Discord vs Gitter: What are the differences?
Introduction
Discord and Gitter are both communication platforms designed for communities, but they have some key differences.
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User Interface and Experience: Discord provides a more modern and visually appealing user interface with customizable themes. It offers a seamless user experience with features like push-to-talk, screen sharing, and chat overlay for gaming. On the other hand, Gitter has a simpler interface focused on textual chat with fewer customization options.
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Target Audience: Discord primarily targets gamers and gaming communities, providing specific features like game integration and voice channels optimized for gaming communication. Gitter, on the other hand, is focused on developers and open-source communities, offering features like code syntax highlighting and GitHub integration.
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Chat Structure: Discord organizes conversations into servers and channels, allowing users to join multiple servers and switch between different channels within them. This structure provides a centralized place for communities to discuss various topics. Gitter, however, is more focused on individual chat rooms, allowing users to join specific rooms based on their interests or projects.
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Voice and Video Calling: Discord offers robust voice and video calling features, including the ability to create voice channels for real-time communication. Gitter, on the other hand, does not provide built-in voice or video calling capabilities, focusing primarily on text-based communication.
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Integration with External Platforms: Discord offers integrations with various external platforms, such as Twitch, Spotify, and YouTube, allowing users to share and interact with content from these platforms directly within Discord. Gitter, on the other hand, has integrations with services like GitHub and GitLab, providing seamless collaboration and code sharing for developers.
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Pricing Model: Discord is free to use with optional premium features available under a subscription called Discord Nitro. Gitter, on the other hand, is completely free and open-source, offering its full features without any premium subscriptions or limitations.
In summary, Discord and Gitter differ in their user interface, target audience, chat structure, voice/video calling capabilities, integration options, and pricing model.