← All networks

freenode

Live
#16 of 141 English Est. 1998 InspIRCd-3

Freenode reigns historically as the legendary, premier communication hub that hosted the global open-source software movement for decades. While its layout shifted during a major organizational restructuring in 2021, its legacy remains deeply tied to facilitating technical collaboration, peer-to-peer engineering support, and programming language development. It continues to provide a structured platform for standard interactive chat across a wide array of technical disciplines.

Website ↗
Tracked since Jul 2026 · last updated 1 hr ago · user & channel counts only, no message content
Do you run this network? Claim it →
Users online
6,414
▼ 12.6% vs yesterday
Channels
7,682
▼ 2.5% vs yesterday
Servers
9
All-time peak
7,894
reached 28 Sep 2026
People on freenode
24h 7d 30d 1y 10y All
Last 7 days
Peak 7,458
5.0k
5.7k
6.5k
7.2k
Oct 17Oct 19Oct 21Oct 22now

Capabilities

What the server advertises on connect (ISUPPORT / 005) - the network's technical spec.

Software InspIRCd-3
Network name
freenode
Channel types
#
Prefixes
(Yohv)!@%+
Channel modes
IXZbew,k,BEFJLWdfjl,ACDKMNOPQRSTUcimnprstuz
Nick length
30
Channel length
64
Topic length
390
Case mapping
ascii
Modes / line
20
Max targets
20
Channel limit
#:20
Away length
200
Kick length
255
Max list
I:100,X:100,b:100,e:100,w:100
MONITORWHOXSAFELISTNAMESXUHNAMESCALLERIDEXCEPTSINVEXELISTACCEPTWATCH

Servers

1 server erkstats has connected through.

*.freenode.net InspIRCd-3 seen MOTD 
Welcome to the
__                               _
/ _|_ __ ___  ___ _ __   ___   __| | ___
| |_| '__/ _ \/ _ \ '_ \ / _ \ / _` |/ _ \
|  _| | |  __/  __/ | | | (_) | (_| |  __/
|_| |_|  \___|\___|_| |_|\___/ \__,_|\___|
AUTONOMOUS ZONE

Connect to us on:

Hostname: irc.freenode.net / chat.freenode.net
Plaintext: 6660-6669
TLS/SSL: 6697,7000,7070
Webchat: https://webchat.freenode.net

Sponsors:
https://vp.net - Verified Privacy
https://bmail.ag - Verifiably private email

By connecting to freenode you indicate that you have read and accept our
policies and guidelines as set out on https://freenode.net and agree to
be scanned for an open proxy.

If you are looking for assistance, please try:

#help                    - Help with general IRC and Services.
#chanhelp                - Help with channels and channel services.

Checkout some of our communities and services:

#trivia                  - All new trivia channel.
#duckhunt                - Join the hunt.
#freenode-radio          - Freenode's very own radio channel.
#freenode                - Chat about freenode.

Type /join #<channel>

Thank you for using freenode!

Channels

0 channels
?
Search tips
  • linux or #lin* - channel name (* and ? wildcards)
  • topic:python / topic:"code of conduct" - search the topic
  • min:50 max:5 - user count floor / ceiling
  • users:100..500 - range (also users:>100, users:<10)
  • peak:1000.. - all-time peak (ever reached 1000+)

Combine freely: topic:python min:20

0 tracked channels. Channels with fewer than 3 users are not tracked.

ChannelUsersShare of network30-day trend
No channel data yet.