Discord

Discord provides voice, video and text communication for gaming communities. Players use servers and direct messages to talk with friends, share screens and stream games through Go Live. Activities let people play games inside Discord, while the Social SDK lets developers connect Discord accounts to game accounts and bring social features and communication into their games.

Founders Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy launched Discord in 2015, drawing on their work on the mobile game Fates Forever. Humam Sakhnini became CEO in 2025; Citron remained a director and CEO adviser, and Vishnevskiy continued as CTO. Discord’s engineering contributions include DAVE, an open protocol with an externally audited, open-source implementation for audio and video encryption. Its 2026 rollout made end-to-end encryption standard for calls across supported platforms, except Stage channels; text messages remain outside that encryption.

Discord reported more than 90 million daily active users as of Q4 2025. The app is free to download, with an optional Nitro subscription offering enhanced performance and personalization. Its business also extends into in-game commerce. Social Commerce lets players buy and gift in-game items within Discord, starting with shops in official game servers. Expansion remained limited to selected partners in its March 2026 update.