Ah, Discord. I've had a love/hate relationship with you for what feels like an eternity. I started using the app just after meeting the person I married last year, so it certainly feels like it played a role in a portion of my adulthood. Things change, people change, and so do apps and services. Discord, unfortunately, has grown into something I no longer wish to use, much like Facebook, Twitter, OneDrive, Microsoft Office, and a host of other products. With the goal of self-hosting as much as possible, it's time for me to remove Discord from all my devices.

5 Self-hosting Mumble is superior

Do it yourself for maximum privacy

Self-hosting everything is the rage right now and this doesn't seem to be cooling down anytime soon as it becomes more accessible to the masses. Mumble is one such service you can have up and running in moments with a small and compact home server, allowing you to take full control of not only hosting your VoIP setup but also ensuring that no third party is being relied upon to maintain uptime and protect your privacy.

I've taken steps to reduce my reliance on cloud-based platforms that I don't manage myself and it only made sense for me to uninstall Discord on all my devices. Mumble is easy to use, convenient, and is only required when I play games or wish to talk to others. There's also TeamSpeak, one of Mumble's close competitors in the self-hosting space though their most recent beta showcases a UI redesign that attempts to bridge the gap between VoIP clients of old and Discord.

4 Discord has become too bloated

Jack-of-all-trades

When Discord first entered the scene in 2015, it was for messaging and voice chat. That was it. You had servers, some emoji support, and integration for bots, but it was a simple, yet efficient method of communicating. Now, you've got streaming and many more non-game-related features that somehow seeped their way into the development pipeline. Although the company did note its focus has shifted back to gaming, the highly-anticipated IPO launch could bring yet more fumbles.

I want A platform to communicate with others, not one that attempts to take on Steam, Twitch, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and other well-established services. Though the one-click streaming option is a neat addition to those who make full use of sharing their feed with the rest of the server, I find no use for it or many of the other additions the team has made since version 1.0. It's simply not catering to my needs and that's absolutely fine as there are alternatives out there.

3 I've become far more productive

Fewer distractions

Like Reddit, Discord was my own worst enemy for productivity. I would be hopping between multiple servers to catch up on messages and announcements. Notifications would pop up throughout the day and it would be horrific for work (and game) flow. I wouldn't say I was unproductive, but since dropping Discord from my laptop and desktop PCs, I have been able to solely focus on the current task with some tunes blasting in the background from a self-hosted Jellyfin server.

2 It's not really free

Unless you wish to talk to a few people

Adhering to a FOSS ethos, Discord doesn't fit in with my new mantra. Although the paid subscription has always been present (and I was an early supporter) it has grown into something I don't find that useful. Then you have server boosting and some other features you'd slowly discover as you make your way through the same UI we've glared at for almost a decade. If you're after something that's completely free, Discord isn't the communications platform for you.

It is possible to use Discord for free, but you're restricted by what you can do. FOSS alternatives don't have this problem and if you self-host the server, you'll have full control over everything, including server management and content.

1 I don't like many of the new changes

I'm a Discord NIMBY

The rule of thumb when it comes to enshitification is everything will end up getting worse. The same goes for Discord. The Nitro subscription was altered, much like the rest of the platform. If you compare the latest release to earlier versions of Discord, they look similar but the underlying features and technology seemingly worsened as the years passed. Subtle UI changes have been made without anyone requesting them. The rebrand, the username alterations, and more.

Goodbye, Discord

I don't despise Discord and appreciate that many enjoy using the platform to keep in touch with others, build communities, and more. It's just not for me anymore. I think of switching away from Discord as if hopping between Linux distros. There's no right answer for everyone but they're all excellent choices for different types of people. For now, I'll crack on with my own Mumble server and work on some other ideas to replace a few things I'll miss about Discord.