Group Voice Chat is currently trending, with numerous industry leaders vying for attention. Among them stands Discord, a comprehensive platform offering Text, Voice, and Streaming services, which quickly gained widespread acclaim upon its debut. Embraced by gamers and professionals alike, Discord facilitates seamless workflow integration, ensuring constant connectivity among team members. Effective communication remains paramount, whether optimizing collaboration in a professional setting or coordinating strategies in gaming teams driven by the desire to succeed. If Discord doesn’t suit your group or workplace, consider exploring these top 10 alternatives:
Key Attributes of a Superior Discord Alternative
Expectations for a good Discord alternative include end-to-end encryption (Discord lacks this feature, so you might be seeking an app that offers it), a user-friendly interface, and private servers. While Discord is known for its user-friendly interface, ease of use, private servers, and gaming-related features, it lacks end-to-end encryption.
Another drawback is the file upload limit: 500 MB for Nitro users and 50 MB for free users, significantly lower than competitors’. Some alternatives offer greater or unlimited file sharing compared to Discord’s 50 MB limit. Understandably, you may consider canceling your Discord Nitro subscription or switching to a different platform altogether. Now, onto the list!
1. Telegram
Telegram, often considered a rival to WhatsApp, transcends mere messaging. Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram competes directly with Discord, offering a plethora of features including instant chatting, community hosting (both private and public), public channels, extensive customization, and more.
Similar to Discord, Telegram supports private and group video calling, along with bots for managing large groups, integrating scripts, and automating queries. What truly sets Telegram apart from Discord is its End-to-End encryption for private messaging. Additionally, Telegram boasts features like Silent Messages, a built-in video editor, Chat Folders, Message Translation, and many others.
Discord falls short in privacy features. Hence, Telegram is a better pick if privacy is your priority. The service is completely free, so transitioning from Discord to Telegram is seamless. Additionally, Telegram offers a premium subscription with perks like faster downloads, animated stickers, and upgraded file upload limits.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted | Some features require a subscription |
| Great customization | |
| Lots of bots | |
| Tons of other features | |
| Public and Private channels |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free
2. Steam Chat
Listen up. I hadn’t used Steam Chat before, but after researching for this article, I can confidently say it’s an excellent alternative to Discord. Integrated within Steam, a leading gaming platform, it offers messaging and voice chat services with low-latency, noise cancellation, all for free. You can create groups and channels to communicate with friends via text or voice chat.
To facilitate group invitations, Steam enables users to share unique URLs (similar to Discord) for instant group joining. Additionally, group administrators can assign roles to members, granting various permissions such as expulsion, group information management, and chat restriction settings.
Discord permits only one role per user in a server, whereas Steam group members can hold multiple roles to moderate the group and its contents. Similarly, Steam Chat offers a web client, enabling service usage without downloading Steam. Additionally, texting on Steam Chat is possible without playing on Steam simultaneously. Steam can run in the background while playing other games. However, a significant limitation is the inability to send files, only images. Nonetheless, it constitutes a valuable built-in feature within Steam’s expansive ecosystem.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clean UI | Lacks file sharing |
| Easy to use | Basic UI |
| Integrates seamlessly with Steam | No built-in screen sharing, although broadcasting is available |
| Clear, low-latency calls with Noise and Echo Cancellation | |
| Runs independently |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
3. Element
End-to-end encryption could be a dealbreaker for many. For them, Element stands out as an excellent alternative. Alongside providing end-to-end encryption, it offers tools to streamline team workflows and facilitates communication within the Matrix.org ecosystem, thanks to its foundation on the Matrix open communications protocol.
It proves valuable when communicating with users of different Matrix-based software, fostering decentralized communication. While not optimized for gaming, Element serves gamers well, enabling sharing of messages, images, videos, and files within groups of any size. Additionally, it supports group video and voice calls.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | Not very “gamery” |
| Clean and actionable UI | Onboarding process could improve |
| Matrix protocol; Decentralized communication | |
| Clear Voice and Video calls | |
| No file transfer limit |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free, Pro plan starts at $2 per month
4. TeamSpeak
Before Discord existed, many relied on TeamSpeak for gaming conversations. Despite Discord’s popularity, there remains a substantial user base for TeamSpeak. Like Discord, TeamSpeak utilizes the opus codec for low-latency voice communication. We’ve thoroughly tested its voice and text capabilities and found them comparable to Discord. TeamSpeak’s UI has undergone a complete overhaul, now sporting a design language akin to Discord.
TeamSpeak enables users to create dedicated servers tailored to their needs. Notably, all private or group conversations remain within the server due to end-to-end encryption, a feature lacking in Discord. To safeguard conversations, TeamSpeak utilizes AES encryption, ensuring privacy and security. However, creating servers and inviting over 32 members in one server incurs costs, unlike Discord, where multiple servers and numerous users can be accommodated without charge.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | Free version limits servers and group users |
| Revamped Discord-like UI | Not very beginner-friendly |
| Great Privacy | |
| Clear Voice and Video calls | |
| Customizable | |
Supported Platforms: Windows, Android, macOS, Linux, iOS
Price: Free on Windows, macOS, and Linux; $0.99 on Android; $0.99 on iOS
5. Mattermost
Realistically, Mattermost competes with Slack rather than Discord. However, since we’ve cited Slack as a Discord alternative, it’d be remiss not to mention Mattermost. It’s open-source and self-hostable, catering to professionals and individuals seeking an alternative to Slack, which also makes it appealing for Discord users.
It features boards for team heads to set goals and OKRs; this may not matter to gamers but could be utilized as a checklist in a server, helping to identify trending games and receive suggestions on the next one. Additionally, it offers calling and screen sharing for streaming games to friends while they wait to join your party. Mattermost serves as a decent alternative to Discord, albeit with file uploads limited to 100 MB.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stores messages data locally for enhanced security | Lacks extensive customization |
| Offers a clean UI | File sharing limited to 100 MB |
| Geared toward professionals |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free, Paid plan starts at $10 per user/USD (For features that shouldn’t matter to gamers)
6. qTox
qTox prioritizes privacy with military-grade encryption. It’s an open-source software. The project is archived but still functional for chatting with gamer friends.
It’s free, easy to use, and sports a clean UI. Despite its non-modern interface, it offers text, voice, and video chat, along with screen-sharing.
qTox offers a no-cap file-sharing feature, enhancing its suitability for professional use. Its decentralized nature, relying entirely on its user base, ensures freedom from server outages that could disrupt productivity.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clean UI | No longer maintained |
| Easy to use and lightweight UI | Outdated |
| Unlimited File Sharing | |
| Clear calls and Screen sharing | |
| Decentralized system design. No outages. |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free
7. Slack
If you use Discord professionally and seek an alternative, consider Slack. While it differs visually, its interface is clean and straightforward. Slack offers a similar user interface to Discord but targets a more professional audience, devoid of “Gamery” aesthetics.
Instead, you’ll discover numerous productivity-enhancing features. However, Slack lacks robust capabilities in voice chat via huddles and screen sharing. If seamless voice communication is your priority, explore other options. Nonetheless, like Discord, Slack boasts various bots and integrations, establishing itself as a top alternative.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | Laggy voice chat and screen sharing |
| Clean UI | Not very gamery |
| Geared toward professionals | |
| Bots and third-party app integrations | |
| A generous file transfer limit | |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free with limited functionality, Paid plan starts at $2.67 per month
8. Skype
Skype isn’t your regular Discord alternative; it’s limited but functional. It allows group calling and screen sharing, though the latter is restricted.
If you’re new to voice chatting and texting, Skype is user-friendly and provides essential communication features for group interactions. It also supports file sharing up to 300 MB, ample for videos and high-quality images.
However, for users with slower PCs, Skype’s resource consumption can significantly impact performance, potentially disrupting gaming experiences.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clean UI | Lacks features |
| Easy to use | Consumes system resources |
| Generous File Sharing limit. | More useful for professional and personal settings. |
| Clear calls and file sharing | |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux
Price: Free
9. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams caters more to professionals, yet it’s versatile enough for casual conversations with friends during gaming sessions. Like Discord, it supports voice and video calls for both individuals and groups. Additionally, Teams boasts a 100GB file transfer limit, surpassing Discord’s 500MB cap. Moreover, Teams now provides a free plan with reasonable benefits.
The only drawback of Microsoft Teams is its inability to host communities, whether public or private. This limitation may frustrate gamers and Discord users accustomed to managing multiple servers for various purposes. Nonetheless, if you seek a free alternative to Discord for real-time collaboration with your teammates, Teams is a commendable choice.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clean UI | More suited for professional use |
| Easy to use | Lacks Discord channel alternatives |
| 100GB File Sharing limit. | |
| Clear calls and Screen sharing | |
| Third-party app integrations |
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free, Paid plan starts at $5 per month
Download Microsoft Teams
10. Mumble
Concluding our list is Mumble, an open-source VoIP platform designed for low-latency audio calling. Similar to TeamSpeak 3, Mumble requires a standalone client and lacks browser support, a feature favored by many Discord users.
However, unlike Discord, Mumble is completely free and supported across multiple platforms. It’s encrypted by default, catering to privacy-conscious users. Its authentication feature safeguards against unauthorized access to chat rooms, though it lacks DDoS protection found in Discord.
Mumble is lightweight, requiring just around 20kbps of bandwidth. Its voice quality rivals Discord’s, and it features positional sound.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free and Open Source | Looks outdated |
| Low-latency calling | No protection against DDoS attacks |
| Encrypted by default |
Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows
Price: Free, Paid plan starts at $7.50 per month for 15 users
The apps in this list may not be as comprehensive as Discord but are the closest alternatives. While compiled with gamers in mind, some apps may seem more suited for enterprises. However, they can be used for creating private communities and instant messaging. Now that you know the best Discord alternatives, explore cool Discord Easter Eggs. Share in the comments which alternative you prefer and why.
Pritam Chopra is a seasoned IT professional and a passionate blogger hailing from the dynamic realm of technology. With an insatiable curiosity for all things tech-related, Pritam has dedicated himself to exploring and unraveling the intricacies of the digital world.
