Slack vs Discord vs Telegram in 2025: Which One Is Really Best for You?

Slack, Discord, and Telegram are three of the most popular messaging platforms of the decade, each dominating its own niche – Slack in workplace collaboration, Discord in online communities and gaming, and Telegram in global personal and group messaging. As of 2025, all three have evolved significantly with new features, massive user growth, and shifts in strategy. In this in-depth report, we’ll compare features, pricing, use cases, user experience, security, integrations, platform support, and more. We’ll also highlight strengths and weaknesses, share expert insights, and note recent developments (from major updates to outages and controversies). Finally, we’ll glimpse at emerging messaging platforms making waves in 2025.

Which platform is truly “best” depends on your needs – whether you’re managing a business team, moderating a community, or just chatting with friends – so let’s break it down.

Quick Comparison at a Glance

To start, here’s a high-level comparison of key stats and focus areas for Slack, Discord, and Telegram in 2025:

(Sources: Slack & Discord user counts from company statements demandsage.com musically.com; Telegram user counts from Pavel Durov/Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org.)

Below, we dive into detailed comparisons category by category.

Features and Capabilities

Channels, Groups, and Communication Structure

Slack: Organizes communication into workspaces (typically one per company or team) with channels inside each workspace for specific topics or projects. Channels can be open to the team or private/invite-only. Slack pioneered a structured threading system in channels – you can reply to a specific message in a thread, keeping side conversations out of the main flow. This makes Slack’s text chat highly organized for focused discussions, which is ideal for workplace use zapier.com. Slack also offers direct messages (DMs) for private chats (limited to within the workspace unless using Slack Connect for external contacts). Slack channels don’t natively support extremely large member counts – they’re meant for teams rather than open public communities (most Slack workspaces are in the dozens, hundreds, or low thousands of users).

Discord: Structures communities into servers (equivalent to workspaces) created by any user. Each server contains multiple channels, which can be text-based or voice-based. Discord’s vibe is less hierarchical – anyone can join or create servers (many of which are public). For text, Discord added a Threads feature in 2021, but it’s more limited (threads auto-archive after inactivity) zapier.com. Discord shines in voice and video channels: each server can have always-on voice chat rooms where members drop in/out for live conversation – a core feature geared toward gaming and hanging out zapier.com. Discord servers can scale to enormous sizes: the default member limit is 250,000 (which Discord will raise on request) en.wikipedia.org. In fact, some servers boast millions of members (the official Midjourney AI art server exceeded 15 million members in 2023, the largest on Discord) en.wikipedia.org. This makes Discord suitable for big public communities in a way Slack is not. However, Discord’s text channels are less structured (no persistent threads view or sorting by topic out of the box), which can make busy chats chaotic.

Telegram: Centered around a more fluid model of chats. Users have private 1:1 or group chats (like a typical messaging app), but Telegram also supports large group chats (up to 200,000 members) and broadcast channels (one-way communication to unlimited subscribers) en.wikipedia.org. Telegram recently introduced Topics in Groups, allowing large groups to be subdivided into topic-based feeds – essentially threaded sub-channels to organize discussions en.wikipedia.org. It’s a bit akin to Discord’s channel categories or Slack’s channels, though less formal. Telegram doesn’t have Slack-style threaded replies (beyond quoting messages), so conversations in a busy group can become tangled, though Topics help. For voice, Telegram added group voice chats (persistent audio rooms) and later video chat in groups, similar to Discord’s voice channels (these were introduced in 2020–2021). Still, real-time comms are a side feature for Telegram, whereas for Discord they’re a primary use.

Key Takeaway: Slack provides the most structured text communication (channels with threads and organized history) – great for keeping work conversations tidy zapier.com. Discord provides the most immersive real-time comms, with drop-in voice rooms and an emphasis on community interaction zapier.com. Telegram provides flexibility and massive reach, blending private messaging with large broadcast channels, though its group chats are less structured than Slack’s channels or Discord’s servers.

Voice, Video, and Screen Sharing

All three platforms support voice and video, but with different priorities:

• Slack: Provides built-in calling but on a limited basis. Free Slack only supports 1:1 voice or video calls. Paid plans allow group calls up to 15 participants zapier.com. In 2021 Slack introduced Huddles – lightweight audio calls meant for quick impromptu discussions (think of clicking a pair of headphones icon to talk live in a channel). Huddles can now do video and screen-sharing on paid plans, essentially becoming mini-meetings inside Slack theverge.com theverge.com. However, Slack’s real-time media features are not its strongest suit; many teams still turn to Zoom or Microsoft Teams for serious video meetings zapier.com. Slack calls are fine for quick chats, but not as robust or reliable for large groups.
• Discord: Excels at voice and video. Discord was built for gamers who needed low-latency voice – it offers unlimited free voice channels with excellent quality (and even per-user volume controls). Video calls and screen sharing are supported in both DMs (up to 10 users in a group DM video) and server voice channels. It’s common to see Discord servers where friends or community members hang out in voice chat for hours. Discord’s screen sharing is popular for gaming or collaborative browsing. Overall, Discord’s audio/video feels more realtime and community-centric than Slack’s zapier.com. Many streamers and study groups use Discord for always-on voice/video rooms.
• Telegram: Added voice chat rooms (aka group calls) in groups and channels in recent years, and supports video chats and even one-way live video broadcasts in channels. For one-to-one, Telegram has voice and video calling with end-to-end encryption. The group voice chats can host thousands of listeners (like a live podcast or Twitter Spaces) and were later augmented with video streaming. While functional, Telegram’s group calls are not as integral to the experience as Discord’s. They’re more comparable to audio chats on Clubhouse or Twitter. Telegram’s focus remains text-centric, but the voice/video features are a nice bonus for communities that need them.

Key Takeaway: If voice/video communication is your priority, Discord is the clear winner – it’s “built around always-on audio” and offers high-quality voice, video, and screen-share with ease zapier.com. Slack’s voice/video is acceptable for brief internal meetings but not a strong point (Slack even acknowledges many users rely on external apps for serious calls zapier.com). Telegram’s voice/video features are solid for a mobile messenger and great for broadcasts, but fall in between Slack and Discord in terms of realtime engagement focus.

Integrations and Bots

One of Slack’s biggest strengths is its third-party integrations and app ecosystem:

• Slack: Boasts thousands of integrations with business tools – from Google Drive to Jira, from Zoom to GitHub, you name it. Teams can add apps or custom bots to automate workflows. Slack’s Workflow Builder lets non-coders create automations (e.g. post a message every time a form is submitted) slack.com slack.com. In 2023–2024 Slack doubled down on integrations with its parent company Salesforce (e.g. Slack-Salesforce integration to bring CRM data into Slack) slack.com. Essentially, Slack can act as a hub where notifications and data from many other services flow in – extremely useful for work. If your team uses a lot of SaaS tools, Slack likely has plug-ins for all of them. The Slack App Directory and open API have enabled a rich ecosystem of bots (for polling, expense tracking, stand-up meetings, etc.). Example: When a ticket is created in Jira or a pull request opened on GitHub, Slack can ping a channel. This level of integration is a major selling point of Slack zapier.com zapier.com.
• Discord: Discord has a more grassroots bot culture. There are many community-made bots that add features (like moderation, games, music playback, etc.), but fewer official first-party integrations with enterprise tools. Discord’s API allows developers to create bots that live in servers – many Discord servers rely on bots like MEE6 or Dyno for moderation, or Octave for music, etc. However, these are not centrally listed and vetted in the same way as Slack’s App Directory; you often find them via third-party lists. Discord has started adding apps and integrations(for example, a Discord-native Calendar or Forum channels), but overall it’s not meant to integrate with your work software out of the box zapier.com zapier.com. One exception is Zapier (a workflow automation tool) which can connect Discord to external apps if needed zapier.com zapier.com. Also, in late 2022, Discord launched Activities (integrations like watching YouTube together or playing mini-games in a voice channel). These are more about fun/community than business productivity.
• Telegram: Telegram’s approach to integrations is via bots and an open API. Anyone can create a Telegram Bot, which gets a chat interface and can interact with users or groups. Telegram bots can be quite powerful – there are bots for moderation, for games, for news, for just about anything (even an official @GitHubBot or @IFTTT bot for integrations). Telegram’s bot API lets developers build services that live inside Telegram chats. For example, a weather bot can send forecasts, or a banking bot can facilitate payments. Telegram even supports in-chat payments via bots, effectively allowing mini apps (popular in some countries for things like ordering food). That said, enterprise integrations (with corporate tools like Slack’s) are not Telegram’s aim. The integrations here are more consumer-oriented or community-focused (poll bots, quiz bots, etc.). Telegram also has features like Chat folders, channels, and public APIs that let advanced users integrate Telegram content elsewhere (e.g. embedding a channel’s posts on a website).

Key Takeaway: Slack leads in productivity integrations – it’s designed to plug into your workflow with thousands of apps zapier.com zapier.com. Discord is more limited officially, but community bots fill many gaps (with some effort to add them). Telegram offers versatile bots and a developer-friendly API for creative integrations, though these skew personal/consumer in use. If your priority is integrating with business tools and automating work tasks, Slack has a clear edge.

Customization and Extensibility

• Slack: Allows a degree of customization – e.g. custom emoji (even on free plan, Slack supports unlimited custom emoji zapier.com zapier.com), customizable sidebar sections, and theme colors (limited). Organizations on paid plans can set up custom user groups and profile fields, etc. But Slack is somewhat controlled in UI/UX – you can’t radically alter how Slack looks or operates. Customization mainly comes via adding apps/workflows as mentioned above. Slack does have Slack Atlas for enhanced profiles on Enterprise, but that’s a specific add-on slack.com. In 2023, Slack launched Canvas and Lists features to extend functionality (Canvas acts like internal wiki pages in Slack; Lists for lightweight project tracking) theverge.com theverge.com. These show Slack expanding beyond chat into adjacent productivity, but again these are built-in features rather than user-made customizations.
• Discord: Provides more UI customization for communities – server owners can create roles with custom permissions and colors, give their server a custom icon and banner (with Nitro boosts), and even set a vanity URLat high boost levels. Users can customize their own profile with an avatar, “About Me” bio, and if they subscribe to Nitro, they can use a global nickname and animated avatar. There’s also a phenomenon of unofficial client mods (like BetterDiscord) for themeing, but those are against Discord’s terms. Out of the box, Discord offers a light vs dark theme and some accessibility tweaks, but not too many appearance settings for users. However, the way you can set up channels, categories, permissions, and add bots in a server means a community can function in a very customized way (e.g. gating content behind roles, using bots to create leveling systems, etc.). Discord’s extensibility is mainly via bots and webhooks (automated messages), not as much native automation like Slack’s Workflow Builder (though in 2023 Discord did introduce Server Automations on some plans to auto-moderate and such).
• Telegram: Allows users to customize the app’s look (different color themes, including custom themes and background wallpapers). It also supports multiple accounts in one app (useful for power users). For extensibility, Telegram’s bot platform as mentioned is a big one. Also, Telegram has third-party client apps – because its API is open, there are alternative Telegram apps (unofficial) that some users create for specific needs. Telegram’s channels can be used creatively (e.g. for blogs, or even as a back-end to comment systems via bots). A notable customization: Telegram introduced Username NFTs on a blockchain in late 2022 (allowing users to buy/sell unique @usernames on its “fragment” platform) en.wikipedia.org. This is an unusual extension of the platform’s ecosystem. Overall, Telegram gives end-users more control over appearance than Slack/Discord (you can really tweak theme or use different client), but less built-in automation than Slack (aside from bots which require external creation).

User Interface and Experience

Despite serving different audiences, Slack and Discord’s interfaces have striking similarities in layout zapier.com, while Telegram’s feels more like a mobile messenger.

• Slack UI: Slack’s design is businesslike and clean. On desktop, you see a left sidebar listing your channels and DMs, the message view in the middle, and optionally a right-hand panel for things like thread conversations or details zapier.com. Slack uses a lot of white (or light mode by default, though a dark mode exists) and a straightforward text-heavy approach. Key UI features include an “All Unreads” view (to catch up on all messages), a Threads view (to see all thread responses in one place), and robust search across messages and files. Slack’s UI is tailored for focus: for example, you can star/favorite important channels, set reminders on messages, etc. In August 2023, Slack rolled out a major design update simplifying the sidebar and adding a dedicated home view for notifications and search slack.com slack.com. Slack’s UX emphasizes productivity – things like emoji reactions are present but toned down compared to Discord. Notifications in Slack are quite granular (you can set channel-specific notify preferences, keywords alerts, do-not-disturb times). Overall, Slack’s interface can feel a bit dense with features if you’re new, but it’s highly optimized for multitasking and quick information retrieval once you learn it. Some find Slack’s Electron-based desktop app heavy on memory, though improvements have been ongoing.
• Discord UI: Discord’s aesthetic is more playful, with a default dark theme and gaming inspirations in its style. The layout: a far-left sidebar shows the servers you’re in (server icons), next to it a channel list for the selected server, then the messages, and a member list on the far right in big servers. The design keeps you immersed in one server at a time (though you can have multiple servers open in different windows or use the Quick Switcher hotkey). Discord’s interface is geared for community: for example, presence/status of users (showing if someone is online, what game they’re playing or music they’re listening to) is prominent. There are fun touches like custom emoji(server-specific, with animated emoji if Nitro), and reactions are heavily used. Discord also now supports Forum Channels which create a bulletin-board style topic threads for organized discussions – a nod to Slack-like structure for those who need it zapier.com zapier.com. The UI around voice is a big differentiator: when in a voice channel, you’ll see a small overlay of voice participants, and can control volumes individually. Discord’s notification logic is community-friendly – by default you only get @mentions as notifications in large servers (to prevent spam), and users often have to manually opt in to more pings by assigning themselves roles or following announcement channels. This is quite different from Slack, where assuming it’s your workspace, you’d be notified of most things unless you mute channels. Customization in UI: Discord lets you customize your profile with a banner (Nitro feature) and choose any username (since mid-2023, Discord moved from the old discriminator system to a new unique username system, which was a controversial change) kotaku.com kotaku.com. That change created some UX confusion and backlash, as users had to claim new handles and feared impersonation issues kotaku.com kotaku.com. Discord’s UI can be overwhelming in huge servers, but they’ve added features like Community Onboarding (new users to a server get a guided tutorial or rules screen) to improve the experience.
• Telegram UI: Telegram’s interface is similar to other mobile messaging apps (WhatsApp, etc.). On mobile, you have a list of chats; tapping one opens the conversation. On desktop or web, it shows chat list on the left and the selected chat on the right (Telegram offers a fully standalone desktop app with chat synchronization). It’s simple and fast. Telegram’s UI emphasizes media sharing – sending photos, videos, voice messages, stickers, etc. is very seamless. It has a rich Sticker/GIF panel that’s arguably more fun than Slack’s or Discord’s (Telegram pioneered animated stickers and now has whole sticker “emoji packs”). Telegram also introduced Stories in 2023, adding a social-media-like element where users can post temporary photos/videos viewable by contacts (with privacy controls). This moves Telegram a bit closer to apps like Instagram/Snapchat in UX. In group chats, Telegram lacks the persistent side panels of Slack/Discord – it’s more linear, though you can reply to messages (quotes them inline) and use hashtags to categorize topics. The user experience focuses on speed: Telegram is very quick at sending messages and syncing across devices. It also has neat touches like chat folders (you can categorize chats, e.g. work vs personal), archive for hiding chats, and an universal search that can even find public channels/groups. For admins of large groups/channels, Telegram provides robust tools (you can assign admins, set permissions, etc., though via less graphical means than Discord’s role system). One downside: with so many features piling on (bots, channels, stories, payments), Telegram’s UI can present a lot of hidden functionality – but core messaging remains straightforward.

User Experience Summary: Slack offers a polished business UX – efficient navigation, powerful search, and contextual sidebars like threads and activity feed that keep work comms manageable. Discord offers a lively community UX – engaging visuals, presence indicators, and fluid voice chat integration, though text chats can become chaotic without moderation. Telegram offers a unified messaging UX – blending one-on-one and group chats with social features, all in a snappy app, but with less built-in organization for group discussions.

Security and Privacy

Security and privacy are critical, and the three platforms have very different philosophies:

Slack: Designed for corporate security and compliance rather than personal privacy. Encryption: Slack encrypts data in transit and at rest on its servers, but does not offer end-to-end encryption for messages – Slack (and by extension your company’s admins) can access message data en.wikipedia.org. On Enterprise plans, Slack offers Enterprise Key Management where companies control the encryption keys for their data slack.com, adding an extra layer for corporate clients. Slack complies with standards like SOC2, ISO27001 and offers features like SSO, audit logs, and data exports for admins. In fact, if you use Slack at work, be aware that workspaces admins can export private channel and DM history (on paid plans with compliance exports) – so nothing on Slack at work should be considered truly private from your employer. Slack has had security incidents but handled them transparently: e.g. in late 2022, hackers stole some Slack employee tokens and downloaded portions of Slack’s private GitHub code repositories wired.com wired.com. Slack reported that no customer data was exposed and quickly invalidated the tokens wired.com. In general Slack’s record on breaches is fairly good; a notable one was a 2015 hack that led to some encrypted passwords being exposed (after which Slack added two-factor authentication). Slack’s privacy stance is that your data belongs to your company – not really a consumer privacy model. There’s no read-once disappearing messages (though admins can set retention policies to auto-delete messages after X days on paid plans).

Discord: Comes from a consumer background but has had to implement more safety controls as it grew. Encryption:Discord also does not use end-to-end encryption for messages in servers or DMs – all content is stored on Discord’s servers in plaintext (albeit encrypted at rest on the server side). This is partly because Discord does a lot of automated moderation and scanning (for example, its terms allow it to use technology to detect certain prohibited content). Discord has faced tricky privacy issues. In early 2023, Discord integrated AI features (like OpenAI’s ChatGPT for an enhanced Clyde bot and auto content summaries) and quietly tweaked its privacy policy in ways that alarmed users – removing a line that said it didn’t store voice/video call data, implying it might start doing so gizmodo.com gizmodo.com. After backlash, Discord restored the language and clarified that it wasn’t actually recording voice/video calls and that OpenAI wouldn’t train on Discord user content by default gizmodo.com gizmodo.com. This episode highlighted the tension between adding new AI features and preserving user privacy. Discord’s CEO has explicitly said they decided not to implement end-to-end encryption because it would hinder moderation and user safety on the platform theverge.com theverge.com. Discord employs a Trust & Safety team and provides community moderation tools– server admins can ban/kick users, AutoMod can filter content, etc. For users, Discord added features like Safe Direct Messaging (which can automatically scan and block DMs with explicit media unless you opt out). However, as a user, you should know that anything you send on Discord (outside of an encrypted voice/video call) could potentially be seen by Discord staff if it’s reported, or handed over in response to legal requests. Indeed, Discord has cooperated with law enforcement on various cases (child grooming, threats, etc.), as it must under U.S. law. So privacy on Discord is lowerthan on an end-to-end encrypted app (like Signal), but similar to other social networks.

Telegram: Markets itself heavily on privacy – but with some caveats. Encryption: Telegram has a unique model: Cloud chats (the default for all one-on-one chats, group chats, and channels) are encrypted between your device and Telegram’s servers, and stored encrypted on those servers. However, Telegram holds the decryption keys, meaning it could access the content (and thus respond to government data requests) if it chose to. To get true end-to-end encryption in Telegram, you must use Secret Chats (an option for one-to-one chats only, not available for groups or channels). Secret Chats use end-to-end encryption and are device-specific (they don’t sync to the cloud). In Secret Chats you also get features like self-destructing messages. But by default, most Telegram messages are not end-to-end encrypted, contrary to what some assume. Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov has said their distributed server infrastructure (spread across countries) and policies protect user data – claiming “to this day, we have disclosed 0 bytes of user messages to third parties” en.wikipedia.org. In practice, Telegram has resisted many government requests. For instance, Telegram was temporarily banned in Russia (2018) after refusing to hand over encryption keys to security services. In Brazil (2023), Telegram was briefly suspended for not fully complying with a court order to provide data on neo-Nazi group chats; Telegram only gave partial information, citing privacy, leading a judge to block the app until more data was shared reuters.com reuters.com. This shows Telegram will push back, but not at all costs – it has since provided some info or made policy changes when pressured (e.g. it started taking down illegal content in some jurisdictions). Privacy features: Telegram allows users to hide their phone number (using a username instead), and offers two-factor authentication. It also pioneered end-to-end encrypted voice calls for one-on-one calls. It does not (at least as of 2025) encrypt group voice chats or regular cloud chats end-to-end. For many users, a big plus is that Telegram, being independent (and not based in the US or EU), feels less data-mined – it doesn’t use your chats to target ads in the way Facebook Messenger might, for example. In late 2021 Telegram introduced advertising in large public one-way channels, but these are minimally invasive and not based on content of private chats. Telegram’s open approach (like offering an open API) has privacy trade-offs too: third-party clients or bots could mishandle data if you’re not careful. Also, large public Telegram channels are sometimes rife with spam and scams (they don’t have an algorithmic feed to curate content). In terms of security incidents, Telegram’s cryptography (MTProto protocol) is custom and has been scrutinized by researchers – some argue it’s not as battle-tested as Signal’s protocol, but there have been no major known compromises of Telegram’s encryption in the wild. One security incident: in 2020, Telegram confirmed that Belarusian officials had coerced an employee to give up some data during protests, which was a rare case of Telegram acknowledging government access (Durov said it was limited and they’ve improved infrastructure since).

Summary: Slack is enterprise-secure but not concerned with E2E privacy – assume your boss or Slack could read it. Discord is moderation-first, sacrificing some privacy for safety – no E2E and content may be monitored for TOS violations kotaku.com. Telegram is privacy-promising and resists a lot of data requests, but only its “Secret Chats” are true end-to-end – ordinary chats are stored on its cloud (albeit in a distributed manner) reuters.com. If you need absoluteprivacy for personal comms, Telegram Secret Chats or an app like Signal would be better than Slack or Discord. But for business, Slack provides the compliance and security features companies need, and for communities, Discord’s approach tries to balance privacy with content moderation to prevent abuse.

Pricing and Business Models

All three services are free to start using, but their revenue models differ significantly:

• Slack Pricing: Slack operates on a freemium B2B model en.wikipedia.org. Small teams can use Slack Free with some limits: as of 2023, free workspaces can access 90 days of message history (Slack changed this from the old 10,000 message limit) demandsage.com demandsage.com. Free also limits you to 10 integrations and some feature restrictions (for example, 1:1 voice/video calls only, no screen sharing or group calls). To unlock full usage, Slack sells per-user subscriptions:
  • Pro plan: Around $7.25 per user per month (billed annually) – gives unlimited message history, group calls, more storage, and standard support.
  • Business+ plan: About $12.50 per user per month – adds features like SAML SSO, user provisioning, and more admin control.
  • Enterprise Grid: Custom pricing for very large organizations – includes multiple interconnected workspaces, enterprise key management, dedicated support, etc.
  Slack’s pricing can add up quickly for big teams (e.g. 100 users on Pro is >$700/month). However, many companies justify it for the productivity gain. Slack often offers discounts for nonprofits or startups. In mid-2022 Slack raised prices for the first time and adjusted the free tier limits to the 90-day model demandsage.com. Notably, Slack does not have an end-user subscription for premium features – it’s all workspace-driven. Slack’s revenue (now part of Salesforce) was reported around $1.5 billion in 2023 demandsage.com, mainly from these B2B subscriptions.
• Discord Pricing: Discord’s core features are completely free – one can create servers, host unlimited users, stream video, etc. Discord makes money via Nitro subscriptions, which are optional enhancements for power users. There are two tiers:
  • Nitro Basic: $2.99/month – offers larger file upload limit (50 MB vs 25 MB free) and usage of custom emoji stickers anywhere.
  • Nitro (Full): $9.99/month (or about $99/year) – includes 100 MB uploads, HD video streaming, ability to boost servers (to grant perks to a server), custom profiles, and lots of cosmetic perks (animated avatar, global custom emojis, etc.) musically.com musically.com.
  Nitro primarily appeals to enthusiasts who want the extras, and to support their favorite servers via Server Boosts. A community can encourage members to boost to reach Level 1/2/3, unlocking perks like better audio quality, more emoji slots, or a vanity URL. Discord also launched a Server Subscriptions feature for creators (letting server owners charge subscription fees for access to special content), from which Discord takes a cut. But this is more niche. Importantly, Discord’s free tier is very usable – unlike Slack, which heavily limits free history, Discord imposes no chat history limit and no user cap (just that 250K server cap, which is huge). For this reason, communities and even some small teams favor Discord to avoid Slack’s paywall. As CEO Jason Citron noted, the vast majority of Discord’s users don’t pay, but a subset loves Nitro for perks – by 2024, Nitro’s success was pushing Discord toward profitability musically.com musically.com. Discord was valued at ~$15 billion in 2021 and reportedly hit $600 million annual revenue in 2023 musically.com, showing how well this model can work at scale.
• Telegram Monetization: For many years Telegram was entirely funded by the Durov brothers’ fortune, running no ads and charging nothing. In 2022, Telegram introduced Telegram Premium, a subscription for around $5/month. Premium is optional and gives power-user features: higher file upload size (4 GB vs 2 GB free), faster download speeds, voice-to-text transcription, extra reactions and stickers, ability to follow more channels, a profile badge, and other perks worldpopulationreview.com. It’s basically for enthusiasts who want to support Telegram or crave those limits lifted. Uptake of Premium isn’t public, but likely a small fraction of the 1 billion users. Telegram also started showing Sponsored Messages in very large public channels (with over 1000 subscribers). These are minimal text ads and are not based on user data from private chats – they’re contextual to the channel topic. The revenue from these goes to support Telegram’s operations. Telegram founder Pavel Durov said all features currently free will remain free; monetization is primarily through non-intrusive ads and Premium users. Telegram’s financials aren’t public, but one report said it generated about $342 million in 2023 revenue from these efforts businessofapps.com, which is modest per user. Notably, Telegram does not charge businesses for API use – many brands run Telegram channels or bots for free. This may change if they introduce enterprise services, but none such yet.

Cost Considerations:

• For business teams: Slack can become expensive as you scale (e.g. 50 users on paid Slack is thousands per year). Discord, while free, lacks some work-oriented features (and your data would be on a consumer platform, potentially a compliance issue). Microsoft Teams (discussed later) is often “free” with Office 365 subscriptions, which pressured Slack. Many companies choose Slack for its polish and integrations despite cost, though some small orgs use Discord as a free hack. Telegram isn’t really designed for internal team collab (lack of threads, etc.), though some startups or crypto projects use Telegram groups – it’s free, but not an organized workspace.
• For community building: Discord is cost-effective – you can run a large community without paying a cent. Only if you want vanity perks do you need Nitro/boosts, and even that can be community-funded. Slack’s free plan could support a small community (90-day history cap might be okay for low-traffic discussion), but generally Slack isn’t used for open communities since members would be lost after 90 days of messages and you can’t scale to huge numbers without cost. Telegram is also free for communities (many public groups exist), but moderation tools are simpler and discoverability is harder (Telegram isn’t designed around algorithmic discovery or server listings like Discord is).
• For individual use: All three are free to chat with others. Only Telegram has an in-app premium aimed at individual power-users. Slack has no concept of an individual user premium – it’s paywalled by workspace. Discord’s Nitro is individual but purely optional for fun/extras, not needed for basic use.

Table: Pricing Overview

(Sources: Slack pricing from official site; Discord Nitro from CEO interview musically.com; Telegram Premium from Statista/Business of Apps businessofapps.com.)

Primary Use Cases and Communities

Each platform has a “home turf” where it excels:

• Slack – for Work Collaboration: Slack is primarily used in business and professional team collaborationsettings zapier.com zapier.com. It’s ideal for internal company communications, project teams, and cross-organizational collaboration (via Slack Connect channels). Common use cases:
  • Tech companies coordinating software development (integrating code deploy alerts, etc.).
  • Corporate departments (HR announcements, IT support channels).
  • Client communications – some agencies invite clients into Slack Connect channels to collaborate.
  • Scale: Slack works best when everyone in a workspace is part of the same org or a defined group. It’s less suited to open public communities because Slack accounts are siloed per workspace and have to be invited.
  • Examples: IBM, Amazon, and hundreds of thousands of organizations use Slack; reportedly over 215,000 paid organizations by early 2025 demandsage.com. Even communities like open-source projects or professional associations sometimes use Slack (though many moved to Discord or others).
  • Slack thrives in environments that value organized communication, searchability, and integrations with tools – e.g. dev teams needing GitHub pings and incident rooms find Slack extremely useful. On the flip side, some find Slack can encourage distraction (the “Slack overload” of too many channels), but that’s a matter of workplace culture.
• Discord – for Communities and Social Groups: Discord began with gaming communities and still is extremely popular among gamers en.wikipedia.org, but it has expanded to all kinds of communities: fandoms, hobby groups, study groups, crypto and NFT communities, you name it. Typical use cases:
  • Gaming clans/guilds: coordinating voice chat during games, discussing strategies.
  • Interest-based communities: e.g. a Discord server for a popular YouTuber or a topic like photography, where fans congregate.
  • Education and clubs: students use it for study groups, or universities run Discords for classes (especially after 2020’s pandemic remote shift).
  • Developer communities and open source: Many open-source projects have Discord servers now for support and chat (it overtook Slack in this area due to cost and ease of joining).
  • Social hangouts: Friend groups might use a private Discord server as their group chat hub, enjoying features like music bots or just the persistent voice channel to socialize.
  • The key is community persistence – a Discord server is like a virtual place you can drop into anytime. Many are public; some are private invite-only. The culture skews younger, given its gaming roots, but by 2025 a much broader demographic uses it (communities like knitting, fitness, personal finance have Discords). Discord also has become a hub for some developer and professional groups (though Slack and LinkedIn groups still dominate business networking).
  • Notably, Discord emphasizes informal, casual communication. It’s not uncommon for a Discord server to have memes, off-topic channels, voice chat parties, etc. Businesses may find that too informal (and there’s also a lack of enterprise security), so they usually avoid Discord for official comms.
  • Discord’s growth: Over 200 million MAUs globally as of 2024 musically.com, and used in myriad communities. It’s one of the 30 most visited websites worldwide by traffic en.wikipedia.org, indicating the breadth of use.
• Telegram – for Personal Messaging, Broadcast, and Activism: Telegram’s use cases are diverse:
  • Everyday messaging: In certain regions (Eastern Europe, Middle East, parts of Asia), Telegram is a top personal messaging app, rivaling WhatsApp. Friends and family use it for chats, sharing photos, etc. It’s especially popular among those who value its privacy stance or features like cloud sync and no size limits.
  • Interest-based public channels: Telegram has many one-way Channels where an admin (or a small group) posts updates to an unlimited audience. These function like a news feed or microblog. They range from official announcements (e.g. some government agencies, like Ukraine’s digital ministry, broadcast on Telegram channels) to tech news feeds, to fan clubs. Users can subscribe to these channels to get updates.
  • Communities and group chats: While not as structured as Discord, Telegram supports large group chats(up to 200k). Examples include crypto discussion groups (Telegram is the platform for many cryptocurrency project communities), local community groups, activist groups, etc. During various political movements (e.g. protests in Iran, Hong Kong), Telegram has been used by organizers and participants to coordinate, due to its relative resistance to censorship and large group sizes.
  • Broadcast for creators: Some influencers or content creators run Telegram channels to blast out messages to fans (as an alternative to email newsletters or Twitter). For instance, Telegram founder Durov posts updates on his own public channel.
  • File sharing and cloud storage: Some use Telegram like a personal cloud drive (sending files to their own “Saved Messages” chat, since it allows large files up to 2 GB free, 4 GB premium). It’s also been used to share content like videos or PDFs in channels, sometimes pirated content – a bit of a headache for copyright enforcement.
  • Replacement for SMS/WhatsApp in privacy-conscious circles: Tech-savvy users or those under oppressive regimes may prefer Telegram or Signal over SMS/WhatsApp. Telegram’s multi-device support and usernames (no need to share phone number) make it popular among journalists, IT communities, etc.
  • With 950M+ monthly users by 2024 en.wikipedia.org, Telegram’s user base is global. It’s the #1 messaging app in some countries like Iran and Ethiopia, and widely used in India, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, etc. en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. Its use in the U.S. is smaller, mostly tech circles and diaspora communities.
  • Activism and controversies: Telegram’s openness has made it a tool for dissidents and also for nefarious actors. It’s been both praised as a free speech tool and criticized as a haven for extremists or misinformation au.news.yahoo.com lemonde.fr. This duality means use cases range from coordinating charity drives to, unfortunately, hate groups (which Telegram does remove if alerted, but it’s reactive).

Summary: Use Slack if you need a professional workspace with structured communication for teams and projects. Use Discord if you want to build or join an interactive community or hangout space with rich real-time interaction (especially for hobbies, gaming, fandoms). Use Telegram if you need a versatile messaging app for personal or large audience outreach, especially in contexts where privacy or broad distribution is key (news channels, group chats that span hundreds of people, etc.).

Often, these platforms are complementary rather than either-or. For example, a crypto startup might use Slack internally, Discord for their open-source community chat, and Telegram to announce news to a general audience. Each serves a different audience.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Each Platform

Let’s distill the pros and cons of Slack, Discord, and Telegram in 2025:

Slack Strengths:

• Excellent for focused work collaboration: Threaded conversations, channel organization, reminders, and powerful search make it easy to keep track of discussions without losing context zapier.com zapier.com.
• Integration powerhouse: Connects with countless work apps (Google, Office 365, GitHub, Trello, Zoom, etc.), bringing all notifications into one place zapier.com. Slack can automate workflows and act as a central hub for work.
• Enterprise features: Granular admin controls, compliance exports, single sign-on, and high security compliance – meets needs of large companies. Used by many Fortune 100 companies (77% of them as of 2025) demandsage.com demandsage.com.
• Polished and reliable: Generally very stable (uptime is high, though occasional outages occur), with a clean UI. Offers good support and documentation. Now backed by Salesforce’s resources.

Slack Weaknesses:

• Costly at scale: Free tier is limited (90-day message retention) demandsage.com, and paid plans per user can become expensive for large teams. Competing products like Microsoft Teams (free with Office) undercut on price.
• Not ideal for massive communities: Slack wasn’t built for open communities or millions of users. It’s closed-space; inviting large external audiences is cumbersome (Slack has a user cap of 1000 on Free and does not provide discovery features).
• Feature overload & context switching: Some find Slack messages incessant, leading to “notification fatigue” or distraction at work – a cultural issue but one Slack is often blamed for. It can feel like an obligation to respond quickly, though features like Do Not Disturb can mitigate this.
• No voice channels or advanced social features: Slack’s audio/video (Huddles, clips) are improving but still rudimentary compared to Discord’s always-on voice. Slack is more transactional, less fun – not the place for casual hangouts or building a fan community.
• Privacy (for personal use): Virtually none – your messages are accessible to workspace admins and Slack. Not a platform for sensitive personal comms.

Discord Strengths:

• Real-time community engagement: Exceptional voice chat (low latency, high quality) and seamless switching between text and voice make it feel like a virtual living room for communities zapier.com. Great for events, live discussions, or just hanging out.
• Free and feature-rich: Offers unlimited message history, unlimited users per server (with high limits) and robust features (screen sharing, file sharing albeit with limits) all for free. The free tier being so capable is a huge draw zapier.com zapier.com.
• Custom community tools: Roles and permissions let mods tailor access; bots extend functionality (e.g. auto-moderation, leveling systems, games). Discord built-in features like Announcements channels (with follower channels) and Forum channels help manage larger communities.
• Cross-platform with gaming integrations: Available on PC, web, mobile, with integrations to Xbox/PlayStation accounts, Spotify status, etc. It’s deeply embedded in gaming culture – e.g. many games have official Discords for their player base, and Discord overlay can show who’s speaking while you game.
• Fun and social features: From custom emojis/stickers to profile customization and presence info, Discord makes online socializing engaging. Nitro adds even more flair, which many enthusiasts enjoy kotaku.com kotaku.com.

Discord Weaknesses:

• Not business-oriented: Lacks threaded conversation depth of Slack (Discord’s threads are lightweight) and advanced productivity integrations zapier.com zapier.com. It can be hard to retrieve information posted in the past due to less robust search and no built-in post categorization (outside of new forum channels). For structured projects, Discord can be messy.
• Moderation and safety challenges: Running a large public Discord means dealing with trolls, spam, etc. While Discord provides some tools (AutoMod, verification levels), moderation largely falls to volunteer admins. There have been incidents of hate groups or illegal content on Discord that required intervention en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. Also, the 2023 username change rollout upset users and highlighted Discord’s occasional communication missteps with its community kotaku.com kotaku.com.
• No end-to-end encryption: Private communications on Discord are not truly private from Discord itself theverge.com theverge.com. This may deter use for sensitive discussions. Also, some enterprise IT departments won’t approve Discord due to data control concerns.
• Dependence on platform stability: If Discord has an outage, entire communities go dark. Discord had a major outage in January 2022 (about an hour of downtime globally), and minor ones occasionally. It’s not frequent, but when it happens, it’s very disruptive given the centralization.
• Limited file size and no native document collaboration: Free Discord only allows 8 MB file uploads (recently upped to 25 MB) – not great for sharing large files. And unlike Slack or Telegram, you can’t even send a simple file above that without Nitro. For collaboration, Discord lacks things like a built-in wiki or docs (though you can hack things with pinned messages or use forums).

Telegram Strengths:

• Massive scalability and broadcast ability: Can host extremely large groups and unlimited-subscriber channels en.wikipedia.org. No other messaging app allows one sender to reach millions as easily. Great for announcements, broadcasting news, or community-wide alerts.
• Privacy features and anonymity: Users can join groups or channels without exposing their phone number (just a username). Secret Chats offer true end-to-end encryption for one-on-one conversations. Telegram’s strong stance against censorship (e.g. refusing backdoors) is valued by many activists en.wikipedia.org reuters.com.
• Rich media and file sharing: Supports sending any file type up to 2 GB (free) or 4 GB (premium), far exceeding Discord/Slack limits. Great for sharing photos, videos (has a compression toggle), documents, etc. It also has features like media editor, animated stickers, video messages, and now Stories – very multimedia-friendly.
• Multi-device and cloud sync: Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is cloud-based – you can log in on multiple devices and get your entire chat history immediately. This is super convenient. Also, if you lose your phone, your chats (except Secret Chats) are backed up on the cloud.
• Bots and mini-apps: Telegram’s bot ecosystem enables everything from in-chat games to utility bots (like polls, shopping, etc.). This has spurred innovation – e.g. during COVID, some countries used Telegram bots for vaccine appointment scheduling. Users can deeply customize their experience with third-party bots and Telegram’s open API.
• Speed and lightweight: Telegram apps are generally fast and responsive. The protocol is data-efficient (works well even on weaker connections). And it’s free of charge with no ads in personal chats, which makes the user experience pleasant.

Telegram Weaknesses:

• Not purpose-built for enterprise or structured collaboration: It lacks threaded discussions (topics help, but still not as intuitive for back-and-forth on specific subtopics) and lacks integrations with work tools. As a result, it’s rarely used as an internal team collab tool in structured projects – it would be hard to track tasks or decisions in a busy Telegram group.
• Security perception issues: While Telegram is secure against mass surveillance and offers E2E in secret chats, experts often critique that most chats aren’t E2E by default (unlike WhatsApp) reuters.com. Users must trust Telegram’s handling of cloud chat data. Some also mistrust the custom MTProto encryption (preferring open standards like Signal’s protocol). So for the absolute highest security needs, Telegram might not satisfy some cryptographers. (Signal or Matrix might be recommended instead for default E2E.)
• Content moderation and misuse: Telegram’s hands-off approach means it has a lot of illicit content floating around – piracy channels, extremist propaganda, scam bots, etc. They do remove ISIS-related channels and such when found, but there’s no active algorithm policing content as on Facebook. This “Wild West” environment can be a downside if you stumble into spam. Also, because anyone can message you if they find your username/number (unless you adjust settings), users sometimes get spam/scam messages.
• Limited discoverability and community tools: Finding good Telegram groups or channels can be hard – there’s no official directory inside the app (people rely on third-party websites or word of mouth). Group admins have fewer tools than Discord (no built-in tiered roles beyond basic admin rights, though third-party bots can add some). And moderation in large Telegram groups can be challenging, especially given the anonymity.
• No native voice rooms (persistent): While Telegram has group voice chats, they’re not as community-centric as Discord’s always-on channels. They function more like conference calls or live podcasts – you have to deliberately start one each time (though in channels, they can persist as “Live Streams”). It’s not an always-there voice lobby, which some communities might want.

In summary, Slack’s strengths lie in productivity and integrations, but it’s gated and not social; Discord’s in community engagement and real-time comms, but less organized and no privacy; Telegram’s in broadcast reach and flexible messaging with privacy options, but not specialized for enterprise or threaded collaboration.

Expert Insights and Analyst Commentary

To get a broader perspective, let’s look at what commentators and experts say about these platforms as of 2024–2025:

• On Slack’s Position: Analysts often compare Slack with Microsoft Teams (its giant competitor). By 2025, Teams had far more users (Microsoft reported 270 million users in 2022 for Teams) and deeply penetrated the corporate market electroiq.com electroiq.com. Slack, with ~65 million MAUs in 2024 demandsage.com, is smaller but has a stronghold in tech and media companies. Experts note Slack’s innovative features like Canvas and AI integrations are attempts to differentiate from Teams and boost productivity within Slack. Salesforce is also embedding Slack as “the HQ for your 360 customer view,” leveraging Slack for cross-team coordination on sales/service cases slack.com. However, industry observers point out that Microsoft bundles Teams at no extra cost, which is a tough moat; Slack’s strategy is to focus on user experience and platform openness to maintain its premium appeal. For users, the choice often boils down to what your colleagues are using – one TechCrunch writer quipped, “Slack is great for collaboration, but it’s hard to beat ‘free’ when your company already pays for Office” (in reference to Teams). Slack’s challenge is convincing new enterprise clients to pay for something when a “good enough” alternative is bundled in their stack.
• On Discord’s Evolution: Discord’s CEO Jason Citron emphasized in an April 2024 interview that Discord is no longer just for gaming – more than 80% of active users engage in non-gaming communities as well en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. He envisions Discord as a platform for “small, private, interest-based communities” that represent a “more private, segmented internet” rather than public social media feeds theverge.com theverge.com. Tech journalists note Discord’s unique position: it’s like a hybrid of Slack (in interface) and Reddit (in community-driven structure) and has become a cornerstone of online culture. However, they also flag the content moderation issue – The Verge’s Nilay Patel pressed Citron on why Discord doesn’t do end-to-end encryption; Citron responded that keeping users safe, especially teens, requires some moderation capability, and Discord aims to strike a balance by giving server admins tools and monitoring public spaces, while DMs remain private (though not E2E) theverge.com theverge.com. Analysts also praise Discord’s Nitro model – instead of plastering ads, Discord monetizes by selling experiences to power users, which fosters goodwill in communities. A Bloomberg piece cited by MusicAlly notes Discord’s 2023 revenue around $600 million and that it was on track to become profitable thanks to Nitro musically.com. This suggests a sustainable path forward, which is good news considering past speculation about Discord being acquired (Microsoft made an offer in 2021 which Discord declined) theverge.com theverge.com.
• On Telegram’s Trajectory: Telegram doesn’t have public earnings calls, but tech commentators observe its explosive user growth. In 2022 when WhatsApp had an outage and controversial policy update, Telegram gained 70 million users in one day en.wikipedia.org. By 2025 crossing 1 billion MAUs puts it in rare company (only WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat are at that scale). Pavel Durov presents Telegram as a mission-driven project for free communication not beholden to any government or big corporation en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. Experts often contrast Telegram with Signal: Telegram is more feature-rich and mass-adopted but not all encrypted, whereas Signal is ultra-private but minimalistic. For many, Telegram hits a sweet spot of convenience and privacy. However, security researchers caution that “Telegram is not as secure as you think if you don’t use Secret Chats,” highlighting that normal chats could be accessed if Telegram were compromised or pressured (as seen in the Brazil case) reuters.com reuters.com. On the societal impact, Radio Free Europe and other outlets have called out “The Dark Side of Telegram” – how it facilitates disinformation networks that are harder to police timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Yet, activists in countries with censorship laud Telegram for enabling organizing and information flow when other platforms are blocked. This duality is often covered in expert discussions. Telegram’s move into monetization is also watched: if it needs to sustain itself, will it introduce more ads? So far, Durov promises user experience comes first and no data-selling. He has publicly criticized WhatsApp’s security and Facebook’s data practices, using that as Telegram’s positioning.

In essence, expert opinions see Slack as a focused work tool facing competitive pressures, Discord as a rising social platform creating a new category of “digital third places,” and Telegram as a massive communication network balancing growth, privacy, and platform abuse issues. Each has a distinct value proposition that’s expected to continue in 2025 and beyond.

Recent Developments (2024–2025)

The past year or two have seen significant updates and news for each platform:

Slack (2024–2025 Updates)

• New Slack Design (2023): In Q3 2023, Slack unveiled a major redesign of its interface. This introduced a new unified Home view that surfaces DMs, mentions, and activity in one place, aiming to help users focus slack.com slack.com. The sidebar was tweaked so that tools like Canvas, Workflow Builder, etc., are easier to access. This was the biggest UI change in Slack in years, intended to streamline navigation.
• Slack Canvas & Lists: Rolled out broadly in late 2023 and 2024, Canvas is an embedded doc/wiki feature in Slack theverge.com theverge.com. Every channel can have a Canvas (and you can have standalone ones) to capture persistent info – meeting notes, onboarding docs, etc. This helps keep knowledge in Slack instead of lost in message threads theverge.com theverge.com. Slack Lists (launched in 2023 as well) allow lightweight task tracking within Slack. These moves blur the line between Slack and tools like Confluence or Asana, indicating Slack’s ambition to be a one-stop collaboration hub.
• AI Integration (Slack GPT / Slack AI): In mid-2023, Salesforce announced Slack GPT, bringing generative AI features to Slack salesforce.com metrigy.com. In 2024, Slack began rolling out AI features such as channel summaries, thread summarization, and AI-powered search that can retrieve answers from your conversation history slack.com thelettertwo.com. Slack also introduced “Einstein GPT” integration – allowing users to query Salesforce records or have AI draft messages based on CRM data, all within Slack siliconangle.com. By 2025, Slack’s paid plans include AI message translation, automated summaries of missed messages, and AI-assisted composing slack.com salesforceben.com. This is a response to the trend of AI in productivity apps and could be a differentiator against competitors.
• Platform Changes and Consolidation: Slack tightened integration with other Salesforce products (e.g. Sales Cloud alerts in Slack). Also, Slack changed some plan features in 2025 – for instance, expanding some security features to lower tiers to entice upgrades slack.com. On April 9, 2025, Slack deprecated the old “channel canvases” in favor of the new Canvas tabs approach slack.com slack.com (an example of iterating based on user feedback).
• Outages: Slack had a notable downtime on Jan 24, 2024 for a subset of users for a few hours slack-status.com. Additionally in Feb 2024, an odd glitch made the close button in the UI disappear for some users slack-status.com. While not massive, these incidents were acknowledged on Slack’s status site. Historically, Slack’s worst outage was Jan 4, 2021 (a few hours globally), but 2024 has been relatively stable.
• Slack Security Incident: As mentioned, on Dec 31, 2022 Slack disclosed a security incident – hackers used stolen employee tokens to access Slack’s GitHub code repos wired.com. Slack confirmed no customer data was affected, but it drew attention that Slack hid the blog post from search indexing initially wired.com. This raised some eyebrows in the security community, but Slack’s transparent post-mortem and quick response were generally well-received wired.com.
• Leadership: In early 2022, Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield left (shortly after Salesforce’s Bret Taylor left; there was turnover post-acquisition). Lidiane Jones took over as Slack’s CEO within Salesforce. Slack’s direction under Salesforce has been to tie it more into the “Customer 360” platform. By 2025, some users worry Slack could lose its innovative edge, but features like Canvas and AI show it’s still evolving.

Discord (2024–2025 Updates)

• Username Overhaul (2023): Discord’s biggest change in 2023 was removing the four-digit discriminator system for usernames. Users had to pick unique @usernames (e.g. @alice instead of Alice#1234). This caused widespread confusion and backlash kotaku.com kotaku.com, as many feared losing their handles to impersonators. Discord argued it would make it easier to add friends without the numeric code kotaku.com, but the community sentiment was largely negative, viewing it as disruptive to identity and possibly favoring early or Nitro users (since rollout was phased by tenure). By 2025, the change is done, but it’s a lesson in how even core loyal users can be ruffled by Discord’s decisions.
• AI Features and Clyde: In March 2023, Discord launched an AI-incarnated Clyde chatbot (using OpenAI’s tech) that could answer questions and engage in conversations, but only in a limited test tubefilter.com. They also added AutoMod AI, which uses AI to flag content violating rules with context awareness gizmodo.com, and Conversation Summaries to bundle streams of messages into digestible recaps gizmodo.com. However, Clyde AI was later shelved by end of 2023 due to low usage or issues redact.dev. Discord is likely refining its approach to AI – possibly focusing on moderation and summarization rather than a general chatbot.
• App Integrations and App Directory (2023): Discord started an App Directory in late 2022 to officially list bots/apps you can add to servers, making it easier to discover and trust them. In 2023, they pushed more activities(like casual games you launch in voice channels) and integration with services like YouTube (a Watch Together feature). These are small steps toward a platform play beyond just bots.
• Moderation and Policy: Discord updated its policies to tackle harmful content – e.g. banning harmful medical misinformation in 2022, cracking down on violent extremist organizations. In Jan 2022, after the U.S. Capitol riot revelations that far-right groups used Discord, Discord made efforts to improve trust & safety and transparency reports. It also introduced Teen Safety Assist features (e.g. alerting teens if they receive a friend request from someone with no mutual connections, etc.) theverge.com theverge.com.
• Layoffs (2023): In Dec 2023, Discord laid off about 4% of its staff (around 40 people) citing that they grew too fast in some departments. This was relatively small but indicated Discord’s focus on achieving profitability. It coincided with other tech layoffs in late 2023.
• Growth and Profitability: As per the April 2024 interview, Discord was on track to be profitable that year musically.com, a milestone for a company that had raised lots of VC funding. The user base “a little over 200 million MAU” in early 2024 musically.com shows healthy growth from ~150M in 2021. Discord likely has around 750 million registered accounts (extrapolating from 563M in 2023 startupgeek.com). It’s becoming a fundamental piece of the internet’s social infrastructure, albeit somewhat under the radar compared to giant networks.
• Notable Outage: On March 8, 2022, a widespread API outage took Discord down for about two hours – significant since it’s rare. In 2024–2025, no multi-hour global outage has been widely reported, indicating decent reliability.
• Console Integration: In late 2022, Discord voice chat integration came to Xbox and PlayStation, allowing users to join Discord calls from their console kotaku.com. This is a big plus for cross-platform gaming chat.
• Competition: Discord’s success has prompted competitors like Guilded (acquired by Roblox) aiming at gamers with features like scheduling and higher quality voice for free. So far, Discord remains the giant. Microsoft’s Xbox party chat and Sony’s party chat are limited to their ecosystems, so Discord’s unique cross-game, cross-platform nature keeps it ahead.

Telegram (2024–2025 Updates)

• User Milestones: Telegram’s user growth continued rapidly. It surpassed 800M MAU in 2023, 900M by early 2024, and hit 1 billion MAU in March 2025 en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. Pavel Durov announced the 1B milestone on his channel, making Telegram the second most used chat app after WhatsApp in terms of MAU en.wikipedia.org. This growth is attributed to steady adoption in developing markets and network effects.
• Stories Feature (2023): Telegram introduced Stories (like Instagram/Snapchat style ephemeral posts) in mid-2023 for users to share moments with their contacts en.wikipedia.org. Uniquely, Telegram’s implementation allowed longer captions, choosing who can see (close friends vs public), and even dual-camera photos. Initially a Premium feature, by end of 2023 Durov decided to open up posting Stories to all users due to positive reception, with Premium users getting some extras (like longer duration or more saves). This was a major shift since Durov had said for years Telegram wouldn’t add Stories – it indicates even Telegram feels pressure to incorporate popular social features.
• Username/Blockchain Experiment: In late 2022, Telegram launched the auction of premium usernames on a blockchain (TON) via a platform called Fragment en.wikipedia.org. People could buy @coolname to use or trade. It generated some revenue (some names sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crypto). By 2025, this is a niche aspect but shows Telegram’s openness to web3 experiments.
• Premium Uptake: Telegram Premium reportedly reached ~1 million subscribers within first months. By 2025 maybe a few million. Durov commented that Premium helps cover some costs so Telegram doesn’t have to sell user data. They’ve added more Premium perks, like translation of entire chats, 400 favorite GIF slots, etc., to entice heavy users.
• Anticipated Features: Telegram is known to drop big updates every few months. In late 2024, they added features like topics 2.0 (improving threaded topics in groups), voice-to-text for video messages (Premium), and overhauled account login (using email as an option since requiring SMS can be an issue in some regions).
• Censorship Battles: Telegram faced government scrutiny. In Brazil (2023), as detailed, courts temporarily banned it until it provided data on extremist group chats reuters.com reuters.com. Telegram responded by offering to label posts that contain “fake news” in Brazil and complied enough to get unbanned after a few days apnews.com. In Germany, Telegram narrowly avoided being banned in 2022 by agreeing to proactively monitor and remove some hate speech content. Germany fined Telegram for not having a local agent to receive requests, etc. rferl.org. In Iran, authorities have repeatedly blocked Telegram (since 2018) because it was used in protests; Iranians access it via VPNs or unofficial forks. Russia, which banned Telegram in 2018, lifted the ban in 2020 when Telegram showed willingness to assist in anti-terror cases. So Telegram’s relationship with governments is evolving: it’s still banned or restricted in a handful of countries, but largely available and used heavily despite that.
• Outages: Telegram had a notable outage on October 25, 2022, affecting users globally for about 2 hours. Another on July 9, 2023, due to network issues. Such outages spark flurries on Twitter because many rely on Telegram for news updates. But overall, Telegram’s uptime is good given its scale.
• Encryption Debate: In late 2023, UK’s Online Safety Bill posed a threat to end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp and Signal loudly opposed it, saying they’d sooner be blocked in UK than break encryption. Telegram’s secret chats presumably would face same issue, but Telegram (less reliant on UK market) was quieter in that debate. Some experts noted Telegram could technically comply since most chats aren’t e2e; but that would contradict its privacy image. In the end, the UK bill softened language around scanning encrypted messages, so Telegram didn’t have to take drastic action.

Overall, each platform has been actively improving and responding to challenges. Slack is adding features to justify its price vs. Microsoft; Discord is refining community tools and trying to keep users happy as it scales (sometimes learning from backlash); Telegram is balancing explosive growth with pressures from regulators and the need to monetize responsibly.

Emerging and Upcoming Messaging Platforms in 2025

While Slack, Discord, and Telegram are giants in their domains, the landscape is always changing. Here are a few other messaging or collaboration platforms gaining attention in 2025, and how they compare:

• Microsoft Teams: Not “emerging” (it’s dominant in enterprise), but worth mentioning. Teams has effectively become Slack’s top competitor for workplace chat, boasting nearly 300 million users by 2023 electroiq.com. It offers similar channel-based communication plus deep integration with Office apps (real-time document co-editing in chats, built-in video meetings). Many businesses stick with Teams because it’s included in Office 365. However, Teams’ UI is often criticized as clunky or less intuitive than Slack’s. In 2025, Teams is rolling out a major 2.0 overhaul to improve performance. For those in a Microsoft ecosystem, Teams is the default. Slack vs Teams often comes down to preference: Slack seen as sleeker and more integrations; Teams as one-stop for those already in Outlook/Office. Slack even filed an antitrust complaint in the EU about Teams bundling forbes.com. Regardless, any discussion of Slack includes Teams as the elephant in the room.
• Mattermost and Rocket.Chat: These are open-source Slack alternatives that organizations can self-host. Mattermost offers channel-based chat with a UI similar to Slack (threads, file sharing, etc.), plus it can run on your own servers for full data control – appealing to companies with strict security (even the US military has used Mattermost for self-hosted comms). Rocket.Chat is another open-source team chat, popular in government and healthcare (Brazil’s government deployed it widely). In 2025, these solutions are mature and provide comparable core features to Slack/Teams (though not as many third-party app integrations). They lack the polish and massive app ecosystems, but they’re improving in UX and adding features like Bridges to WhatsApp/Telegram. For teams that want data sovereignty or to avoid per-user fees, these are viable. They haven’t gone “mainstream” beyond niche, but the open-source community and privacy-conscious organizations give them steady support.
• Element (Matrix): Element is a client for the Matrix protocol, an open decentralized messaging network. Matrix has gained traction as a secure, self-hostable alternative to Discord/Slack/Telegram. Governments in France and Germany have adopted Matrix for official communications (to avoid dependency on U.S. platforms). In 2025, Matrix is getting more consumer-friendly – Element offers end-to-end encryption by default (even in large public rooms) and supports threads, replies, and bridging to other networks. The decentralized nature means no single company controls it, which is attractive for resilience and privacy. The trade-off is a slightly more complex user experience, and network effects (not all your friends are on Matrix). But it’s an “upcoming” platform especially in the tech-savvy and open-source circles. If privacy is paramount or you want to own your data on your server, Matrix/Element is a forward-looking choice.
• Signal: Signal is primarily a private one-to-one and small group messaging app (like WhatsApp but with stronger privacy). It’s not in the same category as Slack/Discord because it doesn’t do large open communities or workplace channels. However, it’s worth noting as an “emerging” standard for secure messaging. As of 2025, Signal has added features like wallpapers, emoji reactions, and is experimenting with usernames to reduce reliance on phone numbers. It’s nonprofit-run and funded by donations. For anyone who needs truly secure comms (journalists, activists), Signal is often recommended over Telegram because everything is end-to-end encrypted by default and not stored on a cloud. That said, Signal’s group max is around 1000 members, and it’s not built for the kind of community management Discord allows. It’s more of a WhatsApp alternative, but trending upward especially after some high-profile endorsements (Elon Musk tweeted “Use Signal” in 2021, etc.). Not a Slack/Discord competitor, but relevant in the messaging space conversation.
• WhatsApp Communities: WhatsApp (with 2+ billion users) in late 2022 launched a Communities feature, letting multiple group chats be under a community umbrella (e.g. a school could have a Community containing separate groups for each class, announcements, etc.). This moves WhatsApp a bit into Slack/Discord territory for organizing larger group structures. While not nearly as feature-rich (no roles, no threaded channels), it’s significant because WhatsApp is so ubiquitous. In regions where WhatsApp is the default, people may use Communities for coordination (e.g. apartment complexes or workplaces on WhatsApp). But it’s still limited (each group in a community capped at 1024 users, etc.). By 2025 WhatsApp is reportedly adding usernames (like Telegram) and is testing cross-platform messaging to comply with EU’s Digital Markets Act. So, WhatsApp is evolving, but remains primarily a personal chat app with some community-like add-ons. It’s a far cry from Discord’s capabilities, but its sheer size means any new feature can affect millions of groups overnight.
• Guilded: Guilded is a platform very similar to Discord, focusing on gaming communities and esports. It offers free features that rival or exceed Discord – for example, server calendars for scheduling raids or matches, better threading in chat, up to 256 kbps voice quality free (Discord locks that behind boosts) guilded.gg, and integrated forums. Guilded was acquired by Roblox in 2021 but still operates independently. It hasn’t achieved mass adoption; many gamers are entrenched in Discord. But some communities (especially Roblox-related, given the backing) prefer Guilded for specific tools. In 2025, Guilded is arguably the closest direct competitor to Discord’s model. It markets itself as “by gamers, for gamers” with no business pretenses. If Discord ever stumbles or over-monetizes, Guilded is poised as a ready alternative. However, network effect is a big hurdle – people go where their friends are. Guilded’s userbase is likely in the low millions, versus Discord’s hundreds of millions.
• Workplace by Meta (formerly Facebook Workplace): Workplace is an enterprise chat/collab tool by Meta. It had some uptake around 2017–2018 in large companies (Walmart uses it for frontline employees). It offers Facebook-like news feed plus chat and live video. However, it’s somewhat faded from the spotlight by 2025 – overshadowed by Teams and Slack. Still, Meta keeps it around especially for companies wanting a familiar social interface internally. Not really up-and-coming at this point, more steady in its niche.
• AI-Driven Platforms: With the AI boom, there are concepts of AI-first collaboration apps. For example, products like Notion are adding AI to summarize discussions, or new startups envisioning an AI that organizes your team’s knowledge from chats. While not separate messaging platforms yet, it’s an area to watch – Slack and Teams are actively integrating AI (as noted). It’s possible we’ll see an AI-centric communication platform emerge, but as of 2025, none has broken out significantly.

In conclusion, Microsoft Teams is Slack’s biggest rival in business; open-source options (Mattermost, Matrix/Element) appeal to those wanting control; Guilded nips at Discord’s heels in gaming; and Signal/WhatsAppinfluence the messaging expectations for personal chat. Each of these addresses certain gaps (privacy, cost, niche features) but none yet unseating the big three in their core arenas. It’s likely the ecosystem will remain diverse – with Slack, Discord, Telegram continuing strong while these alternatives serve specific audiences or gradually grow.

Conclusion: Which One is Best for You?

After examining all aspects, the “best” platform truly depends on your needs:

• Choose Slack if you need a professional team collaboration tool. It’s best for companies and organized teams that value structured communication, integrations with work apps, and enterprise-level support. Slack shines in productivity and keeping conversations on-topic and searchable. The investment makes sense if efficient teamwork is your priority and you’re willing to pay for it. For example, a software development company or a cross-functional project team would likely get the most out of Slack’s features. Downside: If your budget is tight or you want to host a public community, Slack likely isn’t the right fit.
• Choose Discord if you’re building or participating in an online community, guild, or social group – especially where real-time interaction (voice or text) is key and you want it to be free and easy to join. Discord is unparalleled for fostering a sense of presence and camaraderie in a group. It’s the go-to for gaming clans, fan clubs, study groups, or any situation where the vibe is more casual and interactive. Even some small startups choose Discord for internal chat to save money (accepting the trade-offs). Downside: It’s not ideal for formal workplace use or discussions that need to be systematically archived and referenced. Also, if you require strong privacy or dislike managing moderation, Discord could be challenging.
• Choose Telegram if you want a versatile messaging platform for personal or broad communications, with a good blend of features and privacy. It’s great for staying connected with friends/family across devices, following channels for news or interests, and participating in group chats that can scale. If you operate in a region where Telegram is popular (or need a platform resilient to censorship), it’s an excellent choice. Many content creators maintain a Telegram channel because it’s a direct line to audiences without algorithmic meddling. Downside: It’s not tailored for business project collaboration (no integrated task management) and not as community-rich (in terms of interaction features) as Discord for large groups. Also, remember to use Secret Chats for highly sensitive conversations since regular chats aren’t E2E encrypted.

In many cases, you might end up using all three for different contexts – e.g. Slack for work, Discord for gaming or hobby communities, Telegram for personal chat and news. Each offers a distinct experience: Slack is like the office conference room, Discord is the clubhouse or café, and Telegram is like a personal messaging super-app that also doubles as a megaphone.

As of 2025, all three are continuing to improve. Slack is injecting more AI and potentially working closer with Salesforce’s ecosystem. Discord is refining community features and edging toward mainstream recognition beyond gamers. Telegram is growing into a true mass-market messenger, possibly nearing an IPO or major monetization milestones.

One thing is clear – the era of email as the dominant communication medium is long over. Whether it’s coordinating a project, engaging with an online community, or broadcasting your message to the world, there’s likely a specialized platform that does it better. Slack, Discord, and Telegram represent the best of those specializations. By understanding their differences – from features to philosophy – you can leverage the one that really is best for you.

션 (Happy connecting!)

Sources: Slack user and feature info demandsage.com demandsage.com; Discord usage and CEO quotes musically.com theverge.com; Telegram stats en.wikipedia.org; comparative analyses zapier.com zapier.com; security and policy references gizmodo.com reuters.com, among others as cited throughout.