Voice and text chat apps are widely used around the world, both by gamers and professionals alike as they really help streamline the workflow by allowing all team members to stay connected in real time. A good chat app can really make a big difference in the collaborative efforts of any team, which is why a ton of people use Discord. However, if for whatever reason you don’t want to use Discord – be it the not-so-professional UI of the app or any other personal reason – there are several other such applications in the market that you can use instead. In order to help you find a great app you and your team can use, we’ve compiled a list of the best Discord alternatives (free and paid) out there – all of which have their own benefits and drawbacks. Check out the following apps and you might find an application that fits your needs perfectly:
Best Discord Alternatives You Can Try
1. TeamSpeak 3
Much before Discord was even a thing, a lot of gamers relied on TeamSpeak for their in-game communication needs and quite a few dedicated fans have still stuck around. Much like Discord, TeamSpeak 3 makes use of the opus codec for low-latency voice comms and being a long term user of the service I can attest to its capabilities as a great voice and text chat app. TeamSpeak allows users to create dedicated servers for their needs and other users can join these servers to communicate with each other regarding a common topic – be it for games or productivity. To keep your conversations secure and private, TeamSpeak makes use of AES encryption which ensures that all of your conversations are safe from prying eyes. Unlike Discord, you’ll need to download the TeamSpeak client to use it on your device as it doesn’t include browser support. While TeamSpeak is free to use on several platforms, you’ll need to pay in order to set up a new server.
Supported Platforms: Windows, Android, macOS, Linux, iOS
Price: Free on Windows, macOS, and Linux; Rs. 139 on Android; Rs. 399 on iOS
Download TeamSpeak 3
2. Mumble
Next up in our list of the best Discord alternatives is Mumble, an open source VoIP platform which is also designed for great low-latency audio calling. Much like TeamSpeak 3, Mumble also requires a standalone client to work and doesn’t include browser support, something that a number of Discord users love about the service. However, much like Discord, Mumble is totally free to use and is available on several platforms. Mumble also allows encryption of chats, which is great for people who’re concerned about their privacy and its authentication feature prevents random people from dropping into your chat room, however, it doesn’t feature DDoS protection like Discord. Mumble is also quite efficient, as it uses just up to 20kbps of your bandwidth to function normally, a feat that Discord might not be able to to accomplish. In comparison with Discord, Mumble’s voice quality is also quite good and it also has a positional sound feature which sets it apart from other VoIP software.
Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows
Price: Free
Download Mumble
3. Overtone
Overtone is a simple to use Discord alternative that looks and feels a lot like its competitor. Based on Vivox, one of the best integrated voice chat services that is used by popular games like Fortnite, PUBG, League of Legends, etc. Overtone aims to bring the exclusive technology directly to gamers around the world. The simple and lightweight app doesn’t use a ton of your system resources and is quite easy to setup. Much like Discord, Overtone is free to use and it includes most of the necessary voice and text chat features, supporting text messages, voice chat, and group chats. On top of that, Overtone also features a couple of social features which will help you connect with people who have similar interests and discover teams that are playing the same game. Much like Discord, you can also run Overtone on a web browser, so you don’t need to download a separate client for your communication needs.
Supported Platforms: Windows, Web
Price: Free
Download Overtone
4. Steam Chat
Another discord alternative you can try is Steam Chat, Valve’s own messaging and voice chat service for gamers which is also a great alternative if you don’t want to use Discord. Steam’s chat feature is free to use and you can create your own groups with friends and talk to them over text or voice chat. In order to make it easy for anyone to join your group, Steam also allows users to share unique URLs (like Discord) which you can click on and instantly join a pre-made group. Steam also allows group administrators to set roles for the members which give them various permissions, including the ability to kick out other members, manage group information and set chat restrictions. While Discord only allows a single user to have one role in a server, Steam group members can hold several roles to moderate the group and its contents. Much like Discord and Overtone, Steam chat also has a web client, which means you can use the service without first downloading Steam on your system.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
Download Steam
5. RaidCall
RaidCall is another great free in-game VoIP application which is available on both PC and mobile devices. The platform is quite lightweight and doesn’t tax system resources as much as some other applications on this list, even when it supports up to 100k users in a single group. RaidCall offers a number of features like voice recording, polls, announcements, noise reduction, etc. and it even allows users to share links and files. Servers on RaidCall also support customizations which will allow you to completely make your server your own, but compared to Discord or Overtone, the interface isn’t as simple to use. Voice quality on RaidCall is quite acceptable, but it definitely doesn’t match up to Mumble or Overtone. Still, if you’re looking for the best discord alternative that features huge groups, support for polls, etc, you should check out RaidCall.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Download RaidCall
6. Ventrilo
One of the best Discord alternatives that is lightweight, Ventrilo is a great option which boasts of low latency voice calls with a lightweight design that wouldn’t interfere with your games. The platform also has a client-server architecture with encryption for all communication on the platform to ensure privacy. Much like Mumble, Ventrilo also offers a positional sound feature which adds a bit of depth to the voice chat and it even allows users to customize the sound according to their preferences. While people coming from TeamSpeak will find Ventrilo’s interface quite simple to navigate, newcomers might find it a bit complicated when compared to services like Discord and Overtone.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android
Price: Free
Download Ventrilo
7. Skype
If you aren’t looking for all the bells and whistles all the aforementioned apps have to offer and just want a simple, familiar service that will get the job done then you should consider using Skype for your in-game communication needs. The popular text and voice chat service is quite simple to use and offers all the basic functionality you’d need to communicate with your friends in a group. Skype even allows users to share files in a chat, along with video chat capabilities, which might not be handy while gaming but may come in use if you use it in a professional setting. It’s worth noting that Skype weighs heavy on system resources, which might have an impact on your gaming experience depending your system configuration.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Download Skype
8. Tox
If you’ve been using Discord for anything other than gaming and require a platform that’s a bit more privacy oriented then you should give Tox a try. Tox makes use of military grade encryption, which means that all your conversations on the platform will remain safe from prying eyes. Tox is also fairly simple to use and it has a clean, but dated, looking interface which you can get a hang of in minutes. There’s support for text, voice and video chat, along with a neat screen sharing feature which can really come in handy if you wish to show your team something on your system. There’s also a file sharing feature, which is also a great addition that makes Tox great for professional settings. What really makes Tox unique, however, is the fact that it has no central servers and the entire network is made up of its users, which means that you won’t have to deal with any server outages that might hamper your workflow. It’s worth noting that Tox is still in development, so you might encounter some unexpected bugs.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Download Tox
9. Riot.im
While Discord is a great app for gamers, it doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption, which means that your conversations aren’t as secure as you might want them to be. In case you’re someone who’s serious about privacy and are looking for the best Discord alternative that offers better privacy, then you should definitely check out Riot.im – a text and voice chat app that offers end-to-end encryption. Riot.im is primarily meant for team collaborations and as such it includes a bunch of tools to help you streamline your team’s workflow. Built on the Matrix open communications protocol, Riot.im also allows you to talk to anyone in the Matrix.org ecosystem, which can really come in handy if someone who you want to talk to is using a different Matrix based software. While not designed for gaming, Riot.im can also be used by gamers and it allows users to share messages, images videos and files of any type within groups of any size.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free
Download Riot.im
10. Slack
If you’re looking for the best Discord alternative for professional use, check out Slack – a team messaging platform which looks a lot like Discord. The service has the same clean and simple user interface as Discord, but it’s geared towards a more professional setting, so you won’t find any gamer-y things. Instead, you’ll find a number of helpful features that aim to improve your productivity at work, however, if you’re looking for lag free voice comms then you should definitely check out some of the other options. Slack sets itself apart from Discord by providing integrations for over 800 third-party software that are used by businesses. It also lets you receive notifications through the software you’re using without requiring you to open the app. File sharing is also easier and more convenient on Slack as it has a 1GB limit on uploads, whereas Discord just permits files up to 8MB in size to be shared on the platform. Slack is definitely worth a shot if you’re looking for a chat app for your business and not something you’d use while playing games with friends.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free with limited functionality
Download Slack
SEE ALSO: 10 Cool Discord Bots To Enhance Your Server
Ready to Give These Discord Alternatives a Shot?
Well, that rounds up our list of the best Discord alternatives you can try. As you can tell, there are a number of similar applications in the market, each with their own unique features, that you can use for gaming or in a professional setting. While some of these apps are more geared towards gamers (much like Discord), others have some great productivity related features that can help with your workflow at the office. Out of the lot, I tend to use TeamSpeak 3 most often, because I’ve been using it for quite a while now and I’m just used to the interface. But if TeamSpeak doesn’t fit your needs, then you can try out any of the other Discord alternatives we have mentioned here.
from Beebom https://beebom.com/best-discord-alternatives/
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