can be added to the home screen like an app.
Can it replace Slack?
For channels and history, yes. For integrations, voice and file sharing, not on its own. Most teams are better served by keeping Slack or Teams and having this as the fallback.
Who can read the history?
Only people with access to the server and the accounts on it. No third party holds a copy.