Best Discord Alternatives in 2026
Privacy pushes and a RAM-hungry app have people leaving Discord. We compared the best alternatives for teams, communities, privacy, and gaming voice in 2026.
Discord's 2026 mandatory age-verification push, the October 2025 breach that leaked roughly 70,000 government-ID scans, and the simple fact that normal chats still have no end-to-end encryption have a lot of people shopping for the exit. We dug through the best Discord alternatives and ranked them by what you actually need: privacy, teams, big communities, or gaming voice.
The quick pick: for real privacy, Element on the Matrix protocol is the best Discord alternative, since it is the only one here with end-to-end encryption and federation by default. For work, Slack wins on integrations and compliance. For pure gaming voice, TeamSpeak is still the benchmark.
There is no single winner. Pick by use case, and the rest of this guide sorts the alternatives to Discord by exactly that.
The best Discord alternatives in 2026, ranked
We ranked these for the person most likely to be reading this: someone leaving Discord over privacy, data ownership, or the lack of encryption. That puts Element and Matrix at the top. If your reason for leaving is different, the “When to Use Each Tool” grid further down maps each option to a specific need.
1. Element / Matrix — Best for Privacy and Federation
Element is the flagship app built on Matrix, an open and federated chat protocol with no single owner. The headline difference from Discord is that conversations are end-to-end encrypted by default, and there is no central company that can read them, leak them, or switch them off.
Because Matrix is federated, you can run your own homeserver and still talk to people on other servers, the way email works across providers. It also bridges to Slack, Teams, IRC, and WhatsApp, so you are not cut off from people who have not moved yet.
Self-hosting is free. Element Business is $5/user/mo with E2EE, SSO, and federation, which undercuts Slack while adding real encryption.
What makes Element / Matrix stand out
- Real E2EE by default: the only option here that encrypts normal chats end-to-end out of the box, which is the exact thing Discord does not do.
- Federation and data ownership: run your own homeserver and still talk to everyone else, with no single owner who can pull the plug.
- Bridges to where people already are: connections to Slack, Teams, IRC, and WhatsApp soften the migration friction.
What Users Say:
- - Reviewers consistently praise the E2EE and federation, while flagging the login flow as the main hurdle (paraphrased community sentiment).
- - A common complaint is that you have to enter a homeserver hostname just to sign in, which trips up non-technical users (paraphrased community sentiment).
Pros
- End-to-end encryption on by default, with no central owner
- Federated and self-hostable for full data ownership
- Bridges to Slack, Teams, IRC, and WhatsApp
- $5/user/mo Business tier undercuts Slack with real E2EE
Cons
- Steep learning curve: logging in means picking a homeserver hostname
- Self-hosting needs genuine sysadmin time
- Voice and video historically lagged Discord, though Element Call is improving
- No public server-browser for discovering communities
Price: Self-hosted free | Business $5/user/mo | Enterprise $10/user/mo
2. Slack — Best for Teams and Work
If your reason for leaving Discord is that you are running a company, not a community, Slack is the obvious landing spot. Its integration catalog is unmatched at 2,600-plus connectors covering GitHub, Jira, Figma, Salesforce, and Google Workspace.
It also carries compliance certifications that Discord cannot match, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and FedRAMP. For regulated teams, that alone closes the decision.
The cost catches up fast at scale, and the free tier walls off message history after 90 days. Fifty users on the Pro plan runs roughly $4,350/yr, against a free Discord server.
What Users Say:
- - Teams rate the integration depth highly but call the 90-day free history wall and the per-seat pricing the main frustrations (paraphrased user sentiment).
- - Voice and video are widely seen as weaker than Discord, which is why gaming and casual communities tend to skip it (paraphrased user sentiment).
Pros
- Unmatched integration catalog (2,600+ connectors)
- Compliance certs Discord cannot match (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP)
- Polished, reliable, and familiar to most professionals
- Free tier to evaluate before committing
Cons
- Expensive at scale: 50 users on Pro is roughly $4,350/yr
- Brutal 90-day history wall on the free plan
- Voice and video are weaker than Discord
- Built for work, not gaming or public communities
Price: Free (90-day history cap) | Pro $7.25/user/mo annual | Business+ $12.50-15 | Enterprise custom
3. Stoat (formerly Revolt) — Closest Open-Source Discord Clone
Stoat, formerly Revolt, is the closest thing to a one-to-one Discord clone that is actually open source. Servers, channels, roles, bots, custom emoji, and LiveKit voice are all here, with new web, iOS, and Android apps.
If you want the Discord layout without the tracking, this is the most familiar move. It is fully free, open source, and self-hostable, with no paid tiers and no ads.
The catch is that it is a small project with slow development. The mobile apps are still rough, the hosted instance has no screen-share with audio, and the userbase is tiny, so migrating your community means dragging everyone somewhere they have not heard of.
What Users Say:
- - One 2026 review summed it up as offering about 85 percent of Discord's functionality with zero tracking, no ads, and complete data ownership (paraphrased, ReviewNexa).
- - The Revolt to Stoat rebrand, forced by a cease-and-desist, left some users confused about where the project went (paraphrased community sentiment).
Pros
- Closest open-source clone of the Discord layout and feature set
- Fully free, open source, and self-hostable
- No tracking, no ads, and complete data ownership
- New web, iOS, and Android apps with LiveKit voice
Cons
- Small project with slow development
- Mobile apps are still rough
- No screen-share with audio on the hosted instance
- Tiny userbase means real migration friction
Price: Fully free, open source, and self-hostable, with no paid tiers
4. Telegram — Best for Large Broadcast Communities
Telegram is the move when your community is huge and broadcast-shaped. Groups scale to 200,000 members, channels have unlimited subscribers, and free file transfers go up to 2GB.
It also has a mature bot API and apps on every platform, which makes it easy to automate announcements and run a public channel at scale. The core is free with no ads in private chats.
Be clear-eyed about privacy, though. Default chats are encrypted on the server, not end-to-end, and only the separate “Secret Chats” are E2EE. The proprietary MTProto protocol has drawn researcher scrutiny, and spam moderation is a known weak point.
What Users Say:
- - Users love the giant group limits and bot ecosystem, but the privacy reputation is widely called overstated since default chats are not E2EE (paraphrased user sentiment).
- - Durov's 2024 arrest and subsequent cooperation dented the no-interference narrative for a lot of long-time users (paraphrased user sentiment).
Pros
- Groups up to 200,000 and unlimited-subscriber channels
- Free 2GB file transfers, 4GB on Premium
- Mature bot API for automation
- Apps on every platform, free at the core
Cons
- Default chats are server-side encrypted, not end-to-end
- Only the separate Secret Chats are E2EE
- Proprietary MTProto protocol questioned by researchers
- Spam and scam moderation is a recurring problem
Price: Free at the core | Premium $4.99/mo (doubled limits, 4GB files, voice-to-text)
5. TeamSpeak — Best for Gaming Voice and Server Control
TeamSpeak has been the gaming-voice standard for more than 20 years, and the reason is simple: battle-tested low-latency voice with full server control. You run the server, you set the rules.
The February 2026 Discord backlash drove a surge large enough that TeamSpeak ran out of hosting headroom in some regions, which tells you where guilds and clans went. Self-hosting is free up to 32 slots on your own VPS.
The trade-off is scope. This is voice-first, with only basic text, no real history, no bots, and no screen share. The UI looks dated, the source is closed, and your IP is visible to the server admin.
What Users Say:
- - “With the incredible surge of new users joining TeamSpeak and subscribing to communities, current hosting capacity has been reached in many regions, especially in the United States.” (official TeamSpeak, X, Feb 14 2026)
Pros
- 20-plus years of proven low-latency voice
- Full server control, self-hosted free up to 32 slots
- Surging adoption from communities leaving Discord
- Lightweight and reliable for pure voice
Cons
- Voice-only: basic text, no history, no bots, no screen share
- Dated interface
- Your IP is visible to the server admin
- Closed source
Price: Self-hosted free (up to 32 slots) | Hosted Communities from $4.99/mo (10 slots) to $17.99 (60)
6. Mumble — Best for Latency-Obsessed, Fully Open Voice
Mumble is the pick for people who treat voice latency as a competitive stat. It is benchmark-low-latency, always encrypted with DTLS and OCB-AES128, and runs happily on minimal hardware.
It also has positional audio, so you can hear other players by their in-game direction, something Discord does not do natively. It is completely free and open source, with the self-hosted Murmur server or a cheap third-party host.
Like TeamSpeak, it is voice-first to a fault. Text is rudimentary, there are no Discord-style channels with history or bots, the UI is dated, and mobile support is limited.
What Users Say:
- - Community reports describe stable 50-user servers running on ancient hardware with no lag (paraphrased community sentiment).
- - The same users note the text and channel features are bare-bones compared to Discord, so it lives or dies on voice (paraphrased community sentiment).
Pros
- Benchmark low-latency voice
- Always encrypted (DTLS plus OCB-AES128)
- Positional audio that Discord lacks natively
- Free, open source, and runs on minimal hardware
Cons
- Voice-first to a fault: rudimentary text, no bots
- No Discord-style channels or message history
- Dated UI and limited mobile support
- Requires self-hosting or trusting a third-party host
Price: Completely free and open source (self-hosted Murmur); third-party hosts a few dollars a month
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Element / Matrix | Slack | Stoat | Telegram | TeamSpeak | Mumble |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier / Price | Self-hosted free, $5/user/mo | Free (90-day cap), $7.25/user/mo | Free | Free, $4.99/mo Premium | Free up to 32 slots | Free |
| E2EE | Yes (by default) | No | No | Secret Chats only | No | Always encrypted (transport) |
| Open Source / Self-Hostable | Yes / Yes | No / No | Yes / Yes | No / No | No / Yes (self-host) | Yes / Yes |
| Best For | Privacy and federation | Teams and work | Open-source Discord clone | Large broadcast communities | Gaming voice | Low-latency open voice |
When to Use Each Tool
Choose Element / Matrix if:
- - You are leaving Discord over privacy or encryption
- - You want federation and full data ownership
- - You can handle a steeper setup for real E2EE
Choose Slack if:
- - You are running a professional team, not a community
- - You need deep integrations and compliance certs
- - Budget at scale is not the deciding factor
Choose Stoat if:
- - You want the Discord layout without tracking
- - An open source Discord alternative matters to you
- - You are comfortable self-hosting a smaller project
Choose Telegram if:
- - Your community is huge and broadcast-shaped
- - You need 200,000-member groups or open channels
- - You do not rely on E2EE for default chats
Choose TeamSpeak if:
- - You run a gaming guild or clan
- - You want proven low-latency voice and server control
- - Text, bots, and screen share are not requirements
Choose Mumble if:
- - You obsess over voice latency
- - You want fully open source with positional audio
- - You are technically capable of self-hosting
Final Verdict
Best overall for most people leaving Discord: Element / Matrix
Most people heading for the exit are doing it over privacy, and Element on Matrix is the only option here that answers that directly: end-to-end encryption by default, federation, and no single owner who can read or pull your data. The honest caveat is the learning curve, since logging in means picking a homeserver. If that does not scare you, it is the best Discord alternative for the privacy-driven reader.
Find more tools on MesmerToolsBest by need still beats best overall here. For work teams, Slack's integrations and compliance are hard to argue with if you can stomach the bill. For the closest open-source clone, Stoat keeps the Discord layout with zero tracking. For massive broadcast communities, Telegram's group limits are unmatched, as long as you do not mistake it for an encrypted messenger. For pure gaming voice, TeamSpeak is surging for a reason, and Mumble wins on latency and positional audio for the technically inclined.
There is no one-size winner. Pick the tool that matches your actual reason for leaving, and try the free tier before you move your whole community. You can browse more of these on our blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Discord alternative in 2026?+
Which Discord alternative is the most private?+
Is there a free open source Discord alternative?+
What is the best Discord alternative for gaming voice?+
Why are people looking for alternatives to Discord in 2026?+
Is Stoat the same as Revolt?+
Can I self-host my own Discord alternative?+
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