1v1 Pricing Showdown
Discord vs Rocket.Chat
Side-by-side pricing breakdown for Team Chat decision-makers
Prices in USD, verified from the United States. Regional pricing may vary.
When choosing between Discord and Rocket.Chat for your team chat stack, the right answer depends on three things: your budget, the specific features you actually use day-to-day, and your tolerance for renewal-price increases. Below we lay out the prices each vendor advertises today (verified against their live pricing pages), the plan limits that decide whether they'll fit your team, and the features that differ between them.
Discord starts at $2.99/mo; Rocket.Chat starts at custom pricing. The cheaper headline price isn't always the cheaper total cost — renewal pricing, per-user fees, and overage charges can shift the math. Use the plan-by-plan tables below to model your actual spend.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| voice video text | Yes | — |
| servers | 100 free, 200 Nitro | — |
| file upload | 25MB free, 50MB Basic, 500MB Nitro | — |
| hd video | Nitro | — |
| custom emoji | Nitro Basic+ | — |
| server boosts | 2 (Basic) / 3 (Nitro) + 30% discount on more | — |
| sso | No | — |
| data retention controls | No | — |
| admin compliance | No | — |
| self hostable | — | Yes |
| e2e encryption | — | Yes |
| ldap ad | — | Yes |
| sso saml oauth oidc | — | Yes |
| mfa | — | Yes |
| rbac | — | Yes |
| 64 languages | — | Yes |
| air gapped deployment | — | Pro+ |
| white labeling | — | Pro+ |
| multi instance | — | Enterprise |
| federation | — | Enterprise |
| sovereign ai | — | Enterprise |
Affiliate links — you pay the same price
Dive Deeper
About the team chat category
Team chat pricing in 2026 is a commoditization story. Microsoft Teams Essentials at $4/user/mo annual undercuts everyone — if your team doesn't need Slack-specific features (Workflow Builder, third-party integrations), Teams is dramatically cheaper. Slack Pro at $8.75/user/mo annual is 2.2x Teams but wins on third-party app integrations (Zapier, Notion, etc.) and UX polish. Discord remains the community/gaming-first free option that some dev teams adopt. Rocket.Chat and Mattermost compete on self-hosting for data sovereignty. Enterprise Grid pricing is opaque and negotiable.
How to choose between team chat options
Answer three questions. First: are you already in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? If Microsoft 365, Teams is free or included in your Business Standard ($12.50/user/mo). If Google Workspace, consider Google Chat (free, included). No need for a separate chat subscription. Second: do you need third-party app integrations? Slack wins on ecosystem — 2,600+ apps vs Teams' 1,200+. Third: data sovereignty / self-hosting requirements? Rocket.Chat Starter (free, up to 50 users) or Mattermost self-hosted — both offer enterprise-grade features without cloud commitment.
Building Your Business Stack?
Decision-makers comparing tools often need more than one category. Here are related comparisons:
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Discord or Rocket.Chat offer a free plan?
- Discord and Rocket.Chat both offer a free plan.
- Which is better, Discord or Rocket.Chat?
- Rocket.Chat scores 8.2/10 compared to Discord's 7.8/10 in our analysis. Rocket.Chat ranks higher on features and value, but Discord may suit specific use cases — see the feature comparison above.
- Are there other team chat alternatives besides Discord and Rocket.Chat?
- Yes. Our [Team Chat pricing comparison](/pricing/team-chat/) page covers all major providers with daily-verified prices. You can also see the [cheapest team chat](/pricing/team-chat/cheapest/) for budget-focused options.