Discord Alternatives?
Discord Alternatives?
Hi all, I'm looking for some Discord alternatives. All I really need is the ability to do voice calls and screen shares. It can be either via DM or channels, I only need to it be able to speak with a few friends that'd be open to moving over. I've tried Matrix/Element but there doesn't seem to be a screen share function. There's Teamspeak but I don't think that's FOSS nor does it support screen shares as well. Any other options? Basically just voice calls and screen shares is all I need, I couldn't care about channels or servers or whatever other functionalities Discord has put into their app. Thanks!
The Matrix network is the closest you're likely to get to Discord's features.
Nheko is a Matrix client that I believe can do screen sharing.
Eventually, whatever Matrix clients support Element Call might be what you want, but it's in beta for now.
Jitsi Meet might also be worth a look, although its (optional) end-to-end encryption was too demanding for some laptops last time I tried it.
Permanently Deleted
I use the Mozilla homeserver
Is there at this point such a thing as managed hosting of Matrix? Like i pay somebody to install, keep upgraded and in general maintain a Matrix server with bridges to all the major things, then i just use it along with my small pool of users? Even further, would that be advisable?
Yes, managed hosting is available.
Element Matrix Services is the one that directly supports development of the project. There are others, too.
etke.cc does that.
Jitsi has screen sharing and can be tied directly into Matrix
All I really need is the ability to do voice calls and screen shares.
Have you looked into Jitsi?
I would recommend using Matrix. But if you really want the "Discord experience" than I would suggest Revolt.
I don't really understand Revolt, most people don't want to self host an entire Discord (as in, a server full of servers), most people want to self host one server.
Element for Matrix
Since everyone is only recommending self hostable options and no hoster, here is a new candidate:
OpenTalk on tchncs.de
It is also free and open source and the server is hosted by a german who takes donations.
The also have a mumble (like Teamspeak but as you said without screenshare) and matrix instance running, which are great but not for your needs.
Jitsi, for sure
Signal. Works both on mobile and linked to desktop.
It should also work on Element Web, but not desktop clients.
Here to second the signal recommendation. Screen share and voice chat work without problems. No need to selfhost either. Secure and privacy friendly.
Matrix using element for the client and element call or jitsi should do the trick
Telegram has both of these. I shared my screen during voice/video calls before and it works just fine on my phone, i haven't tried it on pc yet but i assume it also works fine.
Don't use Telegram if you don't have to.
The client is open source, but the server side isn't. E2E encryption is only available for secret chats and voice chat. Contacts, messages, media, and their decryption keys are all stored on the servers together. And it's just another big tech product like Whatsapp.
You're not wrong, but in terms of a polished alternative to discord... Telegram is a pretty solid option. It's ultimately still better than Discord.
Personally, I hope Telegram improves their privacy guarantees, or enough time passes that the true E2EE apps can "catch up" to the feature set and quality of the clients.