Mumble vs TeamSpeak: which should you host?

TeamSpeak and Mumble are the two classic voice servers you host yourself. They look similar and differ in licensing, openness and details.

Licensing and cost

• Mumble is open source and free. Anyone can run a server of any size, which keeps hosting cheap: you pay for the server, not for software.
• TeamSpeak server software is licensed. Free use is limited, and larger or commercial servers need a licence, which is why TeamSpeak hosting often costs more per slot.

Features

What to expect from the interface

TeamSpeak's client is polished and familiar to many gamers. Mumble's is plainer and focused on voice, with more settings to tune if you like to.

Which should you pick?

• Pick Mumble if you want open software, low cost and fine control of permissions.
• Pick TeamSpeak only if your group already depends on it and will not switch.

We host Mumble. See How to set up your Mumble server, or compare with Discord in Mumble vs Discord.