Thanks to advancements in technology, we can now communicate with remote colleagues and business partners, friends and loved ones easily and in quick time.
We can even interact with people we’re playing a game against in real-time using modern communication tools like Discord and Mumble.
Millions of users have gravitated towards Mumble and Discord because they have a low barrier for entry, are convenient to use, and support voice communication over the internet.
While both tools are impressive in their own right, they more or less serve the same functions with some disparities here and there, so deciding which is the better tool for you can be a challenge.
Here’s the answer to the question – The better tool between Discord and Mumble is Mumble. Read on to find out why I am saying so.
In this post, I’m going to dissect Discord and Mumble to show you the similarities, differences, unique features, advantages, and disadvantages of each platform to give you a clearer understanding of what they offer and empower you to make the right choice.
What is Discord?
Discord is a modern voice, text, and video communication service that makes it easy to have regular conversations with acquaintances or people you care about regardless of whether they live close to you or on the opposite end of the world.
Discord was originally created with the goal of helping gamers communicate with their friends from all across the globe while playing video games online. Before Discord arrived on the scene, most of the tools doing this job were complicated, unreliable, and slow.
This forced players to rely heavily on texting, which could hardly match the in-the-moment excitement and fast-paced nature of the gaming experience.
With this in mind, Discord’s founders, Stan Vishnevskiy and Jason Citron, set out to build a better service that encouraged communication, was more interactive, and revived the spirit of togetherness that gaming provides.
Since Discord launched in 2015, it has become increasingly popular and enjoyed massive adoption within gaming communities and beyond. The platform currently boasts of over 150 million users and over 4 billion talk time minutes being recorded each day.
What is Mumble?
Mumble is an open source voice chat application offering low latency and high-quality audio communication over the internet. It’s the very first VoIP service to offer true low latency audio communication and it did this over a decade ago, paving the way for other applications to follow in its footsteps.
Like Discord, Mumble’s primary use case centers around the gaming community. However, it has grown beyond those confines and spread to other communities and creative pursuits.
For instance, users now take advantage of Mumble to hobby radio transmissions, record podcasts using the multi-channel audio recorder feature, host online gatherings and sessions with over 100 simultaneous voice participants, and communicate with coworkers across countries.
And every day, more people are discovering this powerful communication app and finding more ways to exploit the incredible features Mumble has to offer and even extend and modify its capabilities to suit their specific needs.
Discord vs Mumble – Source Code and Installation
What kind of software or codebase do Discord and Mumble use? Which operating systems do they support?
Discord
Discord runs on a proprietary codebase that is privately updated and controlled by the company itself. This means that only Discord developers can view or make changes to the application’s code.
However, Discord is compatible with Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and Mac operating systems so it can easily be installed on devices that run on these systems.
Mumble
Unlike Discord, Mumble’s source code is open source, which means that anyone can view it to verify that it does (or doesn’t do) what the company promises.
Its open source nature also makes it highly customizable, so you can make modifications to the code to enrich your Mumble app with additional functionalities.
Mumble supports seamless installation on popular operating systems like iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, and Linux. But instead of stopping there, it goes a step further to offer support for Ubuntu and other kinds of third-party independent frameworks.
This means that you can use Mumble regardless of what niche or obscure framework and system you use. What’s more, Mumble is incredibly lightweight so it will run on older computers and less powerful systems efficiently and without fuss.
Verdict
When it comes to cross/multi-platform compatibility and the ability to customize the software to improve its capability, Discord comes second and cannot compete against the possibilities and options that Mumble provides.
Mumble vs Discord – Accessibility and Servers
The ease with which you can connect to servers and the type of servers being offered can improve or limit your service quality and communication options.
Mumble
Mumble gives you a variety of accessibility options to suit your specific preferences or requirements. For starters, it allows you to host channels on any server of your choice so you can rent a server from a third party, choose one of the free public servers on Mumble’s directories, or find and use a public server from other sources.
Alternatively, you can bypass third parties completely and set up your own server on a home server or on a virtual private server (VPS).
Although this option is more complicated than the ones above if you don’t have any experience with servers, it can be completed in 30 minutes or less if you know what you’re doing.
By allowing users to create their own personal servers and dedicate as many resources as they want to host their channels, Mumble delivers faster, high quality voice chats. This is because users won’t have to share resources or processing power with other users.
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Discord
Discord doesn’t support personal servers so every user has to host their channels on the platform’s servers. Connecting to Discord’s servers is very easy and all you need is an invite from the channel’s owner to join in and participate in the conversation.
Additionally, if you don’t want to take the extra step of downloading the application, you can simply run Discord in your web browser and access all the functionalities that are present in the app.
Verdict
It’s a draw. If you like the idea of hosting your own servers or using one that’s not controlled by a company, Mumble is the clear winner.
But if you don’t care about self-hosted servers and want the option of launching audio chats from your server, Discord is the best option.
Discord vs Mumble – Latency
Latency refers to the length of time it takes for you to hear what someone says after they’ve spoken. Having a high latency means there’s a longer delay between when a person speaks and when other people on the voice hears them, while having low latency would mean the opposite.
Let’s see how Mumble and Discord compare on this point.
Discord
Discord leverages advanced voice technologies like Opus and WebRTC, as well as the prioritization of audio packets and network optimization to lower latency and improve the quality of the audio the platform generates.
At the end of the day, the level of latency that Discord offers is better than or on par with what’s offered by most other VoIP services.
Mumble
Mumble was one of the first to pioneer true latency audio, so it makes sense that it’s still leading the charge in this regard. The platform’s low latency is actually one of its most popular and beloved features.
Mumble utilizes a technology known as positional audio to achieve its trademark low latency. In essence, this technology allows the platform to send only the necessary audio data for each user based on their location and their distance from each other.
Also, Mumble uses a low-latency audio code which further minimizes delays by shrinking audio data without compromising the audio quality.
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Verdict
Mumble wins this round because it reduces latency better than Discord. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a voice communication service with a low latency that can rival Mumble’s service.
Mumble vs Discord – Interface
Which tool has the better looking or more intuitive interface?
Mumble
Mumble’s interface might seem a little old-fashioned when compared with the vibrant and playful style that Discord embodies, but it’s still very easy to use. Regardless of how inexperienced you are with technology, you will have no trouble figuring out how Mumble works.
The great thing about Mumble’s interface is that it’s completely customizable. You can change the layout, language, color scheme, and notifications or even add a custom avatar and comments to appear beside your profile name, which can also be customized.
Discord
Discord’s interface has a fresh, sleek, and energetic design that just grabs your attention at first glance. It’s incredibly easy to get a hang of and it doesn’t get in the way of your gameplay and won’t overpower any of the elements that may be on your screen.
Discord also offers some customization options like the ability to change the theme, message display, color scheme, chat font scale, and more to give your interface an appearance that matches your vibe.
Verdict
It’s a draw. Both tools have intuitive and customizable interfaces.
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Discord vs Mumble – Audio Quality
Sound quality matters a great deal and can make or mar the gaming and communication experience.
Discord
Discord offers amazing audio quality with low latency, which is why it has garnered so much love from gamers, content creators, businesses, and a variety of other users.
The impressive quality of sound available on the platform is the result of Discord’s decision to use Opus codec to optimize voice communications.
Thanks to this codec, Discord is able to produce high-quality audio with minimal delay, so every conversation sounds like you’re talking to someone in the same room.
The service also uses positional audio to generate 3D sounds in virtual environments, as well as a noise suppression algorithm to eliminate noise in the background and enable users to hear each other clearly.
Mumble
Thanks to Mumble’s low latency audio codec, you always guaranteed terrific audio quality with little to no delays, allowing conversations to sound perfectly natural.
Mumble is ideal for anyone looking for a VoIP platform that delivers unwavering, crystal clear audio communication.
You can configure Mumble’s audio quality to suit your requirements by tweaking noise suppression, codec quality, echo cancellation, and other settings.
Like Discord, Mumble works hard at eliminating background noise, making sure that every user can be heard and understood perfectly regardless of how moisture their environment is or how far away they are.
Mumble also makes use of positional audio to mimic three-dimensional sound, allowing you to hear the voices of other speakers from specific locations in cyberspace. What’s more, Mumble allows you to record and save your voice chats so you can play them back or use them later.
Verdict
Although both platforms give you impressive audio quality, I’ll have to give the edge to Mumble because it offers lower latency than Discord and supports audio recordings.
Mumble vs Discord – User Privacy
Some users care a great deal about their privacy and would love to safeguard it while others aren’t so concerned with this factor. Which audience does Mumble or Discord cater to?
Mumble
Mumble doesn’t collect or store user information. It even allows you to access the app anonymously without having to register an account or submit any personal information.
This means that any information you share in your chats are between you and the other users. Mumble is not privy to them in any way and cannot use them against you.
So if you prioritize your privacy and want the assurance of never having to worry about your data being stored somewhere or used for purposes you’re not aware of, Mumble is the best choice for you
Discord
Unlike Mumble, Discord accumulates and stores all messages sent via the platform on its servers permanently.
Although the company claims that it doesn’t sell the private data from these messages to third parties or use your information to influence how you use the platform, the storing of chats still leaves the possibility of a privacy violation on the table.
If that’s not a risk you’re willing to take on, Discord probably isn’t right for you. But if privacy is not a great concern to you, Discord will serve you just fine.
Verdict
The winner is Mumble because it doesn’t save any user data, thereby guaranteeing utmost data security and privacy.
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Discord vs Mumble – Features and Use Cases
Beyond low latency, voice chats, customization, and positional audio, what other features can you expect to find on Discord or Mumble?
Discord
The additional capabilities Discord offers include:
- Video chat
- Text chat
- Bots
- Screen sharing
- Integrations
- Cloud synchronization
- User and server management
Mumble
Mumbles offers many other useful and interesting functionalities such as:
- Plugins
- Encrypted communication
- Default public/private key authentication
- Server and user management
- In-game overlap
- Automatic volume adjustment
- Custom chat commands
- Push-to-talk button
Verdict
It’s a win for both Discord and Mumble as the two platforms come with a variety of extra features that can enrich your user experience.
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Mumble vs Discord – Channels
How easy is it to set up and manage a channel on either service?
Mumble
If you’re using a public or third-party server rather than setting up your own server from scratch, you’ll definitely find it very easy to configure Mumble and host your own channels.
Mumble also provides rules privileges to prevent users from abusing or misusing channels and servers.
Discord
It’s relatively easier to create and host a channel on Discord than Mumble because this feature is always available right out of the box and ready to be implemented without additional tweaks.
So you can quickly establish and maintain a great community of users, assign moderators, set up controls over messages, ban people who violate community rules, and take other measures to properly manage the use of your channel.
Verdict
The winner of this round goes to Discord because its channels are more intuitive to use.
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Discord vs Mumble – File Sharing and Integrations
Can you share files while gaming on Discord or Mumble? What other apps, tools, or platforms can they be integrated with?
Mumble
Since Mumble focuses squarely on audio communications it doesn’t offer much support for file transfers or sharing. However, it allows you to add images to channels.
Additionally, Mumble does not offer direct integration support for any app.
Discord
You can easily view, transfer, and share files from different platforms directly on Discord because the service integrates seamlessly with hundreds third-party sites and apps via Zapier including Spotify, YouTube, Twitch, and more.
Discord also allows you to share your screen.
Verdict
The winner of this round goes to Discord.
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Discord vs Mumble – Pricing
Which is the cheaper option?
Mumble
Mumble is a free service. You can install the software on your own server or make use of a publicly available server without having to cough up a dime.
However, if you don’t own a server, you’ll have to spend a few bucks—about $10 a year—to set one up or rent one from a third party.
The cost of a rented server varies depending on the specifications, provider, location, and number of slots but it can range from a few dollars a month to a few hundred dollars.
Discord
You can run a Discord server, create your own channels, and invite people to join for free. However, Discord also offers a paid subscription service called Nitro that you can use to unlock additional features like a wider emoji variety, bigger upload sizes, longer messages, better video quality, and access to more activities.
Discord gives you two Nitro plans to choose from: Nitro Basic and Nitro costing $2.99 a month and $9.99 a month respectively.
Verdict
It’s a draw. Both Mumble and Discord are free to use and all fees are completely optional and can be avoided by just sticking to the publicly available features.
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Similarities and Differences
Similarities
- Discord and Mumble offer low latency and positional audio
- They both allow you to customize the interface
- Both tools are available to download and use for free
- They both offer cross-platform compatibility
Differences
| Category | Discord | Mumble |
| Operating systems | Supports only Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS systems | Supports Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Ubuntu, and many other independent frameworks |
| Text and video chat | Discord offers these features | Unavailable |
| Audio recordings | Unavailable | Mumble allows you to record and save audio chats |
| Self-hosted servers | Unavailable | Mumble supports self-hosted servers |
| User data storage | Discord stores user’s personal information and chats | Mumble doesn’t store any user or chat information |
| Server limit | Discord has a server limit of 500,000 users | Mumble doesn’t have a limit on the number of people that can use a channel |
| File sharing and transfer | Discord supports these features | Unavailable |
Pros and Cons
Discord
Pros
- Beautiful, user-friendly interface
- Can be used directly on your browser
- Offers audio, text, and video communications
- Low effort invite system
Cons
- Uses proprietary software
- Permanently stores user data
- Doesn’t support self-hosting
Mumble
Pros
- Uses open source software
- Secure and encrypted communications
- Can be used on any platform you prefer
- Incredibly low latency and resources consumption
- Users have the freedom to modify and extend functionalities however they like
Cons
- Can be slightly more challenging to set up
- Interface looks a little dated
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Discord vs Mumble – Final Verdict
Mumble and Discord are two of the best and most popular audio communication tools in the market. They have great capabilities and unique features, and are both excellent in their own right.
For many, choosing between these platforms will boil down to one deciding factor—preference. But since we must declare a winner, Mumble is the better option.
Mumble is open source and free to use and it offers ridiculously low latency, impeccable audio quality, and minimal resource consumption.
It also guarantees user privacy by not retaining any chat or personal information and allows users to review the code and incorporate their own features to enhance their user experience.
What’s more, Mumble supports self-hosting which gives you greater control over your channels and audio quality and recordings, allowing you to save conversations that matter to you.
