Do you prefer Skype or Discord?

[athenian200]

I have Discord because a lot of people are using it these days, but I prefer Skype for the following reasons:

1. Discord requires me to remember a four digit number (that I don't get to pick) in addition to my username. I'm always forgetting to append it when telling people my Discord name.

2. Discord doesn't notify you when someone wants to call in a chat. If I know someone wants a call, I'm likely to join. Skype has an attention-getting ringer that lets anyone that might be interested in a call know that one is going... Discord's model basically means that you have to either hang around in a chat and hope other people show up, or message everyone you want to join trying to get their attention.

3. Discord doesn't have screen sharing functionality. I rely on this fairly heavily because people are always asking me to help solve their computer problems on Skype. Sometimes I use it to watch them play through a game they're recording, or something of that nature as well.

4. Discord doesn't work on my Windows 10 Mobile device like Skype does. It's not a big deal for me because I'm on my computer 99% of the time anyway, but it's still a gripe I have with it.

5. It can't do phone calls. I use this feature of Skype semi-regularly, especially since I get 60 free minutes every month with my Office 365 subscription. I use Skype for calls at least as often as my actual phone.

Which do you prefer and why?

 

[Dio]

I cant get discord on my Windows 10 Phone or Surface tablet as it is not in the Microsoft store so I cant compare it to Skype which do I have but dont really use.

 

[Stitch]

I find Discord to be more reliable all around and is also more secure. Sure it has its differences from Skype and lacks a few things that Skype has (for now, screen sharing and video calling are planned additions in the near future). It may not be available everywhere for everything yet like Skype is, but that is mostly because it isn't much more than 2 years old at this point.

 

[athenian200]

I cant get discord on my Windows 10 Phone or Surface tablet as it is not in the Microsoft store so I cant compare it to Skype which do I have but dont really use.

I feel your pain on this one. The Surface devices I own are all Pro or Book, which means they're x86-based and can run anything a laptop can. People with the ARM-based versions are limited to Windows Store apps, though. There are a lot of good Windows Store apps that I use all the time, but not having x86 legacy support can be an issue. Discord is just one example. Honestly, the reason I never purchased a tablet until the original Surface Pro was because I needed Windows/x86 compatibility, wanted stylus input on the go, and also didn't want to be limited to a touchscreen keyboard as the only option.

 

[el :BeoWolf:]

I like Discord better because skype froze constantly and Discordhas a nicer UI imo.

 

[athenian200]

I like Discord better because skype froze constantly.

Interesting. I haven't had that problem, but I've heard it happens a lot on phones.

The general impression I'm getting here is that people who move to Discord are moving because of reliability, security, and performance issues with Skype, rather than because Discord offers features that Skype doesn't. Would that be correct?

 

[Vanessa28]

Discord for sure. I like it way better when it comes to performance. Skype has been a real jerk to me for a while now and freezes everytime on me and in the worst case I have to reboot my pc to make it work asgain for only a short time. With Discord I don't have these issues. I haven't done calls yet in Discord but I'm not into calls that much anyways besides with my sister.

 

[Djinn]

Skype until 2013, then it turned into complete buggy, crashing crap. These days nearly any service is superior.

So clearly Discord now.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I prefer Discord for a few reasons.

1: Servers. Skype groups are nice and all, but I find Discord's server system to be much better in general, due to the ability to have individual channels within each server, and the ability to restrict said channels. Also, I like how Discord servers are invite only, so you can only join them if you really want to, as opposed to Skype's system which allows people to add you to groups you may not want to be in. Also, being able to assign ranks to people is certainly a welcome feature.

2: The voice chat. While the alert system is nice for voice chat, I find it rather interruptive, especially if I'm in a lot of groups. I like Discord's system because you can just wait in a Voice channel for someone to join without really needing to coordinate a call time. Also, anybody can drop out of calls at any time without interrupting or hanging up the call itself. Plus, along with the text channels, Voice channels are user-restrictable.

3: It's more reliable. Skype crashes on me very often, and constantly tries to get me to update. Whenever it auto-updates on my phone, I have to reinstall it, which is a pain in the derriere. Plus, Skype updates on me fairly often, on all platforms. Neither of these are problems I've had with Discord.

4: The User-Interface. In general, I just find that Discord looks a lot nicer than Skype, and I find it a lot more organized and easier to navigate. I also like how you can pin messages in servers, that's something I really wish Skype did. Also, you can upload emotes; who doesn't love that? And you can add bots to servers and tons of other fun stuff. Overall, it's just packed with tons of features that Skype lacks.

Now, while Skype does have the obvious advantage of video calling and screen sharing, those are both features that I can live without, and I know the Discord team is working on a video option for calls. It's still a relatively new program, so the lack of video is totally forgiveable for me.

 

[athenian200]

Also, anybody can drop out of calls at any time without interrupting or hanging up the call itself.

It's worth pointing out that Skype changed this recently. I've been in calls on Skype where the original call host quit, and the call kept going. Now the calls keep going until there's only one person left.

 

[Jamie]

I prefer Skype in almost every conceivable way aside from the lack of custom emotes, but I am forced to use discord because other people prefer it it seems.

 

[Fraxinus]

Can't say I care for either. If Skype was actually functional, I would prefer it since Discord literally has no features, but Skype is incredibly inefficient software that people only used because they were forced to at the time--either because everyone blindly used it or because when Microsoft bought it they had to like stupidly link it to your Microsoft account. I can't even use Skype anymore; the program actually will not let me log in on desktop anymore and I'm done with it. On the other hand, Discord is literal **** because it's like a carbon copy of Slack and Teamspeak without any of the features. However, Discord actually functions, unlike Skype. Discord gave me a clean slate as far as contacts goes and I feel safer on Discord, so I guess I'm leaning more for Discord seeing as that's what I've been using for chatting for the past several months ever since Skype kicked me off in March of this year.

I don't like the direction chat clients are going in general. They're all trying to mimic the visuals of text messaging and are making them less text-oriented and they just waste so much space. Discord's "compact" mode doesn't even eliminate all the unnecessary padding. It looks so unappealing to me and makes the conversations seem very broken and discontinuous.

 

[DekuNut]

I like Discord better. There are features that I miss from Skype, like video calls, screenshare, etc, but as a whole it's a better program imo.

 

[Jimmu]

I absolutely prefer Discord now, I don't even really use or log into Skype anymore. Skype had huge issues where the messages on my phone and computer would never sync properly. It was also extremely buggy and painful to use.

I love Discord's server system and the ability to grant permissions and create different text and voice channels. I don't really miss the video calling feature as I pretty much never used that with Skype anyway. The ability to use Discord in browser is also a huge plus.

 

[Toxic_steve6670]

Discord is the best