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mIRC vs Pidgin: catalog facts
mIRC	Pidgin
Paid Shareware that can be tried, with a paid registration from the official site.	Free Free and open source under the GPL. The project states it is free and contains no ads.
Windows	Windows, macOS, Linux
Mature client with over thirty years of development Still receiving releases	Signs in to several chat networks at once from one window XMPP, IRC, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise, Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE and Zephyr built in
Windows only Proprietary shareware requiring registration	The interface is unmistakably from another era Support for modern commercial networks depends on plugins that break when APIs change
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.