Discord is the hub for massive online communities, whether related to gaming, technology, or other niches. But the platform has recently announced new age verification rules, mandatory for everyone trying to use the service. Obviously, not everyone is onboard with disclosing their confidential details to the platform, leading many to look for a substitute. That’s what we set out to do. So, here are the best Discord alternatives we suggest in 2026.
Overview of the Best Discord Alternatives in 2026
Now, we looked for several apps that can work as a Discord alternative and don’t have a strict age verification policy like the platform. Here are our top picks along with their features and pricing.
| Discord Alternatives | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Guilded | Looks similar to Discord, better filter options, publicly discoverable servers, server groups and channels, completely free | Completely free |
| GameVox | Similar UI as Discord, can create a server for free, allows email-free sign in, rich voice calling experience, web-app available | Free, includes in app purchases |
| Telegram | Easy to use UI, features tons of bots, bot integration in channels, variety of channels and communities, highly customizable interface | Free, Telegram Premium available for $4.99/month |
| Rocket.Chat | Open source chat apps, privacy focused, can interact with MS Teams and Slack users from the app itself, good feature set for free users | Free, Pro starts at $4 per user per month |
| Element | End to end encrypted open source app, clean and easy to use UI, no limit on file transfer, supports voice and video calling, decentralized communities | Free, Pro plan starts at $2 per month |
| Slack | Catered for professionals, generoud file transfer limit, end to end encrypted, bots integration, can create and manage multiple channels | Free with limited functionality, Paid plan starts at $2.67 per month |
| Mattermost | UI similar to Slack, neat customization options for chats and channels, store messages locally for privacy | Free, Pro plan starts at $2 per month |
| Microsoft Teams | Geared towards professionals. 100GB file transfer limit, voice and video call support, can do screen sharing, integration with Microsoft’s suite of apps and services as well as third party software | Free, Paid plan starts at $5 per month |
How We Picked the Best Discord Alternatives?
Finding the right Discord alternative wasn’t an easy task since many users are already accustomed to the UI and features of the platform. We didn’t want to recommend the obvious, like WhatsApp, which also has communities, or iMessage. We set out to look for an app that closely offers the UI or feature set of Discord, while not having any sort of strict age verification guardrails in place.
I tested out multiple apps with my colleagues and friends, on my phone and my PC. I also considered the demand of many users who want to move away from Discord, looking for specific use cases. Based on that, here are the best Discord alternatives you can try right now.
Best Discord Alternatives to Avoid Age Verification Checks
Starting with the alternatives to Discord that closely resemble the look and functionality of the app, like Guilded, Telegram, or Plumble. Let’s take a closer look at these services.
Guilded – Discord Alternative with Best Feature Set
Discord and Guilded have a lot in common, which means transitioning to the latter is all the easier, not to mention it’s free to use. You’ll get to see the same set of Categories and Channels on the left sidebar, with sections for text and voice channels and a Roles panel on the right. The similarity goes beyond appearance, as the ability to access settings and customization options is pretty much the same, although they may differ a little in functionality.
Besides the standard set of channels, Guilded features extra channels for calendars, schedules, lists, forums, media, and Docs. While Discord’s minimalistic approach makes it easy to use, Guilded is intended for people who want more.
The key highlight is an Overview section that gives you an overall update on what’s going on in your server, and you also get better ways to sort and filter members and logs. Other essential features include server groups, Flow bots, and public server discovery, which help make it one of the best Discord alternatives.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No learning curve when switching from Discord | Settings lacks key toggles and accessibility features |
| Better sorting and filtering options | Limited monetization options |
| Has publicly discoverable servers | |
| Server groups to manage multiple categories and channels |
Availability: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux
Price: Completely free
GameVox – Best Free and Simple Discord Alternative
If you want something more casual and free, then you might be interested in GameVox. This is another chat and communities app where you can join in with or without an email ID. So, there’s not a single worry about age verification checks on the platform. The service looks familiar to Discord, and you can create a server with up to 50 individuals at no extra cost.
It offers pretty much the same general experience as Discord, since I was able to add my friends to the server pretty easily. I could also carry out a voice chat, which was pretty clear, thanks to the Opus rich voice experience included in GameVox. Even sharing my stream with them worked out quite well, and I, for once, actually started enjoying this Discord alternative.
However, I noticed that the app would censor several of our inside jokes. Upon further testing, I found out that GameVox is quite strict on no-no words, something that even Discord is lenient about. Moreover, we also faced multiple issues with video calls. The latter is understandable since the app is in beta phase, which is why there is no mobile app yet.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Simple and free to use application | Strict censoring on text chat |
| Allows streaming gameplay to your server | Video calls need improvement |
| Rich voice calls and no age verification | Mobile Apps are still under development |
| Can jump in without a verified email |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web
Price: Free, includes in-app purchases
Telegram – Best Discord Alternative for Messaging
Telegram is often referred to as a WhatsApp rival, but at its heart, the platform is more than just a messaging platform. Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is much more feature-rich, and in our opinion, competes directly with Discord rather than WhatsApp. It has tons of features, instant chatting, supports hosting communities (both private and public), public channels, endless customization, and much more.
Telegram supports private and group video calling and like Discord, there are bots to manage huge groups, integrate scripts, automate queries, etc. The main differentiating factor that sets Telegram apart from Discord is that it offers End-to-End encryption for private messaging. Besides there are other useful features such as Silent Messages, a built-in video editor, Chat Folders, Message Translation, and many more.
Discord, as we mentioned earlier, falls short in this regard. Hence, Telegram is a better pick than Discord if all you care about is privacy features. The best part is service is completely free so you will have no issues jumping from Discord to Telegram. There’s also a premium subscription that offers extra perks such as faster downloads, animated stickers, upgraded file upload limits, and much more.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted | Some features are locked behind a subscription |
| Great customization features | |
| Lots of bots | |
| Tons of other features | |
| Public and Private channels |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free, Telegram Premium available for $4.99/month
Best Discord Open Source Alternatives
There are also a couple of good open source alternatives to Discord, but the pickings are quite slim. That said, we referred to some Reddit communities, and here are the best ones that we have found.
Rocket.Chat – Top Open Source Alternative for Discord
For those of you who want an open-source alternative to Discord, Rocket. Chat is your best bet. Right from the dashboard, you’ll feel at home as the interface is familiar to Discord and Slack, albeit more minimal. The free plan is more than enough for a small group of users of up to 50 people. It bundles unlimited access to app integrations, omnichannel and federated channels, DMs, file history, and admin console.
The service is privacy-focused, offering more control over how user data is shared. Additionally, it offers support for Slack and MS Teams bridges, meaning users from these platforms can interact without switching to Rocket. Chat.
Larger teams can switch to the Pro plan that starts at $4 that can host up to 500 users. Pro members also get access to email and webform support and can remove Rocket. Chat watermark. Overall, Rocket. Chat is among the best Discord alternatives for teams that are concerned about privacy.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Open source and privacy focused | Not as feature rich as other alternatives |
| Slack and MS Teams bridges | Setting up may take longer |
| Offers omnichannel and federated channels | |
| Unlimited file history and app integrations | |
| Decent benefits for free users |
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free, Pro starts at $4 per user per month
Element – Discord Alternative with Best Security
Coming back to end-to-end encryption, it could be a dealbreaker for lots of people, and for them, Element is an excellent alternative. Besides offering end-to-end encryption, it includes a bunch of tools to help you streamline your team’s workflow. Element also allows you to talk to anyone in the Matrix.org ecosystem since it’s built on the Matrix open communications protocol.
It can really come in handy if someone you want to talk to is using different Matrix-based software, which is an open network for decentralized communication. While it’s not ideal for gaming, Element 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. There’s also support for group video calls and voice calls.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | Not very “gamery” |
| Clean and actionable UI | The onboarding process could be better |
| Matrix protocol; Decentralized communication | |
| Clear Voice and Video calls | |
| No file transfer limit |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free, Pro plan starts at $2 per month
Top Discord Alternatives for Teams and Collaboration
Let’s say you were looking for a Discord alternative for your team to collaborate on, then there are some really popular options like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Let’s take a look at them.
Slack – Best Discord Alternative for Small/Moderate Organizations
If you happen to use Discord for professional use and are searching for an alternative, you might want to switch to Slack. While it doesn’t remotely look like Discord, the overall user interface is clean and simple. 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 “Gamery” aesthetics.
What you will find instead are lots of helpful features that are geared toward improving your productivity. Voice chat via huddles and screen sharing haven’t been strong areas of Slack, so if your primary focus is lag-free voice comms, you might want to look elsewhere. Although like Discord, Slack has lots of bots and Discord-like app integrations, making it one of the best Discord alternatives.
| 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 |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free with limited functionality, Paid plan starts at $2.67 per month
Mattermost – Best Discord Alternative for Professionals
Realistically, Mattermost trades blows with Slack rather than Discord, but since we’ve mentioned Slack as a Discord alternative, it’d be evil not mention Mattermost. For starters, it’s open-source and self-hostable software. Like Slack, its target audience is professionals and individuals who want a great Slack alternative, and for Discord users, it is a great alternative too.
It also has features such as boards that allow team heads to create goals and OKRs. This may not matter 😉 to gamers, but we could see people in a server using it as a checklist for what games are trending and to take suggestions from others regarding which game’s the next in the queue. The sky’s the limit.
It also has calling and screen sharing to stream your games to friends while they’re waiting to join your party. Overall, Mattermost is a decent alternative to Discord. One of the drawbacks of the app is that file uploads are limited to 100 MB.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Store messages data locally; much secure | Not very customizable |
| Clean UI | File sharing limited to 100 MB |
| Geared toward professionals |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Free, Paid plan starts at $10 per user/USD (For features that shouldn’t matter to gamers)
Microsoft Teams – Best Alternative for Large Organizations
Microsoft Teams may be more fit for professionals, but you could use it to chat with your friends while playing games. Like Discord, there’s support for voice and video calls, both for individuals and groups. Besides, Teams has an upper limit of 100GB for file transfers compared to 500MB on Discord. In addition, Teams now offers a free plan with reasonable benefits.
The only downside to Microsoft Teams is that you can’t host communities — public or private — which can be a pain point for gamers and most Discord users because they’re used to having multiple servers for multiple things. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a free app like Discord for real-time collaboration with your teammates, then Teams is a worthy pick.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clean UI | More suited for professional use |
| Easy to use | No Discord channel alternatives |
| 100GB File Sharing limit. | |
| Clear calls and Screen sharing | |
| Third-party app integrations |
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free, Paid plan starts at $5 per month
The apps mentioned in this list may not be identical to Discord because it’s intended for anyone who does not want to hand over their data to a platform that already has a track record of losing over 70,000 government IDs of users. Or anyone who wants to move away from Discord now that there are better alternatives to switch to in 2026. Let us know in the comments which of these Discord alternatives you liked best and why.
