Discord has grown to be one of the most popular instant messaging and voice chat apps for gamers and beyond. What grew from a means to collate different servers into an intuitive platform has slowly become a bloated mess for some, myself included. Gone are the days when Mumble, TeamSpeak, and Ventrillo ruled the online gaming world, but it's still possible to launch and run servers, and all three are still actively developed. Below, you'll find some reasons why you should consider self-hosting a Mumble server.

4 Take control of all your data

Taking privacy and security seriously

Mumble running from your server is an instance managed by none other than yourself (and any admins you provide prermissions to). This is a stark contrast to Discord, which relies on the company's servers for running and saving everything communicated between friends and clan mates. If you're not comfortable with a company retaining control over the service your friends or clan relies on during heated sessions, you'll need to head down the self-hosting route.

Some options are available that compete with Mumble, but the software has some excellent features and has been around for two decades. This continuous development has transformed this lightweight and compact app into a powerful suite of tools with high-quality audio support. Apps are available cross-platform, too, so you won't be missing out on anything Discord offers, aside from quickly switching between various servers at will with one account.

A large draw for people to try out self-hosting as much as possible is to regain control of everything. If you're someone like me who enjoys having access to every part of the services you run, being able to configure the hardware and work with the software, tailoring evertything to your needs, self-hosting Mumble is a great way to move from Discord and a reliance on a third party to keep your server(s) online. Discord is free, but free services usually come with other costs.

3 Customize your server for free

Make it your own for less

Because Mumble is available at no additional cost (so long as you host it yourself), you can go as far as you desire in customizing the software to your liking. You can create as many channels as you like, configure them accordingly, and set your own terms of service, which can reflect how you and your fellow Mumble users operate. Discord could be viewed as more feature-rich with a flashy app and some advanced functionality such as video streaming, but these are beyond the scope of Mumble.

If all you require is somewhere to chat and enjoy spending time with others, Mumble is a solid alternative to Discord. You can host as many people as your hardware and connection supports and because of the very nature of open source software, you know Mumble is safe and secure to use. Discord has various optional features locked behind pay gates, which is not the case with Mumble. It's free and open-source, so you only have to pay for the hardware, and if you're setting up a home lab, you likely already have everything you'd need.

2 It's just as easy to set up

Server software supports all platforms

Discord is fairly easy to configure. You create an account and launch a server (or a few hundred). That's about it. But Mumble is just as straightforward. All you require is hardware to run the server, DDNS configured if doing so from home, and you're ready to go. Although Discord can be easier for newcomers to the VoIP and messaging world, it's easy to get overwhelmed when joining new servers with numerous live channels and multiple messages being published per minute — there's even a Discord feature to stop too many messages from being sent.

Although the process of joining servers for guests will be slightly less convenient since they'd have to download a dedicated app and can't simply use a browser or existing Discord installation, once Mumble is fired up, it's simple to join a local instance. Best of all, there's an official Docker container!

1 No internet required

Mumble doesn't need to call home

Running a LAN party and would prefer to keep everyone offline or wish to create a localised network for only the gaming systems? Mumble can do just that. By running the server locally, you can have everyone connect to your Mumble server without needing internet access. This is great for those times when you lose connection but wish to continue playing with a loved one or need to wire up 10 PCs in the living room and wish to keep everything simple.

That's another great thing about self-hosting as much as you can. Having the ability to access your stored credentials, media catalog, photos, and personal data is great for when you have issues connecting to the outside world. Setting up and running your own Mumble server will also teach you new things about networking, server hosting, and audio. We're all too comfortable clicking a few buttons to get to where we want to be, but putting in the work can prove considerably more rewarding.

Discord isn't for me anymore

I've used Discord since around 2017, before many of the features the app rocks today were added. I'm one of those oldbies stuck in the past, missing the golden days of using forums and VoIP apps. Everything has become instant and almost meaningless. Discord is great for catching up with friends, messaging others, and communicating as a whole, but it's terrible for searching, isn't great for long-term content, and I view it more like social media these days than a means to talk to others in-game. It's refreshing to return to Mumble and other technologies.