Are you looking for the best VoIP application for online gaming? No matter how you play, as single-player or multiplayer, connecting with the online gaming community is crucial. Therefore, being a gamer, you may ask, Teamspeak vs. Discord- which one is better?
Voice chat has become a major aspect in video game communities. In recent years, many apps with Voice Over Internet Protocol have been released to make gaming more lively. Significantly, Teamspeak is one of the oldest VoIP communication systems, whereas Discord is a new entry into this service. With almost 300 million users, Discord is now an excellent platform to communicate while gaming.
However, Teamspeak is smaller in size than Discord and uses a few resources to make it faster with low-spec systems. Conversely, Discord offers larger storage to users and many additional features along with a reliable VoIP service. Additionally, it’s free to host or use any server, while Teamspeak charges based on the number of slots used.
But if you compare these two, you may find many similarities. Still, as a user, you want to check two vital categories, service and privacy. Further, which one is better in terms of performance?
These all facts are probably making you more confused. So, go through this article to find the best voice chat application for you, Teamspeak vs. Discord.
Teamspeak Vs. Discord- The Biggest Team Chat App For Gamers
If you’re a gamer, you understand how important it is to communicate with the team while playing online. There are other VoIP services available for team chat, like Ventrilo, Mumble, Skype etc. However, gamers mostly prefer TeamSpeak and Discord. But what are the reasons?
Before proceeding into that details, let’s know about them first.
Teamspeak
Teamspeak is more like a telephone conference call as it uses proprietary VoIP software for audio communication between players on a channel. It was introduced to the gaming world on August 26, 2002. Soon, it caught attention as it was only made for gamers. Not to mention, this app is still popular with a large user base.
One of the main reasons is, everyone prefers a small-size application, especially for a game. The small app means using fewer resources to function. Consequently, it doesn’t affect the system’s speed and performance and makes it faster for players.
Furthermore, Teamspeak has versatile layout features. Unfortunately, they are confusing at the beginning. But once you get it, the whole thing becomes nothing but fun.
Isn’t it fun to check visitors on your channel? Yes, Teamspeak has this interesting feature. An in-game overlay software named Overwolf is partnered with Teamspeak, allowing you to capture the gameplay and monitor the channel. Thus, you can know who is on the current channel and who isn’t. The only drawback is it enables the system to lag. It can be hard for gamers to use this software as even a 0.5s delay can cause losing the game.
On the negative side, unlike Discord, joining a server in Teamspeak seems a little hectic. You need to copy the IP address of the desired server and then connect to it. This copy and paste procedure should be done manually every time because you cannot bookmark the server.
Additionally, some games call for one individual to host a server, which friends can join. But as the server is not free to use or create, you need to buy it from the host. The pricing varies with the number of slots you’re opting for.
However, you can have a free server license up to 32 slots for one virtual server. But to have more slots or two servers, like 64 to up to 1024 slots, you need to pay an annual renewal cost of $55-$500.
Pros:
- Smaller in size and faster system’s speed
- Chat channels synchronized with the voice channels
- Crystal-clear voice quality
- End-to-end encryption
- Different customization options
- Extensive permission system
Cons:
- The extensive permission system is confusing for beginners
- No channel to communicate with other players outside the platform
- Requires additional cost to host server
Discord
In comparison, Discord is new in the market, launched on May 23, 2015. It becomes a popular group chatting app via text, voice and video on PC, Mac, iPhone and Android devices. But it still is in the development process as they keep adding new features on user demand.
Discord comes in a larger size than Teamspeak, with a storage capacity of 100 megabytes. It is a major disadvantage because a system with poor performance allows the application to take most memory and disk space. Consequently, it affects the overall system process and in turn, hinders the gaming experience.
The fact is Discord involves advanced API and integration with other services and platforms. It empowers your application and more convenient than Teamspeak. In either case, it makes the system more power-hungry.
However, an interesting feature is adding games to Discord. It can be confusing when you want to launch a game but don’t know any shortcut. But Discord saves you from trouble as it’s easy to launch games using this platform.
Further, you will want Discord because you can buy any games here at a discounted rate. It allows your friends and other users to view what games you’re playing and join.
Do you want to host a server on Discord? Luckily, unlike Teamspeak, it’s free here. Moreover, if you’re a new user, don’t worry about hosting a server. Most things are basic here so that you can easily manage them.
You can make a channel and invite others to join by sending a link on Discord. Hence, it’s easy to bring in your friends on-board and enjoy gaming without any hassle.
Additionally, Discord’s layout makes users monitor others’ activities on the channel, like who is joining or leaving it. It also allows you to show other users what game you’re currently playing. For example, if you’re playing PUBG integrated on Discord, it will show how many people are playing, how many have left the current game and for how long you’re playing the match.
Furthermore, when you add friends, you can see the mutual servers. Also, as a user, you can enable or disable system sound and notifications like messages, tags etc. Overall, Discord ensures 100% interruption-free communication.
Pros:
- Modern interface.
- Free to use and host a server.
- Easy to share the screen.
- Advanced security protection.
- Offers in-built game overlay to monitor other player’s activity on the current channel.
- Provides a web widget.
- Provides IP and DDoS protection.
Cons:
- The application and chat channels seem complex for beginners.
Teamspeak vs. Discord- Which One Is Better?
The ongoing battle on Teamspeak vs. Discord- which one is better is never-ending. Both of them have some amazing features one can hardly ignore.
However, there are some areas you can compare to decide the best one for gaming communication. Let’s discuss the differences of certain categories between Teamspeak and Discord.
Modern User Interface (UI)
The user interface implies the look and feels of the game through its graphic. A customized UI design gives a gamer satisfaction and a comfortable experience while gaming. Hence, they can engage with games more longer without any messy control.
If you wish for a modern UI or better-looking VoIP gaming application, then Teamspeak may disappoint you. It’ll remind you of the old generation of a computer desktop with a Window-95 theme and Dial-up modem. In contrast, Discord has an advanced Application Programming Interface (API) and integration, making it sleeker and gives you custom features.
Though you can customize the skin of Teamspeak’s UI, it requires much effort to do it. On the other hand, Discord makes it easier for you. Discord’s interface offers you adding custom emojis, reactions, gifs, status as per your choice to make it more real.
Further, the voice channels in Teamspeak are easy to use, but Discord’s voice channels seem difficult to manage than text channels. For example, if your friend says “Check out this link” and sends the link, you’ve to ask which channel. Luckily, Discord has added channel categories to solve such hassle.
However, Teamspeak’s new UI is redesigning to bring more features. For example, expanding dimension by introducing slim mode to experience amazing UI, adding a dark mode, new settings, controls and smart search to find friends, connect with servers, create groups, find chats or launch your games.
Voice Clarity
Undoubtedly, Teamspeak has the best and crystal-clear voice clarity comparatively Discord. New Teamspeak 3’s core design has launched new codecs for further improvements, like low latency, noise filtering technique and automatic mic adjustment.
However, Discord’s voice quality doesn’t differ too much from Teamspeak. But when you compare them using a mid-tier microphone, you may find Teamspeak has better audio.
Server Connectivity
Unfortunately, with Teamspeak, you’ve to be connected continuously to the server for communication. Otherwise, you won’t receive any message. Conversely, Discord acts like any other chat service where people can send messages even you’re offline and you can read them while coming online.
Though there is an issue with Discord, you may get a drop in sound quality often, which is arbitrary. You can solve this issue by changing the server region.
Privacy and Data Security
As already said, you’ve to buy a server on Teamspeak to host. That’s why it’s secured as you’re hosting it on your own PC or by an external data server. Hence, all data are encrypted and no third parties have access to them without permission.
However, users’ IP addresses are visible to the server admins that can effects their privacy online. To solve the problem, activate a VPN to mask your IP and hide the original location.
Meanwhile, Discord has its own servers. So, your data privacy may be compromised as end-to-end encryption is not assured at all. It collects your IP address, device ID and what other services you’re using while on the Discord server.
Though they claim no third parties can access this sensitive information. They practically keep the users’ details to identify their demographics. But still, there is no proof for it and raise serious concern among users. Thankfully, you can use a Discord VPN to keep yourself safe from monitoring.
Admin Control and User Permission
The comparison between Teamspeak vs. Discord on admin control are almost the same. In both cases, the server admin can ban or block any player. However, in Teamspeak, it’s pretty much annoying as the players can be kicked out or banned despite being on top rank. In contrast, Discord has broad administrative control and user permission system. The “enable” option makes it more easier. Unban someone on Discord depends on the type of bans, like system-wide ban or server ban.
In-game Overlay
The in-game overlay allows the game to communicate, swiping between channels and gives you access to the chats, friends list, group invites etc. Discord’s in-game overlay enables you to use text and voice channels without leaving the game. Additionally, resizing and moving the chat windows and enabling or disabling notification are two excellent Discord overlay.
Furthermore, Twitch integration allows Discord to automatically sync your subscribers and shows who’s talking during your stream.
On the other hand, Teamspeak’s in-game overlay is nothing but a minimized version of the actual window.
Cost to Host a Server
Are you still battling between Teamspeak vs. Discord- which is better? Then here is another option you can compare to decide.
Although both platforms are free to use, you can’t host a server free in Teamspeak. The initial 32 slots can be used freely for one server, but you’ve to pay monthly/yearly to unlock more.
Fortunately, Discord offers you unlimited free service to host servers. Its Silicon-Valley-tech-startup allows users to enjoy the service without any slots limitations.
Final Note
The categories mentioned above are prime to settle Teamspeak vs. Discord debate. Though both applications have much to offer, you better choose wisely regarding privacy concerns and performance.
No doubt, Discord has some amazingly useful features that may give you real gaming experience. From the user-friendly overlay to customized voice and chat options makes it a winner. Though this is also true that it takes a huge memory space that lags the system sometimes.
However, Teamspeak may lack of modern features and interface but provides more security to your private information. It doesn’t violate any privacy rules and you can use VPN to avoid any misuse of data.
The only thing that can get into your mind is Teamspeak costs you some dollars to continue gaming. With Discord, you don’t have to spend a penny. Moreover, the user interface of Discord is much more preferable by gamers than Teamspeak. In the end, it completely depends on you which one is better to suit your video game experience.