# Closing #letsencrypt on Freenode IRC **URL:** \ **Category:** ISRG/Organizational\ **Created:** [October 22, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/closing-letsencrypt-on-freenode-irc/75496 "2018-10-22T20:11:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cpu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/cpu/32/84514_2.png) [@cpu](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/cpu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/closing-letsencrypt-on-freenode-irc/75496/1 "2018-10-22T20:11:15Z")
We have been running an IRC channel on the Freenode network, #letsencrypt, in addition to the community forums. After careful thought we have decided we can only support one of these platforms. We feel that the community forum offers a better experience for users looking for help and for discussion of the Let’s Encrypt platform. We’re closing the #letsencrypt IRC channel and focusing our efforts on the community forum. We believe Discourse offers a better user experience, has more powerful moderation tools, and is less of a time burden for staff than a real-time medium like IRC. We look forward to welcoming IRC users to the Discourse forum. ---
**Author:** ![jsha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/jsha/32/12_2.png) [@jsha](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/jsha)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/closing-letsencrypt-on-freenode-irc/75496/2 "2018-10-22T20:18:54Z")
BTW, I’d also like to send a big thank you to all the community members who have provided help on IRC all this time, especially @mnordhoff! We definitely wouldn’t have been able to keep it running for so long without all your help. ---
**Author:** ![cpu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/cpu/32/84514_2.png) [@cpu](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/cpu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/closing-letsencrypt-on-freenode-irc/75496/3 "2018-10-22T20:21:30Z")