How to move a Discord server
The hard part of leaving Discord isn't picking an app. It's getting people to follow you. Communities that move in one weekend usually lose half their members. Communities that run both for a few weeks usually don't.
The board shows which apps can import a Discord server or run alongside one.
| Destination | Open source | Hosting | Encryption | Voice | Video | Threads | Members pay | Runs on | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARMADA | Yes | Cloud or self-hostDecentralized | E2EE everything | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free | PCMACLINUXIPHONEANDROIDWEB | BETA |
| FLUXER | Yes | Cloud or self-host | TLS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free | PCMACLINUXIPHONEANDROIDWEB | STABLE |
| PROBEDmine | No | Cloud only | TLS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free | PCMACLINUXIPHONEANDROIDWEB | STABLE |
I build Probed, one of the destinations here. It is on the board with the same facts as the rest, including the ones that count against it. If anything here is wrong, say so on r/LeavingDiscord and it gets fixed.
The move, in order
- Pick the app by your hardest constraint: iPhone users, voice, or owning your data. Rule out anything that fails it.
- Rebuild the structure. Fluxer and Armada can import a Discord server's channels and roles. Elsewhere you recreate them by hand, which is a good moment to cut the dead channels.
- Run both for a few weeks. Armada bridges channels and copies recent history; Probed mirrors channels with a live Discord server. Members see the same conversation in either place.
- Move the people who talk the most first. Everyone else follows the conversation.
- Announce a date, pin the new link in every Discord channel, and keep it pinned after you go quiet there.
- Ask members to request their own Discord data package if they want their history. Discord gives individuals an export, but there is no server-wide export for admins without bots.
What doesn't come with you
No app imports your members: everyone has to make a new account and join. Message history is the other gap. Armada brings up to 10,000 messages per channel for small servers; Fluxer's import is structure only.
Bots don't move either. Check each app's notes for a bot API before you count on your favourite ones.
Sources
More ways to narrow it down
- Open source Discord alternatives
- Self-hosted Discord alternatives
- Encrypted Discord alternatives
- Discord's age checks, and where people are going
- Discord alternatives for businesses
Something wrong? Tell r/LeavingDiscord.