3 open source alternatives to Discord
Voice, video, and text chat — popular with gamers and communities. Here are the open source projects real teams use instead — ranked by fit, with honest pros and cons for each.
What people don't love about Discord
- Closed ecosystem — you do not own your community data.
- Ads and promoted servers are growing.
- Moderation tooling can be limited for large communities.
Current Discord pricing (for reference): Free with Nitro upgrades.
Quick comparison
| Alternative | Best for | License | Self-host | Hosted cloud? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Element (Matrix) Decentralized messaging on the Matrix protocol. |
Decentralized communities that want federation. | Apache-2.0 | ★★★★☆ | Yes |
|
Rocket.Chat Open source team and community chat with video and voice. |
Communities mixing voice, chat and admin controls. | MIT (community); proprietary modules available | ★★★☆☆ | Yes |
|
Mattermost Slack-style open source team messaging. |
Teams graduating from Discord to something business-grade. | AGPL-3.0 / Apache-2.0 (modules) | ★★★☆☆ | Yes |
1. Element (Matrix) — Decentralized communities that want federation.
Decentralized messaging on the Matrix protocol.
Strengths
- Fully federated — you own your data.
- End-to-end encryption by default.
- Bridges to Slack, Discord, WhatsApp, etc.
Weaknesses
- Self-hosting Synapse or Conduit server is work.
- E2E encryption UX (device verification) can confuse users.
- Cross-signing and key backup setup is fiddly.
Element (Matrix) homepage · Source on GitHub · Discord vs Element (Matrix) →
2. Rocket.Chat — Communities mixing voice, chat and admin controls.
Open source team and community chat with video and voice.
Strengths
- Federation support (via Matrix bridge).
- {'Large feature set': 'channels, threads, omnichannel.'}
- Strong customization options.
Weaknesses
- Can feel heavy for small teams.
- Past performance issues on large deployments.
- Resource footprint is higher than competitors.
Rocket.Chat homepage · Source on GitHub · Discord vs Rocket.Chat →
3. Mattermost — Teams graduating from Discord to something business-grade.
Slack-style open source team messaging.
Strengths
- Familiar Slack-like UX.
- Strong self-hosting story and enterprise features.
- Good permission and compliance controls.
Weaknesses
- Some advanced features require paid tier.
- Mobile app performance is acceptable but not stellar.
- Larger install footprint than lightweight chats.
Mattermost homepage · Source on GitHub · Discord vs Mattermost →
Not what you're looking for?
Browse other tools in Team Communication, or check out open source projects by category on the full category index.
Recommended reading
Why your team probably can't ditch Slack yet (and what needs to change)
Mattermost and Rocket.Chat are excellent. So why do most teams who try to migrate away from Slack end up back on Slack? An honest look at the real blockers.
When self-hosting goes wrong: seven failure modes and how to avoid them
An honest retrospective on the ways self-hosted setups break — not in theory, but in practice — and the small habits that prevent most of them.
Will the open source project you depend on still exist in three years?
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