Instant messaging apps like Telegram and Whatsapp are used extensively by several hundred million people across the world. But Telegram is known to be safer for carrying out business communications.
On the other hand, communication and collaboration platform like Discord was initially made for the gamer community but today it has gained an audience from other aspects of life as well.
Key Takeaways
- Discord provides robust support for gaming communities, while Telegram focuses on secure messaging and file sharing.
- Discord utilizes server-based channels for communication, whereas Telegram employs a more traditional, chat-based system.
- Telegram offers end-to-end encryption for added privacy, while Discord only encrypts messages in transit.
Discord vs Telegram
Discord is a voice, video, and text chat app mostly used for entertainment and gaming purposes that allows you to make a call with a single click. Telegram is a multi-platform messaging service where you can only make calls after opening chats. It allows messaging even without sharing your number.
When Discord was launched in the market it targeted PC gamers so that they can create a dedicated chat room (server) for a specific game. The initial branding message of the company was also “Chat for Gamers” but in 2020 it was rebranded to “Your Place to Talk.”.
Today, there are more than 140 million users on the platform.
Telegram, an online chatting platform is especially known for its safety and privacy measures. This platform has been banned in Russia because the founders denied sharing the data with the government.
Telegram is a platform that is a good choice to carry out business communications.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Discord | Telegram |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Discord is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Platform) that allows chat and voice calling. It was mainly famous in the gaming community. | Telegram is an instant messaging platform where one can find several channels in a variety of topics from news to entertainment. |
| Launch | Discord app was first launched in 2015 as a platform for communication among gamers. | Telegram was launched in 2013 by Nikolai and Pavel Durov. |
| Privacy | Discord allows deleting messages that are a maximum of two years old. | Telegram allows deleting messages that are sent within 48 hours. |
| Security | Discord is comparatively less safe than Telegram because it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption for messages. | Telegram messages are end-to-end encrypted and there is also a feature called Secret Chat. |
| Channels | Discord is highly scalable as each server created in discord can hold up to 500 channels with no upper limit in the number of users. | Telegram channels can have unlimited members, groups can have 200 members, and supergroups can have up to 100,000 members. |
| Unique Features | Discord has the option of video calling and screen sharing apart from normal voice calls and chat. | Telegram channels are more like broadcasting channels to spread information on any topic but only admins can post. |
| File Size | In Discord one can post files that are of a maximum of 8MB. | In Telegram, one can send files that are of a maximum of 2GB. |
| Reviews | Discord has a comparatively higher rating in Google Play Store maybe because of its better voice communication. | Telegram has a comparatively low rating in Google Play Store. |
What is Discord?
Discord is a platform that is more like a community space used for communication. Though it was originally built for gamers, today around 70% of the active users of Discord are non-gamers.
Previously Microsoft has also shown interest in acquiring Discord for billions. Discord is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android users.
For a beginner who has only used instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp and Telegram, Discord can be a bit confusing. But people who used Slack can have an idea of how Discord works.
Each community in Discord is known as a server and inside each server, several channels can be formed. Channels are divided into categories, like text channels and voice channels.
A person is also allowed to share links, videos, images, etc. The channels in each server are created for different topics and the rules may or may not be different for channels.
One can create their server and join someone else’s server for free. While chatting, Discord has various commands like “/giphy” to send a GIF or “/spoiler” to mark your text as a spoiler.
While using Discord the app can be connected to other apps like Spotify and YouTube. The Discord app is free of cost for everyone but if someone wants an upgrade Discord Nitro is available on a subscription basis.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is an instant messaging app that has become very famous in a short time because of its enhanced security. This platform is not linked to any other social media platforms like Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook.
Just a year ago, when Whatsapp updated its privacy terms and conditions, many people switched to Telegram instantly, especially the ones who conduct business communications. One can download the Telegram app on desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac), iOS, and Android.
It can also be opened from any web browser without installing the software. It is a free app for everyone.
The end-to-end encryption policy of Telegram is very tricky as it is not for every chat. Only the feature of Secret Chat in Telegram ensures true end-to-end encryption but it is at least better than without having one.
Since Telegram’s API is open-source, any developer is open to analyzing and evaluating the security protocols of the platform. It also has the option of self-destructing messaging after a set period.
Telegram is superior to other online messaging apps in terms of sending large files. The platform allows sending a file of size 2GB maximum whereas in apps like Whatsapp it is not even 1/10 of it.
But, Telegram is not as scalable as Discord because of its low upper limit in the number of group members.
Main Differences Between Discord and Telegram
- Discord is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Platform) that was mainly famous in the gaming community whereas Telegram is an instant messaging platform that can be used for several purposes.
- Discord was launched in 2015, two years after Telegram was launched.
- Discord allows deleting messages that are a maximum of two weeks old whereas Telegram allows the same only within 48 hours.
- Discord is comparatively less safe than Telegram because it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption for messages
- Discord has servers and channels whereas Telegram has groups, supergroups, and channels.
- In Discord one can post files that are of a maximum of 8MB whereas in Telegram files up to 2GB size can be uploaded.
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9120022/
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3419394.3423651
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
