Discord is requiring ID verification: Here are 3 private alternatives you can use instead

These free and open-source alternatives make sure your data and chats stay private. You can even self-host them!

Discord is requiring ID verification: Here are 3 private alternatives you can use instead

[Discord logo over laughing faces.]

Credit:

Discord

Faisal Rasool

Mar 1, 2026, 12:30 PM EST

Faisal Rasool has been a feature writer at How-to Geek since early 2024. He brings five years of professional experience in simplifying technology for his readers on topics like mobile devices, PCs, and online privacy. He tries to help people get the most out of their gadgets and software with the least effort.

In his teenage years, he spent hours every day tinkering with Android phones and Linux builds. Faisal started his career at WhatMobile in 2019 (mostly out of his obsession with Android) where he published over 2,000 news stories. Currently, he contributes to the news section over at AndroidHeadlines.

He also authored more than 100 feature articles for SlashGear, covering Android, iOS, Web, Chromebooks, online privacy/security, and PC content.

Faisal is also pursuing a Bachelor's in English literature to build up his writing chops. He enjoys watercolors, classic video games, animated films, and conversations with strangers.

Starting next month, Discord will start its "teen by default" policy, meaning all accounts will be treated with a restricted experience unless they clear age verification. Apparently, Discord plans to use AI to infer if a user is an adult, so you might be automatically verified. However, if the AI throws up a red flag or makes a mistake, you'll have to verify your age to keep accessing all of Discord's features. You have to either submit a valid government ID or upload a video selfie. If you got hit with age verification or if you're simply looking for an alternative to avoid the possibility altogether, here are a few alternatives that I tested and liked.

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Fluxer

Fluxer is the closest alternative to Discord you'll find right now. It's a free and open-source project that looks and feels almost identical to Discord. It surprised me because, after a while, I actually forgot that I was not on Discord.

The interface feels like a Discord clone, and you can navigate it with a keyboard, just like on Discord. On paper, it feels like a clone should be janky, but it's actually the opposite. It feels polished and well-designed, down to the little touches like animations and icons. Everything is responsive and works just as it should.

Testing it for a couple of days, I found 1:1 feature parity with Discord features. It works in the browser, and you can test it with a username without signing up. You can add custom emojis, roles, stickers to your guilds (servers) just like on Discord. You can leave emoji reacts on messages. It shows you who's typing in the chat. The settings menu is virtually identical to Discord's, as is the profile card.

You can create text and voice channels. You can make and join voice or video calls on the voice channels, which also support screen sharing. Even the DM menus are identical.

So far, the servers I've seen aren't as huge as some of the popular ones on Discord. I only found a handful of servers, but they were reasonably active.

[Fluxer download page.]

It's available on all desktop platforms, including Linux. The devs have also announced that you'll soon be able to self-host this version of Discord. So eventually, Fluxer might become a federated network where no single company can unilaterally push platform-wide changes like age verification.

Fluxer is still in public beta, so we're not looking at the final version of this app yet. You can expect to see glitches and bugs on occasion. For example, the app goes down sometimes. I also noticed that the explore menu (which shows you servers you can join) is always blank. From what I can tell, bot support is also limited right now. There's a mobile app on the road map too.

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Element (via Matrix)

Matrix is an open communication protocol (like e-mail but for instant messaging) that uses a decentralized network of servers. You can connect to this network using a client like Element. Right now, there are more than 60 million users on this network. There are thousands of servers that people are hosting in their homelabs. You can host one on your home server too. Alternatively, you can use the Matrix.org server to connect to the network (that way you don't have to self-host anything).

You can start by installing Element on your computer or phone (it's available on all platforms.) Then sign up for Matrix.org and get a user ID. You'll need this ID to log into Element.

Element isn't a Discord clone, but it's close enough in my opinion. You can browse communities to join on the official Matrix room directory or MatrixRooms.info. Within the Element app, there's an Explore button where you can find new communities to join.

Element feels like a calmer version of Discord. It's not as busy or cluttered. There aren't voice or text channels, but you can create threads. You can also make room-wide voice calls and video calls.

[Browsing a public room in Element.]

You can create end-to-end encrypted rooms, but once you enable encryption, you can't disable it. Some features like bot integration will be limited because of encryption.

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Stoat

Stoat is yet another Discord clone, and it's free and open-source. It was a bit of a struggle to sign up for Stoat because their onboarding page kept glitching and emailing me multiple verification links. Past that, it was mostly smooth sailing. You can open Stoat in the browser or download their app on your desktop or mobile device. The mobile versions are still in beta though.

[Stoat onboarding page.]

It looks and feels a lot like Discord, but it's not a 1:1 clone like Fluxer. It's close enough though. You get text channels, voice channels, roles, and bot support. The best part is probably the animated server emojis and stickers, which you can use anywhere (no subscription required).

However, Stoat doesn't feel as cohesive or polished as Fluxer. For example, it doesn't scale responsively when I change the window size. I occasionally see the "connecting" message, even though my Wi-Fi is stable everywhere else. The error messages are long strings of code.

[Joining a Stoat server.]

Stoat does have more servers than Fluxer, and they're more active too. If that's something you care about, Stoat might be the right choice for you. I asked people in Stoat and Fluxer servers their favorite of the two. It was a mixed bag, so I recommend trying them both for yourself.

[Polling people in a Stoat server.]

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A little note about old-school forums

Before Discord, we had discussion forums that anyone could access and browse without creating an account or onboarding. Those communities moved to Discord and the information (once available on the open internet) was siloed in these huge servers. It's hard to access even if you join the relevant servers because Discord's search features are terrible.

[The home page of the Home Assistant Community Forum.]

Credit: Home Assistant

People moving away from Discord is a wonderful opportunity to bring back those old public forums. Fluxer devs even have it on the roadmap that they'll eventually make it possible to publish public servers as forums on the open internet.

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