Discord is the biggest community chat platform on the internet. We're not pretending otherwise. This page is a factual comparison of what each one does, where Rift comes out ahead, and where Discord still wins.
Desktop
One capture, same machine, both apps idle. Rift's native shell is a single line item, but WebView2 runs separately and counts toward Rift's total. Discord rolls up eight processes and nearly 1.8 GB.
~250 MB
Rift, everything
16 MB native shell plus its WebView2 group
1,757 MB
Discord, everything
Eight processes, sitting idle
~7×
The gap here
Windows 11, June 2026, one session
The 16 MB in the screenshot is the native shell alone; WebView2 has its own processes and belongs in Rift's total. Your numbers will vary by OS, open Portals, voice channels, and uptime. One capture, not a benchmark lab.
Signup, encryption, and what we keep.
Sign up requires
Username + password
Email or phone, plus date of birth
Phone verification
Never
Often required for new accounts
Age verification by ID
No
Rolling out in several regions
Account recovery
12-word Rift Key
Email reset
DM text encryption
End-to-end (Signal-style X3DH/Double Ratchet)
Transport encryption only
DM attachment encryption
Encrypted at rest (not full E2EE yet)
Encrypted at rest
IP address logging
Never stored; HMAC fingerprint destroyed within 48 hours
Retained for abuse/legal purposes
Personalization / ads
None (no ads, no data sales)
Personalized by your activity + servers; sponsored Quests
License to your content
Delivery only; no AI training (stated in ToS)
Licensed to "develop and improve" services; sublicensable
AI reading your messages
None; no AI summarizes or profiles your chats
AI Summaries (beta) reads + summarizes server channels
Free-tier defaults and what it costs to upgrade.
Free tier file uploads
50 MB
10 MB
Free tier audio bitrate
96 kbps
64 kbps
Free tier screen share
1080p 60fps
720p 30fps
Free message length
8,000 chars
2,000 chars
Personal subscription
Rift+ at $7/mo
Nitro at $9.99/mo
Community boost model
One owner pays
Up to 14 members each pay
Top community tier cost
$25/mo flat (1 person)
14 boosts; ~$50 to $140/mo depending who pays
Vanity invite link
therift.chat/i/your-name, included with Forge
Boost Level 3 only (14 boosts)
Rift+ / Nitro screen share
1440p 60fps
1080p 60fps
Same class of app (Chromium-based chat client). Very different weight.
Idle desktop RAM (same machine)
16 MB (Rift native shell)
1,757 MB (Discord, 8 processes)
UI renderer (Chromium)
~200 MB (WebView2 group, shared runtime)
Bundled inside Electron processes
Realistic worst-case total
~250 MB
~1.8 GB
Visible app processes (Task Manager)
1 entry (+ WebView2 group)
8 grouped processes
Desktop engine
WebView2 (system Chromium)
Electron (bundled Chromium)
Service worker / offline cache bloat
None on desktop
Electron app cache + updates
Runs while minimized to tray
Yes (notifications stay live)
Yes
What each platform does, including where Discord still leads.
AutoMod
Built-in, with sandbox testing
Built-in (basic) + third-party bots
Ticket / support channels
Built-in channel type
Requires a bot
In-character / anonymous posting
Personas in opt-in channels, still fully moderatable
Requires a third-party bot (e.g. Tupperbox)
Owner leaves, is banned, or goes inactive
Ownership auto-passes to the next eligible member
Server can be orphaned; recovery means contacting support
Leveling & XP rewards
Built-in: roles + channel unlocks, anti-farm caps, free for every Shard
Requires a bot (MEE6 / Arcane)
Giveaways
Built-in, provably-fair draw + encrypted code delivery
Requires a bot (GiveawayBot / MEE6)
Creator go-live alerts
Channel announcements via Twitch EventSub, auto-updating card
Personal "Now Live" status; channel alerts need a bot
Temp voice rooms (join-to-create)
Native launchers: a room spawns on click, auto-deletes when empty
Requires a bot (TempVoice / VoiceMaster)
Stream Deck control
Official plugin: mute, deafen, PTT, leave, soundboard, over a local token-secured bridge
Unofficial third-party plugin only, not built or supported by Discord
Forum channels
Yes
Yes
Gallery channels
Yes (lightbox, grid, reactions)
Limited (media channels)
Announcement channels
Built-in channel type, any Shard
Requires switching the server to Community mode
Widgets / mini-apps in chat
Portals (music, weather, calendar, etc.)
No equivalent
Workspace & windows
Dock, float, or pop chats & Portals into OS windows across monitors
Fixed layout; limited call/stream pop-out
Voice infrastructure
Self-hosted; no third party receives your audio
Third-party infrastructure
Link preview IP exposure
Proxied; your IP never hits the linked site
Direct fetch from your client in some cases
Server analytics
Shard Command Center (free tier included)
Server Insights, only after switching to Community mode
Community discovery
Any Shard can self-list, free, no member minimum
Needs Community mode plus a member-count minimum
Bot ecosystem
Limited (features are built in by design)
Massive (millions of bots)
User base size
New (Open Beta)
200M+ MAU
Existing communities
You bring or build them
Almost certainly already there
A few things to know before you do.
Rift uses Shards instead of "servers," and the role / permission model is similar enough that mods will feel at home. The permission editor has a three-state allow / deny / inherit model with a built-in inspector.
Make a server template on Discord, paste the link into Rift, and it rebuilds the whole thing as a new Shard: categories, channels in order, forum tags, roles with their colors and order, and every permission rule that has a Rift equivalent. You get an editable preview before anything is created. Structure only, so messages and members do not come across, and your Discord server is never touched.
Rift bakes a lot of bot functionality into the platform (AutoMod, tickets, audit logs, polls, analytics). Custom bots that do something unique don't have an equivalent yet. If your community lives or dies by a specific bot, plan around that.
The usual migration killer is convincing everyone to create yet another account. Rift signup is a username and a password, no email verification loop, no phone check, so a member who clicks your invite is in the room about a minute later.
Sign up with a username and password and poke around. If it's not for you, you've lost nothing but a few minutes.
Discord is a trademark of Discord Inc. Rift is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Discord. This comparison reflects publicly available information about Discord together with our own hands-on testing as of June 2026. Features, pricing, and limits on both platforms change over time, so the figures here are point-in-time snapshots and your own results (for example, desktop memory use) will vary. If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, email [email protected] and we will review and correct it.