Voice and text chat apps are extensively used by gamers and professionals around the world since they help to streamline workflow by allowing all team members to stay connected in real-time. A solid chat program may make a significant impact on a team’s collaborative efforts, which is why so many people use Discord. However, some users find Discord’s UI unprofessional and the lack of End-to-End encryption alarming. Therefore, in order to assist you in finding a great app for you and your team, we’ve put up a list of the finest Discord Alternatives (both free and premium) available.
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Best Discord Alternatives (Updated July 2021)
In terms of functionality and feature set, we’ve compiled a list of apps that are similar to Discord. While we focused on gamers, we also included some apps that are more enterprise-oriented yet may be used for private communities and instant chat. Click on the link to discover more numerous about the apps in depth.
Why Would You Use a Discord Alternatives?
While Discord is well-known for its user-friendly interface, ease of use, private servers, and gaming-related features, it does have several flaws that are rarely discussed. Discord, for example, does not offer end-to-end encryption (even for private chats), which is disappointing given that many of its competitors have done so for a long time.
Apart from that, the file upload limit for free users is only 8MB, and for paid users, it is 50MB, which is much less than its competitors. Finally, stories of intruders spamming private servers have surfaced, raising serious security concerns. That is why you should hunt for a Discord Alternatives.
List of The Top Apps Like Discord 2021
Check out the Apps below to see if you can discover one that exactly suits your needs.
Slack
Check out Slack, a team chat platform that looks a lot like Discord, if you’re looking for the best Discord Alternative for professional use. This service has the same clean, and simple user interface as Discord, but it’s intended at a more professional setting, so there aren’t any gaming-related features.
Instead, you’ll find a variety of useful features aimed at increasing your workplace efficiency; however, if you’re looking for lag-free phone communications, you should definitely look into some of the other possibilities. Slack distinguishes itself from Discord by offering integrations with over 800 third-party software applications.
It also allows you to receive notifications through your software without having to launch the app. Slack also makes file sharing easier and more convenient because uploads are limited to 1GB, whereas Discord only allows files up to 8MB in size to be shared. If you are looking for a chat app for your business rather than to play games with your buddies, Slack is definitely worth a look.
Top Features
- Neat UI
- 1GB upload limit
- Best for enterprise users
- Chat, voice, and video call
- Integration with third-party apps
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool developed by Microsoft. Microsoft Teams was not designed with gamers in mind, but it can be used by anyone. You can chat with your Team Mates in real-time and map out a plan, similar to Discord. Voice and video calls are now supported for both individuals and groups. Not to mention that you may send files utilizing MS Teams, with a massive upload capacity of 100GB.
Discord pales in contrast, as the free plan offers for only 8MB of file transfer, and the premium Nitro plan allows for 50MB. In addition, Microsoft Teams now has a free plan with decent features. However, the only disadvantage of Microsoft Teams is that you can’t host public or private communities, which can be a pain point for gamers and most Discord users. Nonetheless, MS Teams is a solid choice if you’re looking for a free app similar to Discord for real-time collaboration with your teammates.
Top Features
- Free tier available
- File upload limit 100GB
- Third-party app integration
- Chat, voice, and video calls
- Collaborate with teammates
Skype
If you don’t need all of the bells and whistles that the aforementioned apps have to offer and just want a simple, familiar service that gets the job done, you should use Skype for in-game chat. This popular text and voice chat service is really simple to use and offers all of the essential features you’d need to interact with a group of pals. Skype also allows users to share files in a chat, as well as video chat features, which may not be beneficial when gaming but may be useful in a professional context. It’s worth noting that Skype uses a lot of system resources, which could affect your game experience depending on your system setup.
Top Features
- Free to use
- Simple and easy to use
- Share files up to 300MB
- Chat, audio, and video calls
Telegram
Telegram is often referred to be a WhatsApp competitor, but the popular messaging service is much more than that. Telegram, in my opinion, competes more directly with Discord than WhatsApp. It includes a lot of features, including instant messaging, hosting communities (both private and public), public channels, and a lot more.
The best part is that Telegram now supports video calling, which can be used for one-on-one or group calls. You may also construct bots to handle large groups, integrate scripts, automate searches, and so on, similar to Discord. Telegram, on the other hand, differs from Discord in that it provides End-to-End optional encryption for private messaging.
Discord, on the other hand, falls short in this area. So, if you’re looking for an App Similar to Discord but with more security, Telegram is a good choice. Best of all, the service is absolutely free, so switching from Discord to Telegram will be a breeze. To summarise, Telegram offers a slew of features similar to Discord, including End-to-End encryption, and you should give it a shot. Our linked article has a list of the best Telegram features.
Top Features
- Free to use
- Tons of features
- 2GB upload limit
- Optional E2E support
- Manage channels with bots
- Create public and private channels
Overtone
Overtone is a Discord Alternatives that looks and feels similar to its opponent. Based on Vivox, this is one of the best-integrated voice chat platforms utilized by major games such as Fortnite, PUBG, and League of Legends, among others. Overtone’s mission is to deliver cutting-edge technology to gamers all around the world. The straightforward and lightweight app consumes minimal system resources and is simple to set up.
Overtone, like Discord, is free to use and contains most of the essential voice and text chat features, including support for text messages, voice chat, and group conversations. Furthermore, Overtone features a few social features that will allow you to interact with individuals who share your interests and discover teams who are playing the same game. You can use Overtone in your web browser, just like Discord, so you don’t have to download separate software for your communication needs.
Top Features
- Free to use
- Best app for gamers
- Chat, voice, and video call
- No client needed, run on a browser
- Integrates well with game publishers
Steam Chat
Steam Chat, Valve’s own message and voice chat service for gamers, is another Discord Alternatives worth checking out if you don’t want to use Discord. You can establish your own groups with friends and communicate with them via text or voice chat using Steam’s chat feature, which is free to use. Steam Chat allows users to share unique URLs (like Discord) that can be clicked to instantly join a pre-made group, making it easy for anyone to join your group.
Steam also allows group administrators to set members roles that grant them certain privileges, such as the ability to kick out other members, manage group information, and set chat limitations. While a single user can only have one role in a Discord server, Steam group members can have many roles to help moderate the group and its contents. Steam chat, like Discord and Overtone, features a web client, which means you may use it without first installing Steam on your computer.
Top Features
- Voice call
- Free to use
- Best for gamers
- Auto-moderation
- Create groups and chat
Element
While Discord is a terrific App for Gamers, it lacks end-to-end encryption, meaning your interactions aren’t as safe as you’d like. If you care about your privacy and are looking for a better Discord Alternatives, you should look into Element – a text and voice chat app with end-to-end encryption. Element is designed particularly for team collaborations, and as a result, it comes with a number of tools to assist you in streamlining your team’s workflow.
Element, which is based on the Matrix open communications protocol, allows you to communicate with anyone in the Matrix.org ecosystem. If the person you wish to talk to is utilizing Matrix-based software, this can be really useful. While not specifically built for gaming, Element can be used by gamers and allows users to communicate any sort of message, image, video, or file with groups of any size. There is now support for group video and voice calls as well.
Top Features
- Clean UI
- Offers E2E
- Matrix protocol
- Low-latency calls
- Transfer all kinds of files
Tox
Suppose you’ve been using Discord for anything other than gaming and need a platform that’s a little more private. Tox is a good choice. Tox employs military-grade encryption, ensuring that all of your platform chats are secure from prying eyes. Tox is also rather simple to use, with a clean but dated-looking design that you can pick up in minutes.
There’s text, voice, and video chat capabilities, as well as a helpful screen sharing feature that comes in handy if you want to show your team something on your computer. There’s also a file-sharing feature, which is a great touch that makes Tox great for professional use. The fact that Tox has no central servers and the entire network is made up of its users is what makes it truly unique. It means you won’t have to worry about any server outages disrupting your workflow.
Top Features
- No outage
- Simple interface
- Powerful encryption
- Decentralized server
- Chat, audio, and video calls
Mumble
Last but not least, we have Mumble, an open-source VoIP platform with great low-latency audio calling capabilities. Mumble, like TeamSpeak 3, requires a standalone client to function and does not support browsers, which is something that many Discord users like.
Mumble, like Discord, is completely free to use and is available on a variety of platforms. Mumble also allows for chat encryption, which is great for people concerned about their privacy, and its authentication feature prevents random people from entering your chat room; however, unlike Discord, it lacks DDoS defense.
Mumble is also very efficient, requiring just up to 20kbps of your bandwidth to run normally, something Discord may not be able to achieve. Mumble’s voice quality is comparable to Discord’s, and it also offers a spatial sound feature that distinguishes it from other VoIP software.
Top Features
- Open-source
- Chat encryption
- Create your own server
- Low-latency audio calling
TeamSpeak
Many gamers used TeamSpeak for in-game chat long before Discord existed, and a dedicated following still needs. TeamSpeak, like Discord, uses the Opus codec for low-latency voice communications, and as a long-time user, I can vouch for its qualities as a great voice and text chat app. In addition, TeamSpeak’s UI has been totally revamped, and it now resembles Discord.
Users can construct dedicated servers for their needs in TeamSpeak, and other users can join these servers to speak with one another about a shared topic, such as games or productivity. TeamSpeak uses AES encryption to keep your chats secure and private. This assures that no one can listen in on your conversations.
You will need to download the TeamSpeak client to utilize it on your smartphone, unlike Discord, because it doesn’t support browsers. While TeamSpeak is available for free on a variety of platforms, you will have to pay to set up a new server.
Top Features
- Chat and calls
- Cross-platform
- Best for gamers
- AES encryption
- Brand new UI in beta
- Create dedicated servers
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Find the Best Apps Similar to Discord
Finally, we try to come to the end of our list of the best Discord Alternatives. As you can see, there are other similar applications available on the market, each with its own set of features that you may use for gaming or in a professional context. While some of these Similar Apps to Discord are primarily designed for gamers (such as Discord), others have great productivity features that might aid your office workflow. I use Telegram the most out of the bunch because I’ve been using it for a long and am familiar with the interface. However, if Telegram does not meet your needs, you can try one of the numerous Alternatives to Discord listed here.