How to Make an App Like Discord: 7 Essential Features and Step-by-Step Guide
When humanity faced COVID-19 which turned our habitual way of living upside down, we had to adapt online in many spheres of our lives. Discord was one of the apps that have gained unseen popularity, with the number of active users soaring from 70 m to 150 m active over the period of 2019 - 2021.
Why Develop an App like Discord
Discord is an app based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that was introduced to the public in 2014. Gamers were of primary interest in the platform, but its usage was expanded across industries: technology, science, computers, coding, etc.
Over the years, people prefer Discord for its unique features and protection from DDoS attacks.
Discord goes into 3 markets: – it’s a web-based app, a desktop app, and a mobile app available for Android and iPhone.
Some fun facts about Discord worth knowing:
- In 2020 the value of Discord was estimated at $7 billion. Yet, Bloomberg says the value was added up to $15 billion in 2021.
- The Discord’s funding brought $482.6 Million since its launch
- Discord’s income in February 2022 is estimated to be $2.27 million from Android and $2.25 million from iPhone.
- The amount of registered users is over 300 million.
Doesn’t the figures evoke the question, “how to make an app like Discord”?
In this piece, we’ll give you an overview of how to create an app like Discord and recommend you a topper developer in the field.
Must-Haves to Create an Application like Discord
I. Servers + Channels
Serves are the communication-aimed spaces that are put together with channels. They are usually topic-focused.
The channels come in the forms:
Voice channels, where users exchange information via audio/video calls in a real-time mode.
Text channels are well-known chats that support images and file sharing.
Users are allowed to create their own servers and channels, enforce their own rules, and set a roles hierarchy.
II. Roles Management
A server admin can distribute functions and grant permissions over servers or channels. In total, Discord has around 30 permissions that include providing users the ability to read or write in the channel. An extended number of admins’ permissions brought fame to Discord. So, role management is a must-have if you set your heart on making an app like Discord.
III. Chat Feature
It’s odd to mention how important chats are when it comes to answering the question of how to create a chat app like Discord. Discord provides an opportunity to chat directly with a certain user or in groups of up to 10 people. Discords’ chats allow voice, video, and text messaging.
To make chats work as they do, Discord developers brought about WebRTC, an API-enabled open-source tool.
Also, the file-sharing function is worth mentioning for those who are going to build an app like Discord. The file-sharing option can be unlimited, or the size of a shared file can be limited for some user types.
Yet, chat history must be secure. Celadon has dealt with and successfully overcame the difficulties with storage management when developing products. For instance, the challenge faced and solved in an audio streaming app.
IV. Message Notifications
Notifications get rid of the headaches of constantly checking for texts. Actually, it’s hard to imagine any chat-enabled app without a notification system. If you decided to develop an app like Discord, building a notification system is not enough, introduce a notification setting, to boot. To enhance users' experience, let them customize their notifications:
- Mute all alerts
- Mute a certain channel or server
- Notify when a user’s name is tagged
- Notify when a certain word is mentioned.
V. Screen share feature
Since Discord usage stretches beyond gaming and serves as means for online schooling and work, screen sharing is a default feature to build a Discord-like app.
During a video call via Discord, a user can let other call participants see the entire screen or just a window of an opened app. Also, Discord built in a short note feature to leave notes while the display is shared.
VI. Chat History
Reviewing chat history is important for many fields where a Discord-like app is to be used. Whether it’s needed for a personal matter or business, think over the adding of history and chat search.
Chat history requires unlimited storage. Even though text messages are light weighted, they tend to accumulate and occupy the storage massively. And, yes, we have already developed a file sharing option that is also to be kept in history and of more significant weight.
VII. Social accounts integration
When you start to make an app like Discord, let users enjoy social media integration. They will love it. Leaning on the field, you can offer to link a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, Stream, or any other industry-related network.
So, How to Make an App like Discord
For professionals, like Celadon, making an application like Discord goes in just a few steps.
Discovery
Discord went off the ground thanks to the thorough target audience research. As was mentioned, they started to work in the gaming field. Portraying a user, identifying users’ necessities, and developing a program to solve them, are the key factors of VoIP app development success.
Picking a Business Model
The previous point will not only help to create an application like Discord but also select a revenue method that will work the best. The picked business model dictates how much money can you make from the app.
Assigning a Team
We allocate a team that includes developers, designers, PMs, and BA to deliver high-quality services. We select a team pivoting on employees’ expertise and qualifications, and we do that individually for each project. When the team is assigned, we set off to develop an application like Discord. We make a chat app like Discord from scratch or rescue a pre-built app that seemed to be stuck.
Creating an MVP
We love starting big things with MVPs. They are good to test a concept and collect feedback from early adopters. The gradual expansion will help you to understand which features work well, and which should be removed or added.
Everything you want to know about MVP is described in our article:
Testing
We test everything: design, usability, performance, etc. We hate bugs, and will not let them appear in an app.
Launch and Promotion
Once a ready-made app is dropped to the store, we start working on its maintenance and support. On a client request, we can provide marketing and store optimization services.
Cost to Build an App like Discord
It won’t be news to say that cost to craft a Discord clone is variable. The feature set, Developers’ rates, and other factors are subject to changes in costs.
Based on our undergo, the cost to develop an application like Discord starts at $45,000 and can reach $85,000 or even more, if you prefer to add lots of complex features.
We described in detail the price estimation in our article: How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App.
Another tricky point is designed. The cost to design an application may grow if the design is custom and includes branding, and illustrations.
Create Trending Apps with Celadon - Custom Mobile App Development Company
Still, marveling at how to make a Discord application? Get rid of this burden by trusting your program to Celadon. We’ll deliver a high-quality, bug-free, fast-to-load Discord clone and dress it up in a classy and user-friendly design.
With overcoming various challenges, we have dropped tons of applications to the stores. We actively engage in social media production and have added successful cases to our portfolio: dating app, audio streaming app, and sports social network.
Our team is a chance to address any need, whether you need to make a voice chat application like Discord from scratch or to rescue an existing one that seems hopeless. We’re strong at both. Describe your need, and we’ll surely do our best to make your idea see the market.
An important note here is that we stay in touch with our clients throughout the whole cycle. Every sprint is approved by the contractor and another one is not started until the results meet client expectations.