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

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