Discord vs SimpleX Chat

Thinking of swapping Discord for the open-source SimpleX Chat? Here’s the honest trade-off.

11k Haskell AGPL-3.0 today

What you give up vs Discord

  • No web client; primarily mobile-focused with a desktop CLI and early-stage desktop app.
  • Self-hosting the SMP server requires manual Haskell build or Docker and knowledge of relay configuration.
  • No workspace/org structure, channels, or administrative tooling suitable for business teams.
  • Integrations and bots ecosystem is minimal compared to Slack or Discord.

What you gain

  • • Full data ownership — self-host SimpleX Chat on your own infrastructure.
  • • No per-seat SaaS bill (Discord: no data ownership or self-hosting).
  • • Open-source code you can audit and extend (AGPL-3.0).