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The Lounge vs soju: catalog facts
The Lounge	soju
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free No pricing is listed; the source is published on Codeberg.
Web, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Always connected, no separate bouncer needed Responsive interface for phones and desktops	Keeps you connected to IRC networks while your client is offline Chat history playback when you reconnect
Requires running your own Node.js server IRC only	Requires running your own server Needs a separate IRC client to chat
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Closed source
License: MIT	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

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