this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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sure they're leaving but...where? what's a viable alternative?
I mean if I had it my way everyone would just go back to IRC, I still use IRC. it's great, nothings changed, it's perfect. combine that with like mumble or teamspeak and you're good to go.
I checked out Stoat lastnight and it's very slow. took well over an hour to get a verification email (I assume because many others were signing up) and the current server offerings are minimal. Also a good majority of the themes listed simply don't work. it's growing and I'd say it's the best alternative right now but it's not there yet and I worry it or the various instances of it could hold up if there was a massive Discord exodus.
Matrix is a no and xmpp ain't much better.
Can I ask why matrix is a 'no'?
Screen sharing is broken. Group chats barely function. DMS are more or less non-existent in a realistic manner. Cross-platform voice chats break constantly audio capture with a bunch of different devices. Just straight up. Don't work. It crashes if you try and do s*** with certain games are open on Windows.
And this is just what I've experienced using five or six of the most popular clients from matrix.
Matrix is a pile of crap. It has been a pile of crap. It is unlikely to ever not be a pile of crap. It is basically only acceptable for people who get a boner over security and encryption and have no friends who don't also have a boner for security and encryption.
It is The shining example of a application designed by engineers for engineers who have never talked to a normal person once in their entire life.
The moment you try and get something like a game guild together in it it breaks and falls apart and s**** the bed. It cannot handle flexible groups like that. It is too overly complicated in the worst ways while also being too simple to be able to handle complicated tasks. It is such a weird catch-22 in almost every way.
If you're trying to find a replacement for slack, maybe? But not discord.
Personally Matrix has been kind of annoying to set up. I tried it around last year and after a bunch of issues creating an account (email link wasn't working I think) I used it for a little, then all messages became "could not decrypt" and I gave up on it
I'm moving everyone to stoat. I'm not an expert, but from my perspective and use needs it's functionality the same or slightly better in every single department. Things are laggy currently but that's because they didn't expect a wave and they're being really transparent about their efforts to accommodate that. As for content, I've never used discord as a social media, I use it as an organized group text and team speak for gaming. I expect public servers will become more viable with the swell in users though.
Last time I tried to play around with Stoat, I never even got a verification email, so taking an hour sounds like progress I guess? I'll have to try again.