Discord vs Slack The Best Chat App Should You Use for Your Team?

Aug 18, 2022
Illustration for Slack vs Discord showing two people sitting back-to-back and typing on laptops.

Select the right chat app that will speed up team communications as well as build bridges among your group members. If you choose the wrong chat application, and you'll be returning to drawing boards within a matter of minutes.

We'll look into this in this article.

Let's get started!

What's the difference between Slack and Discord?

Discord and Slack Discord are both channel-based messaging instruments designed specifically for teams. In both apps, you can connect via group messaging, direct messages, and chat rooms.

But there are plenty of distinctions among Slack and Discord in addition. We'll delve into those as well and before we go over these two apps we'll take a look at each app's story.

Slack

A screenshot of Slack messenger in action on desktop and mobile.
Slack's platform on both desktop and mobile devices.

Stewart Butterfield's company, Tiny Speck, created Slack for internal team communications tool for designers working on the video game "Glitch." The creators of Slack later made it available to users in 2013.

In the following five years, Slack's development team, Slack Technologies, took Slack Technologies public in a direct public offering of $19.5 billion. Salesforce is now the owner of Slack having acquired Slack in the month of January, 2021. The price was $27.7 billion..

Presently, Slack has over 12 million daily active users, over 119,000 of which are paid users. Teams currently use Slack in 65 Fortune 100 companies, including Target, Panasonic, and 21st Century Fox.

And now, it's time to join Discord!

Discord

A screenshot example of Discord at work, showing a conversation between multiple people in a group.
Discord is a powerful messaging program that's ideal for personal or professional use.

Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy invented Discord through their company Hammer & Chisel, which later rebranded into Discord Inc.

Presently, Discord has over 140 million active users worldwide. Together, these users connect via 19.3 millions Discord servers. Discord servers connect users to talk about anything from game design to productivity to web and app development. The Discord user members have a variety of tastes.

In 2021, Discord Inc. still owns Discord and is a private corporation.

Slack vs Discord What's the Difference?

The study found that as 86% of workers consider that their workplace issues stem from ineffective communication or the inability to collaborate, choosing the correct message is vital to ensure effective team communication.

Selecting the right communication tool will also:

  • Help your team communicate faster
  • Reduce miscommunications
  • Foster a culture of open communication
  • Build peer-to-peer relationships
  • Help you work smarter

Though they may seem identical, Discord and Slack are surprisingly different in several areas.

In evaluating the two apps, it's important to consider their strengths and weaknesses to pick the right app to meet your needs.

Let's start our comparison with pricing plans.

Pricing

Slack and Discord use a freemium pricing structure that lets users choose between free plans or an upgraded plan that comes with additional options. In this article we'll look at the cost of each.

Slack

A screenshot of Slack's paid plan pricing options on their website.
Slack offers many paid plans.

Slack has four paid prices: Slack Free, Slack Standard, Slack Plus, and Slack Enterprise Grid. This is a quick overview of the cost as well as features:

  • Slack free:With Slack Free, you are able to search through the most recent messages from 10,000, connect at least 10 apps as well as share files. You can also make use of Slack to make one-on-one phone and video calls.
  • Slack Standard:Slack Standard costs $6.67 per person per month in a yearly bill or $8 per person each month when it is billed monthly. Slack Standard includes all free options, as well as unlimited messages search, unlimited applications, and Google login.
  • Slack Premium:Slack Plus is $12.50 per month per user for billing annually or $15 per person each month, if billed monthly. It offers all Slack Free and Slack Standard functions, including 99.99 100% uptime guaranteed SLA as well as user provisioning and de-provisioning. It also includes data exports and exports.

Discord

A screenshot of Discord Nitro's homepage with the headline
Discord offers a no-cost plan and two paid options.

Discord offers three pricing plans: Discord Free, Discord Nitro as well as Discord Classic. This is a quick overview of each plan's price and the benefits it offers:

  • Discord FreeWith Free Discord you can send unlimited messaging, video conference with up to eight people as well as 8MB of uploading files. A majority of users of Discord are currently using Discord Free.
  • Discord Nitro:Discord Nitro costs users $9.99 per month or $99.99 for the year. When you purchase Discord Nitro, you get 100 MB uploads of files and two Discord server enhancements, customized emojis, personal profiles HD video support screen sharing and Go Live streaming.
  • Discord Classic:Discord Classic is $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. It is inclusive of all Nitro features except the Discord server speed boosts.

Winner: Discord

Discord Free is currently offering greater capabilities than Slack Free. If you are a part of a smaller group, Discord is the most affordable option.

Interface

Slack

A screenshot showing Slack's interface with the right-hand
The interface of Slack is easy and efficient.

Slack has built its interface around its main chat window. For opening a group conversation, private chat, thread or Slack channel, users click the icons on the left right-hand side of the display.

On the right-hand side there are several buttons that are located under"Details" "Details" section. These buttons allow you to look up your messages, find documents, initiate calls and add people into chats.

Slack's biggest strength is its simpleness. Its interface is clean and user-friendly which makes it ideal for those who have difficulty adjust to new programs. The interface of Slack is flexible -- there are the option of eight themes to pick from, as well as the option to create a unique theme.

Discord

A screenshot of the Discord desktop interface in dark mode, featuring white text on a dark gray background.
Discord's interface is available in dark or light styles.

Discord's layout is a little different from Slack's layout it has a user interface that is designed around the chat window, and having servers and contacts listed on the left. To the right of the chat window you can see who's currently on and active.

There are two themes for Discord: Dark and light. However, you can download Discord bots which enable you to customize your experience by using various styles, colors, and fonts. themes.

The main strength of Discord is its screen-based features. On Discord's main screen, you'll be able to see all live video or voice chats in your servers, as well as who's online, and the latest messages you've received.

Winner: Slack

While Discord's interface is rich, the interface of Slack is largely customized, while still being simple for everyone to use. This is by far the best option.

Text Communication

The next step is to look at the strengths and shortcomings of Slack and Discord's text-based communication capabilities.

Slack

There are three places for communication within Slack by channels, direct messages, and threads.

Each group can have various Slack channels. The channels allow for discussion on one central topic, for example, announcements in #announcements.

Because chat messages tend to pile up, Slack allows you to reply directly to posts through a thread. A thread will appear inside the channel under a separate screen to the left which makes them easy to follow.

Direct messaging on Slack is pretty common. It is as easy as clicking the icon of a user to begin a chat in private.

Discord

Although Discord is perfect to use for video and audio communications, it is also a great way to send text-based messages through text-chats and direct messages.

Text chats on Discord are also designed around the theme of #notes as well as direct messages are quite standard. You click a person's profile to initiate a chat.

Unfortunately, Discord's text features aren't without a drawback. Since Discord threads tend to get extremely busy, it's not difficult to get lost in the flow of messages.

However, Discord does have a "See New Messages" feature, which is useful in this scenario.

Winner: Slack

As Discord is designed to be used for video and voice chats, it's simply harder to use for text-chatting. Slack's interface is easy to use by the comparison. Slack wins.

Audio Calls

If your team frequently uses voice calls, you'll want to think about any messaging app's capabilities carefully. Let's compare voice calls on Slack and Discord now.

Slack

The voice-calling features of Slack depend on the plan you choose. On Slack Free, you can make one-on-one calls. If you pay for a paid plan you are able to have as many as 15 people simultaneously.

Making a call using Slack is very simple:

  1. Move to the right hand edge of the screen.
  2. Hold Call. Press the Call button.
  3. Wait for others to join the call

Discord

A screenshot of Discord showing how to start a voice call.
Discord has an extensive voice calling feature that allows you to increase the number of people calling up to.

Calls to voice are bread and butter of Discord. With Discord Free, you can add up to 15 people in your voice call. It can be increased to 5,000 with Discord Nitro as well as Discord Nitro Classic plans.

The app also has a "Push-to-Talk" option that automatically disables users to keep the chat from getting too loud.

This is how you can start an online conversation in Discord:

  1. Pick a channel for voice or select a user
  2. Right-click
  3. Press Press

Winner: Discord

Discord's voice call features allow you to host more people and help keep the conversation focused with the push-to-talk feature. If you require voice call functionality, Discord is a clear option.

Video Calls

Video calls are increasingly popular with both global as well as local teams. While you can video call using both Slack and Discord however, their video calling features are unique.

Slack

Slack's video call features are plan-dependent. For Slack Free, you can include two users (i.e. you and another) However, you are able to have up to 15 people at a time with a an paid subscription.

Discord

Video call capabilities on Discord are also plan-dependent. If you have Discord Free, you can video call up to eight people simultaneously. This number can be increased to up to 25 people when you subscribe to paid plans.

Discord's video calls feature a simple layout with plenty of functions, such as screen-sharing, echo cancellation, noise cancellation as well as push-to-talk.

Winner: Discord

Video chats on Discord are more robust than Slack's. It allows hosting up to 25 users (depending the plan you choose) as well as gives its members access to functions that enhance the experience of calling. Discord is the clear winner in video calls.

Integrations

Integrations are essential to ensuring harmony within your group's instant messaging. With integrations, you can join other apps for business to the chat, and also increase Discord the features of Discord as well as Slack.

Let's compare Slack vs Discord integrations today.

Slack

A screenshot of Slack's app directory with the headline
Slack's applications allow you to integrate your favorite tools.
  • Google Calendar
  • Zoom
  • Salesforce
  • Google Sheets
  • Dropbox
  • OneDrive and SharePoint
  • ZenDesk
  • Giphy
  • IFTTT
  • The workday

It is possible to integrate at least 10 apps into Slack Free and an unlimitable number of applications on the paid Slack plans. Some apps require an extra cost for subscription, but the fees are clearly stated.

It takes only three steps to add apps in Slack:

  1. Check out this site to view the Slack App Directory
  2. Pick the app that you'd like
  3. Click the "Add to Slack" button

Discord

A screenshot of Discord's searchable bot database on their website.
Discord's bots add additional functionality and can be created by users from third parties.

Discord refers to its integrations as "bots." Discord bots were created by third party developers or Discord users who want specific features. In particular, certain Discord bots are specifically designed for gaming, others augment Discord's voice and video calls, with additional functions.

A few of the most popular Discord bots are:

  • Groovy
  • Sesh
  • Simple Poll
  • Sesh

This is how to add bots to Discord:

  1. Visit the bot's Discord website at top.gg
  2. Locate the application you're looking for
  3. Click Add Discord to Discord
  4. Choose the Discord server that you would like to join the bot to and click Continue after which you will be asked to authorize the bot. authorize
  5. Click Welcome and personalize your bot in accordance with the instructions on-screen

Winner: Slack

File Sharing

Busy teams need file sharing in their chat tool. Through File sharing, you are able to transmit a file to the entire team within minutes, reducing your time, and also keeping your documents safe.

Let's see how we compare Slack against Discord's capabilities for file sharing.

Slack

Slack's storage capacities are dependent on plan. For Slack Free, you can keep up to 5GB of data, while you can store more than 10 GB for each user on paid plans.

Discord

Discord lets you share the files you have on your device through text-based channels and direct messaging. The service gives each user an unlimited storage space for files, however sharing is quite limited. It is possible to share files of up eight MB with Discord Free and 100 MB in Discord Nitro and Discord Nitro Classic.

Winner: Slack

If your team needs frequently sharing files, Slack is your best bet. Slack lets you send larger files along with Google Drive documents.

supported languages, countries, and Time Zones

Both of these apps have many users from all over the world. The following section compares Slack with Discord in terms of the languages that are supported, as well as countries as well as time zones.

Slack

A screenshot of Slack's language and time zone options.
Slack allows you to change the time zone of your computer and also change the language.
  • Chinese
  • English (UK as well as US)
  • German
  • French
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish (Spain or Latin America)

Slack can also make it simple to alter your preferences for language. Here's how:

  1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner
  2. Choose the Preferences
  3. Click Language and Region
  4. Select your preferred language

When you join Slack you are able to personalize the app for over 60 different time zones. Slack can also update your time zone for users who are using location settings.

Slack offers localized customer service in five languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.

Discord

A screenshot of Discord's language settings.
Discord is accessible in 28 languages.

The app is popular also with multi-national teams. Discord is now accessible in 28 different languages including:

  • English (UK and US)
  • Bulgarian
  • Chinese
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Swedish
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese

You are able to change your preferred language within Discord using the steps in the following:

  1. Use the gear icon on the left to access settings
  2. Find the language you want to use.
  3. Click your language

Unlike Slack, Discord doesn't have an integrated setting that lets you change your time zone. However, you can alter your time zone within Discord by using the TimeZoneBot.

Winner: Discord

While Slack's multilingual customer service is useful, Discord is simply available in many more languages. If you have a multilingual group, Discord may work better for your needs.

Slack: Cons and Pros

Slack is an excellent alternative for small groups who require a chat application for work. Slack has more than 2400 integration apps, supports files up to 1GB and 8 themes available. It also offers customers with multilingual support and can store 10,000 messages in Slack Free.

But, Slack limits users to 10 integrations and two-user calls for free plans. It also has no push-to-talk features.

Discord: Pros and Con

Discord's strength lies in its video and voice call capabilities. Discord can handle voice calls for up to 5,000 users (plan-dependent) and video calls that can be made with up to 25 people, and even push-to-talk features as well as bot integrations to enhance audio and video calls.

But, Discord isn't best suited to file-sharing or professional communication. File sharing is limited to 8 MB for Discord Free, and 100 Megabytes for Discord Nitro and Discord Nitro Classic.

Slack vs Discord Comparison Table

Slack Discord
Pricing
  • Slack Free
  • Slack Standard ($6.67 per person per month)
  • Slack Plus ($14 per person per month)
  • Discord Free
  • Discord Nitro Classic ($4.99 per month, or $49.99 annually)
  • Discord Nitro ($9.99 per month or $99.99 annually)
Text Communication Yes Yes
Integrations Support for more than 2400 apps Allows users to add third-party bots
Integration Limits
  • 10 integrations on Slack Free
  • Unlimited integrations on Slack Standard and Slack Plus
  • Unlimited
Screen Sharing Yes Yes
Storage Limit
  • 5GB on Slack Free
  • 10GB for each user of Slack Standard and Slack Plus
  • Unlimited
FTP File Sharing
  • 1 GB at one time
  • 8MB of Discord Free
  • 100 MB is available in Discord Nitro and Discord Nitro Classic
voice-only channel Yes Yes
Vocal Calls
  • 2 users per phone via Slack Free
  • 15 users per call on Slack Standard and Slack Plus
  • 15 users per call via Discord Free
  • Up to 5,000 users per call on Discord Nitro and Discord Nitro Classic
Video calls
  • 2 users per video on Slack Free
  • 15 people per video in Slack Standard and Slack Plus
  • 25 users per call
Push-to-Talk There is no Yes
Theme Options 8 theme options Two theme choices (light and dark) and bot customizations
History of Messages
  • 10,000 messages are in Slack Free
  • Unlimited messages can be sent in Slack Standard and Slack Plus
  • Unlimited messages
Mobile App Yes Yes
Languages Supported 8 28

Summary

In the end, it's difficult to compare Slack as well as Discord. Both applications are robust, easy to use, and suitable for teams with international members. Each app is better suited for slightly different groups.

Do you have other ideas about Slack against Discord? We want to hear them! Share in the comments section below.

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