Being a competitor to Teamspeak, the "Discord vs Teamspeak" question is often asked before users make the switch from either platform. The real answer is that they both have advantages and disadvantages, and whether or not you should use Teamspeak or Discord comes down to why you are using a voice/IM client, and your personal preferences.
Thankfully, DiscordHelp.net is here with a comparison table detailing differences and similarities in things like CPU usage of the two clients, bandwidth, their audio and voice quality, amongst many other things.
It is important to note that this table of differences/similarities between Discord and Teamspeak is based on our anecdotal findings and responses by Discord customer support - so whilst they are as accurate as we could possibly make them, your individual findings could be different. Please also bear in mind that Discord and Teamspeak are different platforms with different purposes - in many cases Discord has lower performance, but Discord also has a more graphical UI and more intensive features, so lower performance doesn't necessarily mean it isn't any better. Here is the table:
| Difference | Teamspeak | Discord |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Hosted | Yes, you need to host the server yourself (or pay a third-party company to) | No, Discord host the server for you |
| Free to Use | Yes, but license is required to have more than 32 concurrent users. Free license available for non-profit communities, including gaming clans/guilds | Yes, optional "Nitro" package with benefits like animated avatars |
| User Interface Friendliness | Less-modern, requires less computer resources, but most people find Discord easier to use | Modern, light and dark themes available, most people find Discord easier to use (some may prefer Teamspeak, but a big advantage of Discord is its ease of use) |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Written in (Programming Language) | Native C++ (Teamspeak 3) | Javascript - built with the Electron framework |
| Voice Quality | Uses Opus codec, like Discord - meaning the quality should be the same as Discord.. but Teamspeak allows you to change the quality settings to a higher degree than Discord (Discord's are capped at 96kbps) - so Teamspeak is often higher quality | Uses Opus codec, like Teamspeak, but the quality settings cannot be turned up to a level as high as Teamspeak's can, so it has the potential to be lower quality, depending on the settings of the comparison Teamspeak server |
| Voice Codecs | Opus, CELT, Speex (you can choose) | Opus |
| End-to-End Encryption | Optional AES based encryption on all voice packets | No functionality currently for end-to-end encryption |
| RAM Usage | Lower than Discord (on average), which is due to its light-weight UI, the fact that it isn't built with Electron (it is made with native C++), and it has less features (Teamspeak is just a voice client, it doesn't have things like advanced text chat functionality, PMs like Discord, etc) | Higher than Teamspeak (on average). This is due to Discord's more-graphical UI, the platform it is built on (Electron), and its wider-range of features mean more RAM is required |
| CPU Usage | Generally Teamspeak CPU usage is lower. The reasons for this are similar to the reasons for more RAM usage (above) | Discord usually has higher CPU usage than Teamspeak - this is because of the same reasons stated above for RAM usage |
| Latency | Teamspeak is self-hosted, so it depends on where the Teamspeak owner chooses to host the server. There is more flexibility (because you can choose to host your server from literally anywhere), but generally Teamspeak servers have similar latency to Discord | Discord have a wide-range of servers across the world, and you can choose where your server is hosted. Your latency is dependent on where you or the server admin chooses the server to be located, but with servers in almost every continent, latency is low for most users |
| Rich Chat Functionality (GIFs, Videos, Emojis, etc) | No, basic message/PM system | Yes |
| Save Location | Program Files | AppData (source: Discord Save Location) |
Let us know your thoughts about this comparison article via Twitter @DiscordHelpNet.
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