Discord isn't the only place to chat.

Encryption, privacy, open source: here are the alternatives worth a look, from the easiest to pick up to the most anonymous.

Why leave Discord?

Since 09/23/2026

Discord relaunches age verification and classification

Every account is now sorted into a group: adult, teen, or unconfirmed. Discord bases this on account age, servers joined, connected games, and overall activity. The company says it doesn't read messages or calls, but admits adults can be misclassified.

According to Discord, more than 90% of users won't need to do anything, and messaging stays accessible without confirming your age. For everyone else, confirmation goes through a credit card, the App Store, Google Play, Google Wallet, or AgeKey depending on the region; teens see certain servers and messages from strangers restricted.

Sources: Dot Esports, TechCrunch, Discord's blog

At least 4 security incidents since 2023

A support agent's account hacked in 2023, a third-party invite-link service breached the same year, a support vendor compromised in September 2025, and an age-verification vendor exposed in early 2026. Full timeline in "Show more". Sources: TechCrunch.

A closed platform

Text messages aren't end-to-end encrypted. Your community's rules, history, and data depend on a single company, which can change the terms overnight.

Our recommendation

Proton Meet

Packed with features similar to Discord, secure and accessible.

  • End-to-end encrypted audio and video calls, chat, and screen sharing
  • Persistent meeting rooms, scheduling via Proton Calendar
  • Built in Switzerland by the team behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN
Ultimate anonymity

SimpleX

The messenger that asks for no phone number, no email, no username. No user identifier exists at all, so no one can link your conversations back to you.

  • No account, no profile identifier
  • End-to-end encryption, open source, audited by Trail of Bits
  • Groups, voice messages, and calls

No public servers like Discord's: groups are created by invitation.

Also worth a look

Ten more options. Open a card to see its strengths, limits, launch date, known leaks, and our trust rating.

"No unique identifier": no phone number or email at signup, just a random ID not tied to your identity. Only SimpleX truly has none at all.

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