Discord vs. Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Discord
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Discord is an app designed to connect users with communities over voice, video, and text chat, via Discord servers, a gaming and game industry oriented app for growing communities around video games and allowing developers to communicate with their customer base; the app may yet also be used for business communications of other kinds.
$4.99
per month
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.N/A
Pricing
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
Discord Nitro
$0
Discord Nitro Classic
$0
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
Discord
Chose Discord
Discord is generally very simple and easy to get started using, but still offers a great deal of customization and features. Furthermore, third party features and plentiful and well supported. On top of that, the amount of usability you get for the price is absolutely …
Chose Discord
Discord allows you to organize communication between many people, while not "mixing everyone together", but dividing them into appropriate groups. Thanks to the ability to work through the browser, Discord is easy to use on any device, without the need to install additional …
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Chose Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
I think that overall Skype is better product compared to GoToMeeting, as it is more functional and can be better integrated in an overall working environment of a firm. GoToMeeting has a better video quality in my opinion, but it is also less reliable (there are constant lags …
Features
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Discord
5.3
32 Ratings
37% below category average
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Task Management4.010 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts3.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling6.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation4.710 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access8.530 Ratings00 Ratings
Search8.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual planning tools2.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Discord
7.3
32 Ratings
9% below category average
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Chat9.532 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications7.831 Ratings00 Ratings
Discussions8.932 Ratings00 Ratings
Surveys7.522 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase6.717 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts4.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook4.01 Ratings00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Discord
7.2
31 Ratings
10% below category average
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Versioning5.713 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files6.729 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files6.729 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration6.216 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.119 Ratings00 Ratings
Advanced security features6.413 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync8.121 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
8.0
195 Ratings
1% above category average
High quality audio00 Ratings9.1191 Ratings
High quality video00 Ratings9.0185 Ratings
Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings5.0181 Ratings
Mobile support00 Ratings9.0146 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
7.0
191 Ratings
12% below category average
Desktop sharing00 Ratings9.0191 Ratings
Whiteboards00 Ratings5.0120 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
9.3
188 Ratings
13% above category average
Calendar integration00 Ratings10.0174 Ratings
Meeting initiation00 Ratings9.5182 Ratings
Integrates with social media00 Ratings8.182 Ratings
Record meetings / events00 Ratings9.0143 Ratings
Slideshows00 Ratings10.0115 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
7.5
173 Ratings
7% below category average
Live chat00 Ratings8.5171 Ratings
Audience polling00 Ratings7.094 Ratings
Q&A00 Ratings7.094 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
6.9
156 Ratings
15% below category average
User authentication00 Ratings9.0142 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings8.5148 Ratings
Confidential attendee list00 Ratings3.1109 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Discord
-
Ratings
Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
7.8
1 Ratings
3% above category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Score 7.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
JioMeet
JioMeet
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
Webex Meetings
Webex Meetings
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(32 ratings)
8.4
(198 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(11 ratings)
9.0
(14 ratings)
Support Rating
9.2
(3 ratings)
8.5
(40 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
DiscordSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Discord
Discord works phenomenally if you want a chat platform that is free, quick to set up, and very flexible in the ways you can start using it. It doesn't require a complex set of logins for different servers and confusion about adding new members, or tough pricing right out of the gate. If you prefer to view full conversations all in one place without them "splintering" off into branches that are missed, Discord works great for this. All in all, Discord is great for startup companies or lean working companies, but it does not lend itself as well for larger, traditional "corporate" enterprises.
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Discontinued Products
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams is a remote/virtual team collaboration tool must have...especially if you already use Microsoft tools. Of course, since it now part of an MS 365 subscription, it really doesn't make sense to use anything else. It is easy to use and just works. I'm not sure how anyone who works with digital files/documents and needs to work with other people doing similar work can be effective without such a tool. Of course, there are a number of alternatives like Zoom or Webex, but why pay or use another separate tool if you don't need to. :-)
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Pros
Discord
  • One to many Communications to ensure that we can quickly get messages out when we have to.
  • Quick polling of questions and issues
  • The ability to gate channels so we can focus on folks that we know are stakeholders gives them an added feeling of belonging and that they have a say in the direction of projects.
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Discontinued Products
  • Instant messaging to anyone who we know only by name/email. Even if they're offline, they get the message in missed convos and a notification automatically goes to them via Outlook mail. All conversations are saved and accessible via Outlook.
  • Video and voice calls are a norm in the WFH scenario, and an average employee has around 4-5 calls a day. Skype gives notifications for upcoming meetings, allows easy scheduling via outlook calendar, and its audio/video quality [is] reasonably good compared to the amount of data it consumes.
  • Status availabilities - in the WFH scenario, you could be off for lunch, out of office, busy, sharing screens - and might not want to be disturbed. Skype allows you to do that, and in case you're off, ensures that you know that you have missed messages.
  • Screen sharing - we have to share screens at least once or twice a day with a coworker when working on some issues/features, and Skype easily lets us do that. One of the best things about Skype is that the screen can be shared without being on a video/voice call - which is of immense advantage because oftentimes, you could prefer sharing the screen, while it [is] too noisy to talk.
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Cons
Discord
  • Better volume balancing between members on a call.
  • More customizability of the notification sound for each server. It would be nice to set each of my important servers with a different notification sound.
  • More expansive note section when you view another user's profile. I'd like to be able to contain more information there in a more organized way.
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Discontinued Products
  • Connection issues can be hard to diagnose when they come up(as some knowledge of server information may be needed to reestablish as the connection troubleshooting options on the sky are not as user-friendly as the rest of the platform.
  • Some issues setting up camera/sound could use more info on troubleshooting options with playback sound, video, etc.
  • Statuses sometimes are unreliable and do not display correctly .
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Likelihood to Renew
Discord
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
The software is simple to install and configure. It is rather simple to explain for correct use. It is possible to profile users for the different functions offered. It is integrated quite completely with Outlook and with Active Directory security. It performs all communication functions well with one or more interlocutors and the possibility of granting control of your computer is convenient.
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Usability
Discord
It just works, and works well. Very rarely does anything go wrong, and I can't remember the last outage (sure there's been some but very rare and not something I even think about or worry about). Desktop clients, web access, mobile clients - the lot. Very happy with our easy it is to use.
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Discontinued Products
Very easy to use. Even though Microsoft Teams has a lot of features and integrations, as a user I feel completely comfortable on finding what I need, getting information about the app extensions and using them. It's a very comprehensive tool, intuitive design and does not make me feel tired to be using it. I am glad with the current experience.
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Support Rating
Discord
There is plenty of online documentation and knowledge base articles. As well as having an open API to be able to tie it into other products makes it a really viable solution for any business. I have never had to contact support, any questions which I have need answered can be found in the documentation,
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Discontinued Products
I have only had to reach out to the Support team at Skype for Business once with an issue, and I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the quickness and thoroughness of their response. The wait time was short and my question was dealt with politely and clearly, so I would say the support team has it together.
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Implementation Rating
Discord
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
Skpe for business is utilized company wide in regards to my company. Everyone not only uses it, but uses it often. It is an effective way of communicating. It also integrates very nicely with outlook and all conversation history is pushed to a folder within the outlook system. We also have it so that if someone misses a message, they are sent an email reminder saying that there is a message that went unread.
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Alternatives Considered
Discord
I like Slack for more professional settings, but Discord is excellent for casual groups, especially when a few people do not have iPhones. They're very similar, but I think there are a lot of Discord features I don't take advantage of, mainly because there seems to be so much in the sidebar that overwhelms me a bit.
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Discontinued Products
For the below reason I will always choose this app over its competitors: Better audio and video quality, Little to no disconnections or freezing when on a call/video conference Integrates well with mailbox/ calendar/ one drive, and SharePoint is easy to use
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Return on Investment
Discord
  • Discord has allowed us to connect to students when typical email & text would not work.
  • Discord has allowed easy creation and communication for small group leaders and their students.
  • Discord is free and so many students have access to it.
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Discontinued Products
  • Skype for Business has enabled a migration in part away from fixed line telephony and introduced the user to mobile working with a headset which cannot be overstated as being a game changer.
  • Being able to schedule Skype for Business meetings through Outlook has meant meetings with colleagues without a meeting room has been a great enabler.
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ScreenShots