Discord is a newcomer to the chat scene, but it’s made a big splash. The app provides voice and text chat for groups, with an emphasis on gaming. However, it’s so sweet I’ve already started using it for everyday chat.


If you’ve ever used Slack, Discord will feel familiar. It builds on some ideas Slack uses that people love like organized channels and built-in text commands, plus dead simple group voice chat. Of course, you don’t have to game with it—I use it just to chat with a group of friends instead of something like Skype or Facebook Messenger—but it has a few features that are helpful while playing games. Here’s an overview of the core features Discord offers:

There are apps for every major platform, plus the browser. Discord is available the web client

The interface is gorgeous and simple. Some voice chat apps like Ventrilo

Some voice chat apps like It’s easy to set up a server. Setting up servers for Ventrilo and TeamSpeak

Setting up servers for Ventrilo and Text channels and voice chat give you the best of both worlds. Discord comes with Slack-style text channels that users can hop in and out of, plus Ventrilo-style voice channels so different groups can play together on the same server. Most apps only do one of these two functions well but Discord handles both effortlessly. Idling in a text channel while you talk in a group voice chat in the same app is a delight for anyone who’s had to manage multiple IRC and Vent windows.

Discord comes with Slack-style text channels that users can hop in and out of, plus Ventrilo-style voice channels so different groups can play together on the same server. Most apps only do one of these two functions well but Discord handles both effortlessly. Idling in a text channel while you talk in a group voice chat in the same app is a delight for anyone who’s had to manage multiple IRC and Vent windows. It’s free. Currently, Discord doesn’t charge for anything. A help page on the site states that they eventually plan to charge


More than anything, Discord solves a lot of the little annoyances that make other apps such a pain to use. You don’t have to install an app if you don’t want to. You can sign into a server with just a link, instead of passing around complicated server and password info. Plus it just looks nicer than most alternatives.

Setting Up a Server Is Crazy Simple

One of the absolute best features of Discord is how easy it is to set up a new server. To demonstrate this, here is the entire process I had to go through to create a Lifehacker Discord server:

Click this button...

...then this one...


...then name it and you’re done.


That’s it. No installing server software. No messing around with sockets or ports. It took longer to take screenshots of the process than it did to create the server itself. Once your server is set up, there’s a big “Invite Members” button on the right-hand side of the app. Click that and Discord will generate a self-destructing link you can use to add new members for the next half-hour.

You can also customize the invite links to limit who can get in. You can change the expirition timer to anywhere from 30 minutes to a day after it’s created (or never, if you prefer). There’s also an option to limit the link to a certain number of uses, up to 100. If you only want to invite someone as a guest, you can give them an invite that will automatically expire and boot the user after they disconnect from the server the first time


Voice Channels Are Powerful and Easy to Use


Voice chat is the main event in Discord and the app does it incredibly well. When you first create your server, you’ll be in a default General channel. You can create as many channels as you need for different tasks. For example, on my gaming server I have a separate channel set up for Overwatch, World of Warcraft, plus an AFK channel. Discord also gives servers admins a ton of useful management features:

Create “roles” for different users to help manage your community: You can create custom roles for whole groups of users. For example, you might create an Admin category of users who can kick or ban users, manage channels, and even mute other members. You could then create a lower Mods category for users who just have the ability to kick or ban rowdy users. Server owners can even set up different color schemes based on the permissions that a user has. You can read more about role management in Discord here

You can create custom roles for whole groups of users. For example, you might create an Admin category of users who can kick or ban users, manage channels, and even mute other members. You could then create a lower Mods category for users who just have the ability to kick or ban rowdy users. Server owners can even set up different color schemes based on the permissions that a user has. You can read more about Set up auto-AFK channels: It’s annoying when someone walks away from their computer and leaves their mic on. Server admins can set up a default AFK channel where mics are always muted. They can then automatically boot any inactive users to this channel if they’re idle for too long.

It’s annoying when someone walks away from their computer and leaves their mic on. Server admins can set up a default AFK channel where mics are always muted. They can then automatically boot any inactive users to this channel if they’re idle for too long. Require verification for new users: Server admins can require new users to meet certain verification standards before they’re allowed to message people or use channels. The default is no verification at all, but you can require users to have a verified email address with Discord, and optionally require they be registered with Discord or the server for 5 or 10 minutes. These can be helpful in reducing spam or bandwagons of harassing users. You can read more about verification levels here


Discord lets you choose between push-to-talk or voice activated modes for audio chat. If you choose voice activated mode, you can further customize what volume level the app needs to detect before it will transmit your voice. In my experience, it only took a few seconds to set up but it worked flawlessly afterwards.

Text Channels Offer Image Sharing, Slash Commands, and More


If you’ve ever used Slack or IRC for group chat, Discord will feel pretty familiar. You can create and join channels in the [#channelname] format. You can upload images directly to Discord to share them with everyone in the channel and search for emoji directly next to the chat box. You can even use some slash commands like /me.

Discord doesn’t have quite as many bells and whistles as Slack or IRC, but the commands it does have are awesome. Here are a few of the big ones:

/giphy and /riffsy: Both of these commands let you search a wide archive of animated GIFs to insert directly into your chats.

Both of these commands let you search a wide archive of animated GIFs to insert directly into your chats. /tts: This command reads your next message aloud for the channel. This can be very helpful if your group is in a voice chat in a game or another application and your microphone isn’t working.

This command reads your next message aloud for the channel. This can be very helpful if your group is in a voice chat in a game or another application and your microphone isn’t working. / tableflip , / unflip , and / shrug : Sure, you probably added these emoticons to your text expander ages ago


Most of the slash commands are just for fun, but they help flesh out an already powerful chat application. Discord is primarily aimed at voice chat, so it would be easy to neglect text-based channels. Fortunately, it doesn’t.

Discord Combines the Best Elements of Skype, IRC, and Slack


For many years, the best way for PC gamers to get on group voice chats have been either Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. Now, I dread the days of going back to those apps. Discord does many of the same things with way less hassle and the added benefit of a robust chat app built right in. It’s easier to set up than Slack and more intuitive than Skype for large group chats.

Discord isn’t the perfect app for every situation. Its heavy focus on gaming means it might not have the advanced features that, say, a business might need for a conference call. However, if you’ve ever wrestled with an annoying chat system while trying to get a group together for a chat on your PC, Discord is a breath of fresh air.