Why You Should Not Use Discord

by Sam Hadow

This post is about why you shouldn’t use discord and which alternatives exist.
(last update 23/01/2026)

why you shouldn’t use discord

Discord is a spyware

Discord is proprietary doesn’t make its source code available which makes it impossible to tell if it’s a spyware or not, but it does behave like one.

Data collected

Discord collects a large amount of sensitive user data like:

• IP Address
• Devices UUID
• Email address and phone number
• all text messages, images and voice chats This is stated in their privacy policy

Discord also doesn’t explicitely says it contains a process logger and logs a list of all the programs running on your computer if you have the app installed and not sandboxed. As such if you’re forced to use discord for some reason, a mitigation is to use discord through your browser only and not install any app.
Since discord is closed source we have no way to know if the privacy toggles in the options to disable this data harvesting do anything at all.
Discord claims it doesn’t make money selling their user’s data, but the simple fact they gather this data in the first place is a good enough reason not to use discord.

Phone number

It is possible to create a discord account without a phone number, but discord will randomly lock out users from their account and ask for a phone verification, this is especially true for TOR and VPN users. This feature is designed to extract sensitive information and not for security. In fact using something based on asymetric cryptography, like a passkey, would be a lot more secure.
Phone verification is one of the weakest verification method and is designed just to extract information.
If you’re not convinced yet it’s for data harvesting and not security, discord also only accepts mobile phone numbers, and will refuse verification with a landline or VOIP number. It doesn’t make sense for a phone verification.

Messages

Discord refuses to implement end to end encryption for private messages or servers and as such has the ability to read any message sent. According to their ToS they read “reported” messages only and scan images for sensitive content. While end to end encryption doesn’t make much sense for a large public server, anyone could join and decrypt previous messages, there is no reason not to implement it for private messages.
Discord also pushes server admins to make their server “community servers”, and in their ToS they state that they actively scan messages sent in community servers.
But regardless of what their ToS says, discord has the ability to read and log any message sent anyway. And discord being an American company, they are compelled to provide access to messages to the NSA under the PRISM program.
And even if discord implemented end to end encryption at one point, which they likely won’t, the client being proprietary makes it impossible to verify they wouldn’t keep a copy of the decryption keys or of the messages before they’re encrypted.

Discord is a burning library of Alexandria

Discord is a slow burning library of Alexandria. Discord cannot be indexed by search engines unlike forums and information stays locked inside discord. Many communities, even open source project (like Lutris) moved their community to discord instead of using a forum like every community did before discord existed. It forces users to have a discord account and join all these community servers to have access to this information
There is a lot of information and documentation that should be on wiki or forums and just aren’t anymore. And this information is being lost in real time with discord sometimes randomly suspending server owners accounts. Discord is now the real owner and the one controlling all this information and documentation instead of the communities themselves.

Discord randomly suspends account

Discord sometimes randomly suspends accounts without providing any reason, and the support is usueless when it comes to account suspensions… Or anything really.

Speculation on discord business model

Discord claims it doesn’t sell user data but it doesn’t make sense they stay afloat with just discord Nitro subscriptions. They received a lot of money from investors over the years. Why investors give discord money is unclear. But what is clear is discord as the ability with its massive data gathering to sell valuable information, or use this datamining to produce statistical models for advertisement (like games recommendations).

Alternatives

Finding alternatives to discord is hard because as said previously, a lot of communities moved to discord, it makes it hard to fully leave discord if you have friends or are part of communities there. But there are several alternatives to discord, at least for private messages with friends. Here are a few alternative I think are good.

Matrix

Matrix is to me the best alternative to discord. It is adequate both for direct messages and communities.

• It is open source
• The Matrix protocol pushes end to end encryption implementation in the clients
• It is decentralized and federated, meaning you can self host your own instance and still be able to communicate with people using other homeservers.
• It has an ecosystem built around it, you’re free to chose the client you prefer, the homeserver you prefer if self hosting it. And you can also use bridges to exchange messages with other platforms. The last point is especially nice if you still want to communicate with people using discord, you can do that through your matrix client and not your discord client.

Mattermost

Mattermost is another open source alternative you can self host although a plugin is necessary for end to end encryption and there isn’t any federation.
It is adequate for communities. However I still personally think a forum is better for public communities so that search engines can index them.

Signal

signal is another open source alternative (although it’s slightly shady for the server part) with end to end encryption. However it’s centralized (meaning you’re forced to use Signal server) and a phone number is required for registration.
Signal is more adequate for direct messages or group with not too many people than for big communities.

Session

session is another open source alternative with end to end encryption and a blockchain based decentralised network. The underlying protocols are less mature than the Signal protocol but unlike Signal, it’s not centralised and doesn’t require a phone number or email adress to create an account.
Like signal it is adequate for direct messages, not communities.