Alternatives to Discord
Community chat with voice channels and servers
Discord ranks #6 of 8 in Team chat, with an Alt Score of 32. It is proprietary, freemium from $2.99/month and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. 4 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Gamers, friend groups, and online communities who want a persistent hangout space for voice, video, and text chat, organized around shared interests.
Communities are organized into servers, each split into text and voice channels for different topics or activities. Voice and video chat let you drop in and out casually, with support for screen sharing, emojis, stickers, and soundboards. Servers can host bots and integrations for moderation, music, and games. Direct messages and small group chats work outside of servers for one-on-one or close-friend conversations.
You join or create a server, then post and chat in its text channels or join a voice channel to talk live with whoever else is in it. Server admins set up roles, permissions, and channel structure to organize the community.
Why people leave Discord
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How Discord compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Team chat checklist | Discord | Mattermost | Microsoft Teams | Zulip | Rocket.Chat | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Message history limit (free) | ||||||
| Threads | ||||||
| Huddles / audio rooms | ||||||
| Video calls | ||||||
| Guest access | ||||||
| Federation | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| E2E encryption | ||||||
| Integrations count | ||||||
| Workflow automations | ||||||
| Search quality (filters) | ||||||
| Compliance exports |
Every fact and feature listed for Discord is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-10
Core app free; Nitro is optional paid.
BASIC $2.99/month
https://discord.com/nitro -
Starts at $2.99/month verified 2026-07-10
$2.99 / MONTH
https://discord.com/nitro -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-10
we grant you a worldwide, non-exclusive, personal, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, and non-assignable license to download, install, and run that software, solely to access our services. You may n
https://discord.com/terms -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-10
Available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and consoles.
https://discord.com/download -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
Discord Patch Notes: July 7, 2026
https://discord.com/blog -
Video calls Yes verified 2026-07-10
talk to your friends and communities around the world over voice, video, or text.
https://discord.com/download -
E2E encryption Partial verified 2026-07-10
Voice/video E2E (DAVE); not text messages.
In September 2024, Stephen Birarda introduced the DAVE protocol: an open, audited end-to-end encryption protocol for audio and video.
https://discord.com/blog/every-voice-and-video-call-on-discord-is-now-end-to-end-encrypted -
Integrations count Yes verified 2026-07-10
Build bots and integrations on Discord, or connect your game with rich presence, voice chat, and more.
https://discord.com/developers/docs/intro -
Workflow automations Partial verified 2026-07-10
AutoMod moderation, not general workflow automation.
AutoMod allows community moderators to block messages with certain keywords, automatically block dangerous links, and identify harmful messages using machine learning.
https://discord.com/moderation
FAQ
Yes. Microsoft Teams, Twist and Slack have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Zulip, Rocket.Chat and Element — every license claim links its source.