TeamSpeak, Mumble or Discord: which voice chat for your group

Three tools do most of the voice chat for gaming groups. They look alike from the inside and differ in who runs the server, what it costs and what you control.

At a glance

The TeamSpeak limit comes from TeamSpeak's own licence rules: unlicensed use is limited to one virtual server with up to 32 people at once.

When each one makes sense

Choose Discord if your community also wants text channels, bots, roles, video and an easy invite link. It is the default for most groups, and nothing needs hosting.

Choose TeamSpeak if your group already uses it and wants to keep doing so. It is a good voice tool with a long history in gaming. For a server above 32 people, or one run by a host for you, the licensing makes it more expensive than the alternatives.

Choose Mumble if you only want voice and care about low delay, privacy and not paying licence fees at any size. It is free and open, you set the channels and permissions yourself, and the server uses very little of a machine.

What a Mumble server costs and gives you

On PlayNHost a Mumble server starts at 10 slots. A slot is one person connected at the same time, and the price rises with the number of slots. You get the server address in minutes, a SuperUser password to manage channels, and DDoS protection. See How to set up your Mumble server and How to connect to your Mumble server.

Can I use more than one?

Yes. Many groups keep Discord for chat and events, and use a Mumble or TeamSpeak server for voice during games, so that voice does not depend on a company's servers.