The best Discord alternatives in 2026: free, open-source and self-hostable
By Listicles research · Updated · Features and project data checked on that date
The best Discord alternative for most communities is Fluxer. It is free and open-source, and it covers what people actually use Discord for: servers, text channels, voice and video calls and screen sharing. You can use the hosted version or run your own server. Stoat, formerly Revolt, is the closest match in look and feel. Matrix with the Element app is the pick if privacy and end-to-end encryption matter most.
Interest in leaving Discord exploded this year. On our keyword data, US searches for "discord alternative" went from 5,400 in January 2026 to 165,000 in February, the month Discord announced global age checks for age-restricted servers and sensitive-content settings, using an ID upload or a face scan through third-party vendors. Searches have settled at around 8,000 a month since, but the reasons people gave haven't gone away: ID checks, and a 2025 breach at one of Discord's support vendors.
The short version
Closest all-round replacement: Fluxer. Voice, video and screen sharing, open-source, and more than half a million registered users.
Closest to Discord's look: Stoat (formerly Revolt). Servers, channels and voice, with no ads, free and open-source.
Most private: Matrix with Element. It's federated and end-to-end encrypted, and you can host your own server.
Best voice for gaming: TeamSpeak, or Mumble if you want it open-source and self-hosted.
For project communities: Zulip. Topic-based threads, and free plans for open-source projects and most communities.
Discord alternatives compared
Cost for a normal community, and whether you can run it yourself. GitHub stars and activity are from the GitHub API on 29 October 2026.
A Discord alternative has to replace a whole community, not just a chat window. We weighted five things. How much of Discord's feature set it covers: servers, channels, roles, voice, video and screen share (30%). Whether it's free to use at community scale (20%). Whether you can host it yourself, so no company can change the rules or demand ID later (20%). Signs of an active, sustainable project, from release activity and GitHub data (15%). And privacy: no ads, no data mining, encryption where offered (15%).
We checked each app's own site and, for the open-source ones, GitHub's API on 29 October 2026. The search figures come from DataForSEO's US Google data, which we pull for every list.
Best overall: the full Discord feature set, open-source.
Fluxer describes itself as "free and open source chat for friends, groups and communities, with text chat, voice and video calls, screen sharing and self-hosting", and that list is the reason it ranks first: it's the only alternative here that covers voice, video and screen sharing in a Discord-style server layout. Its site said it had passed half a million registered users on our check, and its GitHub repository had 10,709 stars, an AGPL-3.0 licence and an update the day before.
The official apps also connect to self-hosted servers, so a community can start on Fluxer's hosted service and move to its own server later without changing apps. Free accounts stream screen share and camera at up to 720p and 30fps; higher quality is part of Plutonium, its paid tier, much like Discord's Nitro.
Cost
Free. Plutonium paid tier for higher-quality streaming.
Stoat is the renamed Revolt, the open-source project that has been building a Discord-style app for years, and it took a large share of February's exodus. Its site promises "servers, channels, voice chat, file sharing, markdown support" with "no ads, no data mining, no shady partnerships", and says it is "free and open source, now and forever". You can use the hosted service or run your own instance.
On our check, its homepage didn't mention video calls or screen sharing, so communities that live in screen-share streams should test that first. Reports from February describe the hosted service struggling under the sudden load, the classic problem of a small project going viral.
Cost
Free.
Licence
Open-source; self-hosting supported.
Weak spot
Video and screen share not listed; capacity under heavy load.
Best for privacy: encrypted, federated, and nobody owns it.
Matrix is an open protocol rather than one company's app, which is the strongest answer to "what if this one changes its rules too?". Servers talk to each other the way email servers do, so you can join a public server, host your own with Synapse, and still chat with everyone else. Element, the main app, supports end-to-end encryption, voice and video calls, and "spaces" that group rooms the way Discord groups channels.
Element's web app had 13,622 GitHub stars and the Synapse server 4,741, both AGPL-3.0 and both updated on 29 October. The trade-off is polish. Matrix feels more like a capable work tool than a hangout, and new users often find federated accounts confusing.
Cost
Free to use and to self-host.
Licence
AGPL-3.0 (Element web, Synapse).
Weak spot
Less friendly than Discord; federation confuses newcomers.
TeamSpeak predates Discord and never stopped being good at one thing: clear, low-latency voice. Its site leads on voice quality, noise reduction and echo cancellation, and now lists 4K 60fps screen sharing in beta. You can run your own server or pay for hosting.
It isn't open-source, and it's built around voice rather than a full text community, so most groups pair it with something else for chat. TeamSpeak's licensing pages returned errors on our check, so check its current server licence limits before you plan a large self-hosted server.
Mumble is "open-source, low-latency, high quality voice chat software", with a self-hosted server (Murmur) that runs on almost anything. Its GitHub repository had 8,372 stars and was updated on 28 October. It has no video, no screen share and a dated interface, but for a gaming group that only needs voice and wants nobody else in the loop, it's hard to beat on cost and control.
Zulip organises conversation by topic inside each channel, which suits communities that discuss many things at once, like open-source projects, study groups and research teams. It is Apache 2.0 (26,135 GitHub stars). Zulip Cloud's free plan includes 10,000 messages of searchable history and 5 GB of storage. Zulip offers a free Standard plan to open-source projects, academic research and "most communities", and self-hosting is free with every feature included.
It's a text-first tool with voice and video through integrations, so it won't replace a gaming server's voice channels.
Cost
Free tier; free Standard for eligible communities; paid from $6.67/user/month.
A self-hosted Discord clone, for the technically confident.
Spacebar is "a reimplementation of the Discord.com backend": an open-source server that aims to be compatible with Discord's own API, so existing bots and clients can work with it. Its server repository had 2,210 GitHub stars, AGPL-3.0, updated on 28 October. It's the most literal way to keep Discord's design while owning the server, but it is still a project for people comfortable running their own infrastructure.
Cost
Free.
Licence
AGPL-3.0.
Weak spot
Early; you host and maintain it.
How to move a community off Discord
Decide what you can't lose. If your server lives in voice and screen share, test Fluxer or Element first. If it's mostly text, Stoat or Zulip will do.
Run both for a month. Post the new invite in every Discord channel and pin it. Communities move gradually, not on a set date.
Rebuild roles before inviting people. Set up channels, roles and moderation tools first, so newcomers land somewhere that works.
Check your bots. Discord bots don't carry over. Matrix and Zulip have large integration libraries; Spacebar aims for Discord API compatibility.
Consider self-hosting for the long run. Fluxer, Stoat, Matrix, Mumble, Zulip and Spacebar can all run on your own server, so your community can't be locked out by someone else's policy change.
Which Discord alternative should you use?
A gaming or friends server that uses voice and streaming: Fluxer.
You want it to feel like Discord with no learning curve: Stoat.
Privacy and encryption come first: Element on Matrix.
Voice only, best quality: TeamSpeak, or Mumble to self-host.
An open-source project or study community: Zulip.
How we made this list
Scope
Apps that can replace a Discord server for a community: group chat with channels, plus voice for most. Work tools like Slack and Teams, and one-to-one messengers, were left out.
Criteria
Discord feature coverage (30%), free at community scale (20%), self-hosting (20%), project health (15%), privacy (15%).
Sources
Each app's own site and pricing page, the GitHub API, DataForSEO US search data, and press coverage of Discord's age-verification announcement. All checked on 29 October 2026.
Not tested
We did not run a community on each app or measure call quality. TeamSpeak's licensing pages failed to load, so its server limits are not stated. We could not confirm Stoat's video or screen-share support from its site.
Updated
Questions
What is the best Discord alternative in 2026?
Fluxer, for most communities. It is free and open-source (AGPL-3.0), covers servers, text, voice and video calls and screen sharing, and can be self-hosted. Stoat, formerly Revolt, is closest to Discord's look, and Matrix with Element is the most private, with end-to-end encryption and federation.
Why are people leaving Discord?
In February 2026 Discord announced global age checks, using an ID upload or a facial age scan through third-party vendors, for age-restricted servers and sensitive-content settings. Concern grew after a 2025 breach at a support vendor. US searches for "discord alternative" jumped from 5,400 in January to 165,000 in February.
Is there an open-source Discord alternative?
Yes, several. Fluxer (AGPL-3.0, 10,709 GitHub stars), Stoat (formerly Revolt), Element on Matrix (AGPL-3.0), Mumble for voice, Zulip (Apache 2.0) and Spacebar, which reimplements Discord's backend. All of them can be self-hosted.
Which Discord alternative has screen sharing?
Fluxer and Element both support screen sharing; Fluxer's free accounts stream at up to 720p and 30fps. TeamSpeak lists 4K 60fps screen sharing in beta. Stoat's site did not mention screen sharing on our check on 29 October 2026, and Mumble is voice only.
Can I self-host a Discord alternative?
Yes. Fluxer's official apps connect to self-hosted servers, Stoat supports self-hosting, Matrix runs on Synapse, Mumble has its own server, Zulip's self-hosted Free plan includes all features, and Spacebar is a self-hosted Discord-compatible backend. Self-hosting means no company can change your community's rules.
Sources
DataForSEO Labs, US monthly Google searches for "discord alternative", Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, pulled 29 Oct 2026.
GamingOnLinux, "Discord attempt to put out the fires with a clarification over new age verification", 11 Feb 2026, checked 29 Oct 2026. gamingonlinux.com
Fluxer homepage and Plutonium page, 29 Oct 2026. fluxer.app