Yes and no. Setting up an IRC server is hard. Pretty much all IRC servers use arcane settings and configuration formats. I run an Inspircd and Hybrid servers, and for people who aren't used to it, it's really daunting compared to setting up something like prosody.

Services on top like Kiwi are nice. I run Shout IRC which is beautiful and slack-like, but again requires passenger and node to work, so lots of moving parts just for a web-ui.

Having said that, all of this is perfectly doable, it's just not so easy if you're used to dealing with something lightweight and a little php on top.