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Pidgin vs The Lounge: catalog facts
Pidgin	The Lounge
Free Free and open source under the GPL. The project states it is free and contains no ads.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Web, Self-hosted
Signs in to several chat networks at once from one window XMPP, IRC, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise, Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE and Zephyr built in	Always connected, no separate bouncer needed Responsive interface for phones and desktops
The interface is unmistakably from another era Support for modern commercial networks depends on plugins that break when APIs change	Requires running your own Node.js server IRC only
Downloadable app	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: MIT
Account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Needs internet	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

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