You've likely come across Discord if you've needed a fast and efficient way of communicating online.
Discord is a popular chat app. Although Discord initially found its niche as a way for gamers to chat while playing, it has found many more fans, particularly since the arrival of Covid lockdowns.
In addition, we have seen how it can be of immense value to creators. Creators can use Discord to turn their followers into a community.
Here, we explore the beginnings of Discord and the latest Discord statistics that highlight its popularity, revenue, audience demographics, and more.
Source: discord.com
The Latest Discord Statistics: Servers, Revenue, Data, and More:
Discord’s Origins and Growth Trajectory
Discord first arrived on the scene in May 2015.
Its creators Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevsky were looking for answers to communication challenges like how to enjoy video games while still interacting with friends more efficiently.
Thus, the genesis of Discord, which quickly became the go-to chat software for the gaming community on Reddit despite Citron's lack of promotion of the app to that specific demographic.
Through various affiliations and donors, Discord grew into the premier software for professional eSports players and expanded into the "chat for gamers."
Discord competed with two well-known apps: Skype and TeamSpeak. Skype targeted the corporate market, while TeamSpeak and Discord initially focused on gamers. However, both were packed with their own issues, which is one of the reasons Discord earned so much praise and attention from the onset.
At the time it was created, Discord initially just supported text and voice chat. Two years later, in 2017, it added video calling, streaming, and screen-sharing features.
Source: support.discord.com
Today, users can share and swap various files and media. It also supports several integrations like Twitch, Spotify, and Xbox Live. Discord is available as an app on both desktop and mobile platforms. It also works on web browsers. There’s a paid version of the app called Discord Nitro, which offers advanced features for your convenience.
Discord also changed its course when the world was hit with a global lockdown due to the pandemic. The app is no longer just for "chat for gamers," but a "chat for communities and friends."
During the pandemic, many people—not just gamers—started using Discord to communicate with their loved ones, continue socializing (digitally), and escape feelings of isolation. Even content creators and influencers saw value in using Discord in their marketing strategy.
One of Discord's initial innovations was the use of servers. Discord has both private and public servers. Private servers require an invitation to join, while public servers are open, and anyone can participate.
Game players can join a Discord server devoted to a specific game. Over time, admins gained the right to add sub-channels for particular topics. Also, people started making non-gaming servers.
Before long, creators and other non-gamers saw benefits in setting up a Discord server, creating various sub-channels to organize conversations. Servers allow channel owners to split sub-channels into different text channels and voice channels—helpful for organization.
Most recently, Discord has added threads as an additional way to separate conversations. Many servers use bots to do automatic moderation. We previously highlighted some of the best Discord servers for influencers and creators, as well as a selection of the top Discord servers for gamers.
Essential Discord Stats and Facts
Here are Discord stats to help you understand how the software has set the standard for seamless online communication and how it has progressed to the top.
1. Discord has over 200 million monthly active users.
In an April 2024 interview with The Verge, CEO of Discord Jason Citron revealed that the company now has over 200 million monthly active users. Around 67.3% of these users are men, while 31.5% are women.
Although great news for the company, one problem that arose from having such a big user base is knowing what features to keep, remove, or introduce. “Maybe it’s tens of millions of people who love it,” Citron tells The Verge. “Then, we realize that there are 50 million people or hundreds of millions of people who want something different.”
He also said that the platform has been facing “particularly unique content moderation challenges” due to the relatively young age of Discord users.
According to statistics, 20.6% of Discord users are 16 to 24 years old, while 53.4% are 25 to 34 years old. Only 2% are above 60 years old. The remaining 24% are below 16 or between 35 and 59 years old.
Users below 13 are not allowed to sign up. Servers can also set their own age restrictions, with some limiting theirs to only users above 16 or 18 years old.
2. Discord had roughly 991 million global monthly visits in April 2024.
In April 2024, Discord had over 991 million monthly visits. In March 2024, that number was 868 million—a 14% increase in just one month alone.
Based on their website traffic in March, users from the US amounted to 314 million of these visits. 38 million visits came from Brazil, while India contributed 33 million.
Other countries that contributed to this number included Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
3. Discord users in the US spend 280 minutes per month on the app.
This is the same as about nine minutes a day or roughly five hours each month. Most users don't actively browse the Discord servers. When they log in, they mostly just reply to messages and chat with their friends. They also participate in a voice or video server occasionally.
Worldwide, Discord users engage with the platform six times daily, spending about 24 minutes every day. While it may seem short compared to other platforms, it still totals 144 hours per year.
4. There are 19 million active servers on Discord weekly.
Discord's concept of having a separate server for each group has become so popular that as of December 2023, there are now 19 million active servers per week on the platform. This is a 180% increase from the 6.7 million servers estimated in 2020.
Discord's increase in popularity ensures it competes with other notable communications apps, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat (formerly Hangouts), as well as its long-term rivals Skype and TeamSpeak.
While Discord was primarily designed for gaming, registered members can now make servers for different uses.
As mentioned above, Discord servers can be private or public. Private servers need a direct invitation and are typically for a group of friends. Public servers can be linked to a Subreddit, a brand, a Twitch streamer, or a larger themed group using Discord for gathering and communication.
5. Roughly 90% of Discord servers have less than 15 members.
Although Discord has over 200 million monthly active users, around 90% of its private servers have less than 15 members each.
While less than 15 members may sound like the server isn’t doing well, the truth is it doesn’t really matter. A Discord server consists of members, channels, topics, and rules. Each server has a member limit of 500,000 after which the server owner needs to apply for an increase.
Many people have a server for each of their social groups, and most have less than 15 participants. This means that Discord users can have a more private experience and share whatever they want with their friends without the fear of getting judged by hundreds or even thousands of people.
Not to mention, users are allowed to join up to 100 different servers on the free version of Discord. They can always join another server if they want to connect to more people so that their private servers can stay private.
6. The most popular Discord server is Midjourney.
As of April 2024, the top six Discord servers based on the number of members are:
- Midjourney
- LimeWire
- Leonardo.AI
- Blox Fruits
- Genshin Impact Official
- Nova
The Midjourney server stands as the most frequented community on Discord, boasting over 20 million members. Midjourney, an AI-driven tool that converts text into images, can be accessed through a Discord bot on the program's official server.
Following Midjourney, the LimeWire server is the second most popular with a membership of 2.3 million. The third spot is held by the AI art generator Leonardo.AI server, with over 1.8 million users.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth spots are all gaming-related, with the Roblox game Blox Fruits server having over 1.7 million users, the Genshin Impact Official server having over 1.7 million users, and the Nova server with over 1.3 million users.
Educational servers have also grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, covering topics like language learning, hacking, and programming. Here are some of the most popular ones:
- English
- Study Together
- Python
The English server has over 650,000 members, Study Together has over 620,000 members, and Python has over 390,000 members.
Music servers are quite popular on Discord as well. Users can log into these servers and chill with other members while listening to music. As of April 2024, here are the top music servers on the platform:
- Lofi Girl
- Dadscord
- Gifland
Lofi Girl has over 930 thousand members, Dadscord has over 600 thousand, and Gifland has over 510 thousand.
If you are a fan of cryptocurrency-related technology, you can find similar communities on Discord as well. Many crypto Discord servers and NFT Discord servers are open for anyone to join.
7. The most installed bot on Discord is used by 22 million servers.
Discord bots are the platform’s micro workers that perform a variety of services. They can help in moderating a user's server. They welcome newbies. They can create events and notify people of upcoming giveaways. They can likewise add music and games.
Here are the five most popular active Discord bots as of May 2024:
- MEE6 (21 million servers)
- Carl-bot (10 million servers)
- ProBot (9.5 million servers)
- Dyno (9.5 million servers)
- Dank Memer (9.2 million servers)
The most popular bot on Discord is MEE6, with over 21 million servers currently using it. This bot is used by server creators to set up and customize their own.
Technically, the two most popular bots after this one are Rythm and Groovy, with 15 million and 10 million servers, respectively. However, both bots are considered ‘dead.’ They were shut down after receiving cease-and-desist letters from YouTube due to copyright issues.
Unfortunately, YouTube isn’t done cracking down on music bots. In mid-2023, it also shut down Vexera, another rising music bot used by over 3 million servers.
8. In Q4 2023, Discord's mobile app made $30.61 million.
During the last quarter of 2023, Discord reported over 30 million US dollars in revenues from its mobile app. This is a 6% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
As of May 2024, the United States is the country with the largest share of Discord’s in-app lifetime revenue, representing about 66%. This is followed by Canada with 4% and the UK with 3%. Other countries include France and Australia.
9. Discord removed 250,000 accounts in Q4 2023.
Discord is known for actively blocking accounts that violate its terms of service.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Discord removed more than 250,000 accounts. Almost half of these accounts, or 116,000, are for child safety concerns. Over 52,000 accounts were removed for exploitative and unsolicited content, while 32,000 were removed for illegal activities.
10. Discord is predicted to be worth $15 billion.
As of May 2024, Discord has an estimated valuation of about $15 billion. It’s also rumored to be preparing for an IPO either in late 2024 or in 2025.
In late 2021, Discord raised $500 million from Dragoneer Investment Group, a US investment fund. This investment happened after Discord's growth beyond video gamers to a broader audience—and after it rejected a $12 billion offer from tech giant Microsoft.
11. Discord has acquired four companies, with its latest being Gas.
In January 2023, Discord acquired Gas, a California-based social media platform for students. Gas allows students to interact, add friends, and answer polls about their classmates.
Before this, in 2021, Discord acquired Sentropy Technologies, a Texas-based cybersecurity platform developer focused on identifying malicious content and online threats. In the same year, they acquired Ubiquity6, a California-based augmented reality company specializing in VR multiplayer technology.
Discord's first acquisition was Blitz App in 2018, a personal gaming coach for various games powered by AI, including League of Legends, Valorant, CSGO, and Fortnite.
12. Most Discord users are above 20 years old.
Although most people think of Discord as an app for younger teens, the truth is that more than half of Discord’s users are between the ages of 24 and 35.
However, since 13 years old is the minimum age for joining, Discord is still very careful about keeping them safe. With teens on the platform, the company has implemented safety measures in place, such as the Family Center.
The Family Center is a voluntary tool that lets teenagers share their Discord activity with parents or guardians while respecting their independence.
Like how parents stay informed about their teens' school friends and clubs, the Family Center helps them learn about their teens' Discord contacts. The aim is to encourage discussions about internet safety and provide ways for parents and teens to connect online.
With features like the Activity Feed and weekly email summaries, Discord hopes to facilitate collaborative conversations about fostering positive online behavior within families.
13. Nitro is Discord's primary source of income.
Discord Nitro is a paid subscription service that unlocks extra features on Discord.
Discord doesn’t earn any money from advertising as they don’t have ads even in their free plans. Sales from Discord Nitro accounted for approximately $207 million in Discord’s annual revenue in 2023. This is $1 million less than its revenue in 2022 but still a big jump from its $173 million estimated revenue in 2021.
Nitro comes in two types:
- Discord Nitro Basic ($2.99 per month)
- Discord Nitro ($9.99 per month)
These subscriptions offer various benefits, including custom stickers, animated avatars and emojis, increased upload limits, high-quality video, and server boosts.
Getting Nitro is particularly useful for those who spend a lot of time on Discord, even if they don’t create servers themselves. Without Nitro, users can only join up to 100 servers at once, but having Nitro raises that limit to 200 servers.
14. Discord supplements its income via Discord Merch.
Another way that Discord earns money is through its merch, though information about its merch sales revenue alone is not publicly available.
Discord has an online marketplace where it sells official Discord-branded items. Users can order apparel like tees, tops, hoodies, sweatshirts, outerwear, and bottoms. The company partnered with DOTEXE, a minority-owned and -run company that specializes in street and gaming fashion.
Other merchandise that Discord sells includes plushies, keywords, streaming gear, headwear, drinkwear, bags, collectibles, and accessories. The store also offers various collections, like DISXCORE that celebrates its 8th anniversary and Idle Nights based on the best-selling Galactic City Pop album of the same name.
15. Thousands of creators on Discord are earning via Server Subscriptions.
Server Subscriptions enable Discord creators to make money directly from their servers. Since its launch in December 2022, thousands of creators have been earning on Discord. They offer special perks and benefits to engage and expand their communities.
Discord has also introduced new tools to help creators earn money even faster through Media Channels, though it’s still currently in Beta.
With a Media Channel added to a Server Subscription tier, creators can provide subscribers with exclusive insider content. This includes early access to your behind-the-scenes content, extra pictures, and exclusive memes and wallpapers.
Discord has also added Video, Screen Sharing, and Text in Voice to Stage Channels. This offers a variety of unique and personal video streaming experiences for Server Subscriptions, like coaching sessions, Q&A sessions, or weekly game streams.
16. Discord only takes a 10% share from games created by developers.
Like other online gaming platforms, Discord lets game creators publish their games.
However, they made a move considered surprising in the 2018 gaming landscape: they promised 90% of the net revenue to the developers themselves. This was unlike many other existing platforms, including Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store, which took as much as 30% from each published app.
Additionally, in March 2024, Discord announced the introduction of Embedded App SDK. This new feature allows developers to build games that can be played directly on the platform.
17. Discord ranks higher in the App Store than on Google Play.
Discord for iOS has over 2.7 million ratings on the App Store with an average rating of 4.7 stars. On the other hand, Discord for Android has over 5.67 million ratings, but the average rating is only 3.6 stars.
Users on Android mostly complain about bugs and glitches, like not being able to send messages, not seeing images and videos when clicked, and failing to connect to servers despite having strong internet connections. They also complain about the ever-changing layout of the app.
18. Discord is the 7th most used communication app in the US.
As of May 2024, Discord is the 7th most used communication app on Google’s Play Store, with the top six being Google Chrome, Gmail, Messenger, Google Messages, WhatsApp, and Snapchat.
Meanwhile, on the Apple App Store, it’s also the 7th most used social networking app. The six apps ahead of it are Threads, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Life360, and Google Meet.
19. Discord’s brand awareness is over 56% in the US.
Brand awareness refers to how many people recognize a certain brand. In a survey published in April 2024, it was revealed that 56% of the respondents aged 18-64 from the US knew about Discord.
Of these 56%, here are a few other interesting statistics:
- 34% like the brand
- 29% personally use it or have used it
- 88% of those who use it say they will continue using it
20. Discord Software Engineers are well-compensated.
Glassdoor's information indicates that senior software engineers at Discord earn between $180,000 and $248,000 annually, with an average of $210,000 per year.
The average annual compensation for the same position at comparable companies is around $121,572 per year, showing that Discord engineers are well-rewarded in comparison.
What’s Next for Discord?
Source: discord.com
Discord, now nine years old, has recently unveiled some ambitious new plans for the platform. On May 29th, CEO Jason Citron announced the following:
New features for game developers
Discord wants to become a hub for rising game developers and publishers by integrating new technologies and creative tools.
One new feature is Quests, which helps publishers market their games and engage players. Successful trials have already been completed in games like Genshin Impact and PUBG: Battlegrounds.
Additionally, the new Embedded App SDK allows developers to create and launch games and apps directly within the platform. This move aims to inspire and expand the developer ecosystem on Discord.
Cross-platform capabilities
Discord is planning to introduce seamless cross-platform capabilities as well. A feature like this will allow users to enjoy uninterrupted access to their communities regardless of their device.
So far, Discord has succeeded with Xbox and PlayStation 5. Users can now see what their friends are playing on those devices. They can also use voice chat from the console. If they’re on Xbox, they can automatically stream what they’re playing to their Discord community.
Speed and reliability updates
Discord is also focusing on making sure the platform is reliable and fast. Recent upgrades include reducing video latency and Go Live stream lag.
Brand identity refresh
Lastly, Discord is updating its visual identity in the form of a new layout, new icons, and new navigation options. According to Citron, Discord is not just looking to the future; it’s building it. The new visual identity ties it all together, signaling a fresh chapter in Discord’s journey.
Takeaway
Discord has steadily risen to the top of the roster of online communication apps. Millions of people use it for in-game chats, trading knowledge with peers, or just conversing with their friends online. There is no reason for the company's pace to slow, and it seems that it is only getting started.
