Discord vs TeamSpeak, which is the best voice chat tool to use when gaming with your friends?
TeamSpeak is a tried and trusted veteran in the voice chat scene being around since 2001. Discord is the new kid on the block that has only been around since 2015. I’ve used them both extensively for a long time, and they are both powerful pieces of software. I’m going to pit them both against each other and give you my recommendation.
Key differences
There are some fundamental differences between the two applications. It is important you understand them to help you decide which one is right for you.
Server Hosting
TeamSpeak requires you to connect to a Server to work. The idea is everyone connects to the same server (which will usually be in the format of server-hostname.com:1234) and can then talk to each other. If you’re planning to use TeamSpeak you will need to either find an existing server or host your own one. Reliable TeamSpeak hosting isn’t free though, so keep that in mind.
Discord deals with the servers itself. You just make a new “Server” on the app, which is free and handled completely by the company. This does mean that you will not be able to host your own Discord servers. Everything will go through the company’s servers and if that’s a dealbreaker you might be better off with TeamSpeak. For most normal gamers like myself though, this won’t be a big deal. However, if you’re in a Country that blocks Discord for example, then TeamSpeak is your only choice.
Downloading Software
TeamSpeak requires you to download a client on your computer or mobile phone.
Discord also has software you can download but you can also use their web app which works without downloading anything. That said, I’ve personally noticed substantial issues with the web app such as low voice quality and lag. Thus, I recommend you download the desktop client.
The Criteria
It is now time to go over how they fare against each other based on a few criteria that I personally find important for a gaming voice chat application.
Discord vs TeamSpeak: Voice Quality
Voice quality is arguably the most important aspect of a voice chat tool. I have lost many a game not understanding what my teammate just said, and while that might sometimes be because of a bad mic, the software can play a part.
Discord
Discord has fantastic voice quality for every call I joined. Since the servers are hosted by Discord themselves, low audio quality will only ever occur if your internet connection is poor.
TeamSpeak
TeamSpeak has always impressed when it comes to voice quality. As long as you connect to a good server, you won’t ever experience bad voice quality. The key here is a good server. Connecting to a server run on your friend’s computer or some free servers available online can cause you a lot of headache.
But overall, as long as you pick a good server, you will never experience bad voice quality unless the internet connection of the person is poor. I have preferred it to Dolby Axon and Skype in the past.
Winner: Discord
When compared between the two (using the default Server bitrate settings), the quality is pretty much on-par. I would give the slight edge to TeamSpeak, but I could be hallucinating.
What I am not hallucinating about though, is that the audio quality does not depend on what server you pick with Discord, while it can when using TeamSpeak. This definitely makes Discord the winner.
Discord vs TeamSpeak: Features
This may sound like a generic criterion, so let me elaborate. Features are basically everything the application can do. This includes settings, permissioning, integration with other applications etc.
Discord
Features are where Discord shines. TeamSpeak and Discord are both voice chat applications. But if you look at the bigger picture, Discord is also a community platform. I have joined countless servers that are focused on a certain topic or community, without even using their voice channels! Discord is fully functional text chat application and makes for a great tool to hang out with other like minded individuals. TeamSpeak does have text chat as well, but it’s obvious the focus is the voice chat capabilities. Discord servers also have no real hard limit on how many users can join, truly making it a community platform.
In terms of permissioning and settings, they are powerful but just a tad worse than TeamSpeak. When Discord first came out, it was missing a lot of important features. That has all changed now as loads of new features were added, and I have no doubt they will keep up their pace until they fully bridge the gap.
The feature I liked the most though is integration with other applications. Discord connects with all the major gaming tools and websites, like Twitch, YouTube, etc. With integration comes cool features, like sub only benefits for discord users. I won’t go over all of them here, but needless to say that once I saw the power of this feature, I couldn’t unsee it!
TeamSpeak
As a power user, TeamSpeak has almost everything. You can control pretty much every aspect of the application, both server side and client side. The settings are verbose, and it can get intimidating. But I didn’t find a single feature that I needed missing.
TeamSpeak for a long time was the only application that did permissioning right. It has fine grained details of everything a person can and cannot do. While it could take you a long time to set up based on your requirements, it will be worth it.
There is no integration with other applications, though. This was never really an issue for me until Discord came into the picture. Now, I find it hard to live without! They say the unseen blade is the deadliest, but I didn’t know Discord was a blade.
Winner: Discord
TeamSpeak doesn’t really have many advantages to Discord bar some obscure settings. These advantages are dwindling as well as Discords adds even more features to their already feature rich application.
Discord wins simply because it is a true community application and has some epic integration with other websites we gamers like, like Twitch.
Discord vs TeamSpeak: Resource Usage
Sadly, many of us gamers are doomed to a life of using our toaster to play video games. Toasters? Yes, frickin’ toasters! Running Windows 98! I am of course talking about old computers with outdated hardware and a plethora of random applications running in the background clogging up your resources.
Crap computers are a fact of life for some, thus making it important to see whether Discord or TeamSpeak is lighter on your device.
Discord
For the longest time, my brother refused to move to Discord because it made his games lag. During that time I tried to get him to keep trying, hoping a newer update will fix the problem. Sadly, that wasn’t the case, and he didn’t move to Discord until he actually bought a new PC.
Now mind you his computer was ancient, and I have no idea what sort of atrocities he had running in the background. I have seen Discord run fine on many old-ish devices without a hiccup, so I won’t go as far as to say that Discord is a resource hog.
TeamSpeak
Zero. That’s how many times running TeamSpeak on an old computer has been a problem for me or my gaming comrades. The software is old, but it has also aged well. It has never slowed any of our games down, nor has it slowed itself down. Your mileage may vary, but this is my opinion. And I highly recommend you try both applications out to see if this is a dealbreaker for you as well.
Winner: TeamSpeak
In terms of resource usage, both applications tout that they are not resource heavy. I have found that to be true for the most part except for the one time with my brother’s old laptop. This is reason enough for me to give this crown to TeamSpeak.
That said, be aware that your mileage may vary. I couldn’t find any hard proof that TeamSpeak is really using less resources than Discord, even when checking the usages of both applications on my own system.
Discord vs TeamSpeak: Ease of use
We are gamers. We may also be tech savvy, but that isn’t always the case. Historically, gamers have tinkered loads with tech stuff (running your own Minecraft server with port forwarding for example). But every second we waste tinkering is a second we could have used to wreck some noobs. Discord vs Teamspeak, which one lets you spend less time being tech support and more time fragging? Let’s find out.