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Discord

1.7K
1.5K
+ 1
782
Skype

17.1K
13.3K
+ 1
653
Zoom

1.7K
1.9K
+ 1
155

Discord vs Skype vs Zoom: What are the differences?

Introduction

In today's digital world, online communication has become an essential part of our daily lives. Three popular platforms for communication are Discord, Skype, and Zoom. While all three platforms offer voice and video calling features, they differ in various aspects. Let us explore the key differences between Discord, Skype, and Zoom.

  1. Ease of Use: Discord is primarily designed for gamers and has a user-friendly interface with straightforward navigation, making it easy to use even for beginners. Skype offers a simple and intuitive interface that is also easy to navigate. Zoom is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for people of all technical abilities to use the platform.

  2. Target Audience: Discord is mainly used by gamers to communicate while gaming, but it is also used by communities and businesses for communication and collaboration. Skype is widely used by individuals and businesses for personal and professional communication. Zoom is primarily used by businesses and educational institutions for conferences, meetings, and webinars.

  3. Features and Functionality: Discord offers features like server creation, text chat, voice calls, video calls, screen sharing, and file sharing. It also supports integrations with various gaming platforms. Skype provides features such as instant messaging, voice calls, video calls, screen sharing, and file sharing. It also allows conference calls with up to 50 participants. Zoom offers features like video conferencing, screen sharing, breakout rooms, recording, live streaming, and virtual backgrounds. It can accommodate large meetings with up to 1000 participants.

  4. Privacy and Security: Discord provides end-to-end encryption for direct messages, but server messages are not encrypted. Skype offers end-to-end encryption for voice calls, video calls, and instant messages. Zoom provides encryption for meetings and data in transit, but the encryption for Zoom meetings is not end-to-end by default.

  5. Platform Support: Discord is available as a desktop application, web application, and mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Skype is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android devices. Zoom is available for desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux), mobile (iOS, Android), and web platforms.

  6. Pricing: Discord, Skype, and Zoom offer different pricing models. Discord has a free basic plan, while additional features are available through a subscription-based Nitro plan. Skype offers both free and paid plans, with premium features available in the paid version. Zoom provides a free plan with limited features, but additional functionality is available through paid plans for individuals and businesses.

In summary, Discord is popular among gamers and communities, while Skype and Zoom cater to a broader audience, including individuals and businesses. Discord focuses on providing a user-friendly interface and integration with gaming platforms. Skype offers a simple and intuitive interface with a wide range of features for personal and professional communication. Zoom is known for its user-friendly interface, scalability, and features tailored for business and educational purposes.

Advice on Discord, Skype, and Zoom
Peter Bishop
Exec Dirfector at Teach the Future · | 5 upvotes · 86.8K views
Needs advice
on
Jitsi MeetJitsi Meet
and
ZoomZoom

We've used Zoom for a year or two. They offer 1 Gb online storage that is convenient for sending out links to team members who miss a meeting. But some of their meetings run to 850 Mb each, which means I'm always overflowing the limit even though I don't leave a meeting up for more than a week.

So I asked about buying additional storage. The answer was that the first additional step was all the way to 100 Gb at $40/month when the basic video package was only $15/month. That's ridiculous!

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Replies (3)
Kausalya Srinivas
Recommends
on
Jitsi MeetJitsi Meet

Jitsi is open source. One can easily implement at their own premises. It offers live streaming thru which one can stream to you tube live. No hassles of storage. Another option is to deliver the lecture and store at local device cloud (open cloud) and share the link to the end users who requires to use the resources

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Recommends
on
ZapierZapier

You can automate uploading the files to whatever file storage platform you're already using like Dropbox, Google drive or better yet Firebase or AWS. Then delete the files from Zoom after they are uploaded. You might be able to accomplish this with Zapier. If not, we develop these kinds of custom automations at TinyApp.io

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Recommends
on
Jitsi MeetJitsi Meet

I think Jitsi is clearly underrated and has all the wanted features for a simple video conferencing. Jitsi is opensource and privacy/security concerned (Zoom had some serious security issues). You can easily host your own instance or use the public one or purchase a hosted one. There is mobile & desktop apps and you can easily connect using a browser (a must-have feature for entreprise guests).

About your meeting records, Jitsi has a record feature (to Dropbox on public server and more integrations on private ones) and a Livestream feature to Youtube which is really cool and allow you to have unlimited videos, create playlist, public or not...

So I would definitely go for Jisti !

NB: if your company has a Microsoft 365 subscriptions or a Google Workspace one, you should also consider using them as they are part of you plan :)

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Needs advice
on
DiscordDiscord
and
ZoomZoom

I want to host an online Jeopardy game with less than 30 participants. During each round of the game, I'll stream some videos. The point is to gather friends together to play the Jeopardy game and watch random stuff. Please let me know if there's a more suitable platform other than Discord and Zoom. Thanks, everyone!

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Replies (1)
RuralAnemone
Head Devoloper/coder at Super Smash Eternal · | 2 upvotes · 190.4K views

Personally, I think that Discord works much better than anything else, even if you don't have Nitro (which is what they call their premium plan). You could seriously do this Jeopardy thing with just Discord (and maybe a bot to make it easier)

Zoom would only let you have a crappy meeting that hackers could easily join. Discord actually has DDoS protection, Zoom just has things that can easily be bypassed.

And if you do want Nitro, it's only $9/mo or $99/yr

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LaShaune Stitt
Chief Consultant at Women of the World · | 4 upvotes · 158.3K views
Needs advice
on
CrowdcastCrowdcast
and
ZoomZoom

I am in the midst of planning an online webinar for middle school boys. There will be five panelists that will be present at different times, and the attendees will be participating in Q&A's as well as group discussions - like breakout groups. Since each attendee/panelist will have a different operating system, I want to know which tool is most effective and accessible for my event?

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Replies (2)
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

I've used Zoom for something similar, and it should work for you. Zoom is widely accessible, including via phone calls. Breakout rooms are included (https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476093-Enabling-breakout-rooms).

One challenge with middle school boys might be managing participant behavior. Regular Zoom calls with more than ~20 people can easily get chaotic. Zoom's webinar mode might be more appropriate for this use case. Webinars are an extra $40/month.

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Recommends
on
CrowdcastCrowdcast

Zoom is more popular and have more control over participants, but Crowdcast is more flexible, because of the HTML5 support and can apply widgets on webpages. Both can be used on any platform, but zoom needs to be installed first.

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Needs advice
on
Google MeetGoogle Meet
and
ZoomZoom

I have a google account and use google classroom. I want to give classes online, including screen-sharing, and going in and out of multiple documents on screen.

Even though I am paying for my google account, I still want to explore which of these two tools is best for what I want to do. My classes vary from 5 to 20 persons per class, three times per week, and have a duration of 2 times 45 min.

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Replies (1)
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

I’m in the same boat as a teacher. I researched both, used both, I like Zoom much better. I like to compare it to Google having the lite version of an app while Zoom is the paid version. Zoom allows the “Host” to control every aspect from password protecting your room to the host admitting people in individually. I know Zoom is normally paid but has a limited free version. Hope this helps but Zoom seems much further ahead.

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Lisa Myers
Needs advice
on
SkypeSkypeWebexWebex
and
ZoomZoom

Hi, I am helping teachers in my kid's schools to set up distance learning and wanted to see what is better between Webex, Zoom, and Skype (although only putting this one in as most parents probably have it). The children are 8-9, so they won't be using it on their own and the parents have no experience using Webex or Zoom.

The main use will be for the teacher to explain what they will be covering in the week and enable some social interaction between the kids.

I need to be easy to use for about 20-25 people.

Thanks for your advice, Lisa

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Replies (4)
Yoram Kornatzky
Independent Information Technology and Services Professional at DR. YORAM KORNATZKY LTD · | 4 upvotes · 33.3K views
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

I consider Skype dead. Even Microsoft strongly neglected it. Webex is more corporate-oriented. So for your use case, I recommend Zoom. It is easy to set up, and the quality is very good. Zoom became such a household name that the average person heard about it. Moreover, any person probably has friends who may have used it. So it will be easier for people to get some community help.

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Attila Fulop
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

We've been using Zoom for about a half a year and it's stability is unbeatable. We have all-hands on Fridays with 100+ participants. The free tier can easily handle the requirements, the only limitation is that max meeting length is 40 minutes. After that you can immediately restart the meeting, but the pro option is also very affordable. It also features screen sharing and whiteboard sharing out of the box. I also appreciate that it's not mandatory to register an account to attend a meeting.

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John Perry
Account Executive at Towerstream · | 3 upvotes · 109.5K views
Recommends
on
Microsoft TeamsMicrosoft Teams

From my experiences I feel like Zoom is a pretty intuitive program to teach kids, however Skype might be more common amongst them already.

I am a big fan of Microsoft Teams.

They all do the same pretty much but Teams I find the bells and whistles are easier to find, like custom backgrounds... creating groups for topic discussions that remain there until you want to change/edit or delete. Easy to share files.

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Fábio Henrique Oliveira
Recommends
on
WebexWebex

Hi, Lisa,

I haven't used Skype in a long time. I have I lot of experience with Zoom and Webex. Both for me are very good tools, especially if you have money to pay for (to unlock more features, like more people in a video conference - Zoom).

Nowadays, I've used more Webex with my undergraduate students, I'm using the free account. Cloud recording is a features very useful, especially while using the free account (thanks Cisco!). Webex has control features very useful (e.g., mute, raise hand etc).

Kind regards,

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Needs advice
on
Google MeetGoogle Meet
and
ZoomZoom

I own an Escape Room. Since right now everyone is practicing social distancing, I would like to run my Escape Room games virtually. I would like to allow approx 4 users to log in to play. They can chitchat a few minutes before their game to get to know each other. Then once the game begins, I will introduce myself and give them the plot to their escape game. I will have a wide-angle camera mounted to the wall to show the room, and as the game master, carry a tablet or webcam around as players talk to me and direct me to show them certain items in the room, move in for closeups in certain areas, try lock combinations, etc. I will be their hands while they solve the puzzles. I am not sure if Google Hangouts Google Meet or Zoom is better for this. I did try it yesterday using google hangout meet and it was good, but I think there may have been a wifi issue where it was choppy. Just trying to figure out the best option. Thank you! Catherine

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Replies (4)
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

Google meet, as well as zoom are amazing platforms for online meetings. But I will try to explain the pros and cons of both according to your needs.

  1. Network requirements: Google meet requires considerably more bandwidth than zoom, and it isn't a great choice if you have poor internet, or if there are more than 25 or 30 participants. While zoom is pretty lightweight and can support large groups (say about 80) with little to no internet instability.

  2. UI: Zoom and google meet have decent UI, but assuming that participants will be using mobiles, they might have a hard time with chatting in zoom as it takes up a lot of space to view all contents.

  3. Security: Even though both zoom and google meet provide 100% encrypted connections, I personally think google meet is somewhat better due to the flaws in the recent zoom security patches.

  4. Battery consumption: Google meet hogs up your battery when uploading your video and also your video quality, unlike zoom will not be adjusted based on your network, meaning, even if you have poor internet, google meet will upload your video in high quality, sometimes leading to lag and hangs.

NOTE: If you are using the free version of zoom, your meeting will automatically end after 40 minutes. So either keep your games small, or buy the premium version.

In the end I think zoom will be a better choice according to your needs, but if you plan on buying zoom, I recommend you read other reviews about zoom. Enjoy and stay safe!

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Verhaeghe Jonas
Sr. Marketing Technologist at Invisible Puppy · | 3 upvotes · 137.2K views
Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

I would suggest Zoom: - quality sound and audio is great - simple to set up and invite people + it doesn't matter if they have a microsoft, google, etc. email account or operating system - recently it added a couple of security options which could be handy in your situation = for example 'lock meeting' - once all your participants have logged in you can 'lock the meeting' to prevent others from entering. Another on is the enable waiting room, where participants can 'wait' before you allow them in the meeting.

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Recommends
on
ZoomZoom

Zoom has lot more features and higher quality. Agree with the other people's advice. Make sure to realize it is 40 min limit for free account - but you can do monthly Zoom subscription and try it out or only use during pandemic and cancel subscription once this is over if you need to.

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Decisions about Discord, Skype, and Zoom
Chose
DiscordDiscord
over
ZoomZoom

as many people say that you can only hold 30 to 10 people in one discord call if you were to make a server and add a chat or a VC you can hold up to 99 which is more than zoom and you can also use the text chat, general chat or anything else that you add and the best part you can hold pretty much infinite people I have personally seen servers with up to 100k people in it. One of the better parts is that you don't necessarily have to download it you can search it up on google and make an account it's as easy as that. Another thing is due to the original purpose of the website/app is that it's very customizable meaning that your students can customize heir profile pictures and names, but not to worry in a discord server you can have it where only you can change their nicknames so let's say things get too confusing or you want to be able to see who they really are you can just change it to their name. One last thing I will say is that you can have customizable ranks and so on so if you desire to split people into teams you can do so and with that, you can customize what they can do like give people ranks or de-rank them. Like I mentioned earlier about VC's you can also screen share and do videos so you can see their screen or their face.

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Pros of Discord
Pros of Skype
Pros of Zoom
  • 64
    Unlimited Users
  • 58
    Unlimited Channels
  • 54
    Easy to use
  • 50
    Voice Chat
  • 48
    Fast and easy set-ups and connections
  • 45
    Clean UI
  • 42
    Free
  • 42
    Mobile Friendly
  • 32
    Android App
  • 28
    Mention system
  • 26
    Customizable notifications on per channel basis
  • 25
    Customizable ranks/permissions
  • 21
    IOS app
  • 20
    Good code embedding
  • 18
    Vast Webhook Support
  • 15
    Dark mode
  • 13
    Roles
  • 13
    Easy context switching between work and home
  • 12
    Bot control
  • 12
    Great Communities
  • 11
    Very Resource Friendly
  • 11
    Robust
  • 11
    Easy to develop for
  • 11
    Great Customer Support
  • 11
    Video Call Conference
  • 11
    Video call meeting
  • 10
    Sharing screen layer
  • 10
    Able to hold 99 people in one call
  • 9
    Easy Server Setup and joining system
  • 9
    Shares screen with other member
  • 9
    Easy
  • 8
    Great browser experience
  • 7
    Easy to code bots for
  • 7
    Lower bandwidth requirements than competitors
  • 6
    Noice
  • 3
    Easily set up custom emoji
  • 258
    Free, widespread
  • 147
    Desktop and mobile apps
  • 110
    Because i have to :(
  • 57
    Low cost international calling
  • 56
    Good for international calls
  • 10
    Best call quality anywhere, generally
  • 5
    Beautiful emojis
  • 4
    Chat bots
  • 2
    Translator
  • 2
    Skype for business integration with Outlook
  • 1
    United kingdom
  • 1
    Not the Best, but get the job done
  • 25
    Web conferencing made easy
  • 16
    Remote control option
  • 13
    Draw on screen
  • 12
    Very reliable
  • 11
    In-meeting chat is pretty good
  • 9
    Free
  • 9
    Pair programming sessions with shared controls
  • 8
    Easy to share meeting links/invites
  • 7
    Good Sound Quality
  • 6
    Cloud recordings for meetings
  • 5
    Great mobile app
  • 4
    Virtual backgrounds
  • 4
    Recording Feature
  • 4
    Other people use it
  • 4
    User Friendly actions
  • 2
    Reactions (emoticons)
  • 2
    Auto reconnecting
  • 2
    Chrome extension is great to easily create meetings
  • 2
    While sharing screen, you can still see your video
  • 2
    Mute all participants at once
  • 2
    When ending the videocall, everybody gets kicked
  • 2
    Different options for blocking chat
  • 1
    Easily share video with audio
  • 1
    /zoom on Slack
  • 1
    Registration form
  • 1
    Meant for business and education
  • 0
    Zoom

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Discord
Cons of Skype
Cons of Zoom
  • 10
    Not as many integrations as Slack
  • 9
    For gamers
  • 5
    Limited file size
  • 4
    Sends data to US Gov
  • 4
    For everyone
  • 2
    Undescriptive in global ban reasons
  • 2
    Suspected Pedophiles in few servers
  • 1
    Unsupportive Support
  • 1
    High memory and CPU footprint
  • 5
    Really high CPU utilization during video/screenshare
  • 3
    Not always reliable
  • 3
    Outdated UI
  • 3
    Birthday notifications are annoying
  • 3
    The worst indicator noises of any app ever
  • 2
    Finding/adding people isn't easy
  • 20
    Limited time if you are a basic member
  • 14
    Limited Storage
  • 11
    Hate how sharing your screen defaults to Full Screen
  • 10
    Quality isn't great (Free)
  • 9
    No cursor highlight on screenshare.
  • 8
    Potential security flaws
  • 7
    Onboarding process for new users is not intuitive
  • 5
    Virtual background quality isn't good
  • 5
    Security
  • 4
    Editing can be improved
  • 4
    Doesn't handle switching audio sources well
  • 4
    The native calendar is buggy
  • 4
    Dashboard can be improved
  • 3
    Pornographic material displayed
  • 3
    Any body can get in it
  • 3
    Not many emojis
  • 3
    Past chat history is not saved
  • 3
    Recording Feature
  • 3
    En In reality,the chat in the meet not is excelent,noo
  • 3
    Zoom lags a lot

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What is Discord?

Discord is a modern free voice & text chat app for groups of gamers. Our resilient Erlang backend running on the cloud has built in DDoS protection with automatic server failover.

What is Skype?

Skype’s text, voice and video make it simple to share experiences with the people that matter to you, wherever they are.

What is Zoom?

Zoom unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat into one easy-to-use platform. Our solution offers the best video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across Zoom Rooms, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and H.323/SIP room systems.

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What are some alternatives to Discord, Skype, and Zoom?
Slack
Imagine all your team communication in one place, instantly searchable, available wherever you go. That’s Slack. All your messages. All your files. And everything from Twitter, Dropbox, Google Docs, Asana, Trello, GitHub and dozens of other services. All together.
Gitter
Free chat rooms for your public repositories. A bit like IRC only smarter. Chats for private repositories as well as organisations.
Google Hangouts
Message contacts, start free video or voice calls, and hop on a conversation with one person or a group.
WhatsApp
It is a cross-platform mobile messaging app for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia. It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media.
Telegram
Users can send messages and exchange photos, videos, stickers, audio and files of any type. It provides instant messaging, simple, fast, secure and synced across all your devices.
See all alternatives