Is your team on the lookout for a communication app, and someone suggested Discord? Discord is wildly popular, especially among gamers, and many people use it casually to stay connected with friends and communities. But is it really a good fit for professional use?
I tested both Discord and Pumble — a Discord alternative built for business, designed specifically to help teams communicate, collaborate, and stay organized in a professional setting.
Let’s take a closer look at how these two apps compare and which one can bring more value to your business.
Table of Contents
Pumble vs Discord: Main features comparison
Right from the start, the most obvious difference between Pumble and Discord is the purpose they were built for.
Discord’s primary audience has always been gamers. It was originally created so friends could easily chat while playing video games. While it’s increasingly being used for business communication, the question remains — is it really suited for that?
Although Discord offers helpful chat and call features, its overall structure and integrations are geared toward community building rather than business workflows.
On the other hand, Pumble was built for business team communication, making it a much better fit for your professional needs.
Security is another area where these two platforms differ. Pumble follows strict protocols for information security, risk management, and data privacy. Meanwhile, Discord is built for casual use and provides fewer security and compliance safeguards.
Here’s a detailed comparison of Pumble’s features against Discord’s offerings.
| Features | Pumble | Discord |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Professional teams for businesses communication and secure workplace collaboration | Social groups for building communities and gaming |
| Pricing | – Free – PRO: $2.49 per seat/month, billed annually – BUSINESS: $3.99 per seat/month, billed annually – ENTERPRISE: $6.99 per seat/month, billed annually | – Free – Nitro Basic $2.99* per user/month (or $29.99 per user annually) – Nitro $9.99* per user/month (or $99.99 per user annually) * Prices may vary depending on localized plans |
| Interface | Clean, business oriented, easy to navigate | Game-centric design, lots of potential distractions |
| Communication | – Direct messages – Channels – Threads – Video & voice calls – Screen sharing – Video & voice messages – Guest access | – Direct messages – Channels – Threads – Video & voice calls – Screen sharing – Video & voice messages – Community servers |
| Notifications | — DND and pause notifications— Muting channels/DMs — Custom notification schedules — Reminders | — DND and pause notification — Muting channels/DMs/servers |
| Search | Advanced; you can narrow down your search using several filters | Advanced; you can narrow down your search using several filters |
| File sharing and storage | – File uploads up to 125 MB (free)/256 MB (paid plans) – Unlimited file storage | – File uploads up to 10 MB (free)/500 MB (Nitro) – Unlimited file storage |
| Integrations | Business-centric integrations designed to improve workflow | Several gaming-related native integrations, bots, and webhooks |
| Support | – 24/7 support (email chat phone) even on the free plan – Dedicated success representative for paid plans | – Standard support – Only self-service resources |
| Security | Advanced security | Standard security |
Now that we’ve glanced at the overview, let’s look at each feature and what it offers for effective team communication.
Pumble vs Discord: Discord’s paid plans don’t offer much, while Pumble gives you more for your money
Let’s start with one of the most important factors we all consider when choosing a communication app — pricing and what you get for the money you spend.
Both Pumble and Discord offer free plans, but are the paid upgrades worth it?
Pumble has a generous free plan, which includes:
- Unlimited users,
- Unlimited message history,
- 10 GB of storage per workspace,
- Voice and video messages,
- 1:1 voice and video calls, and more.
If you decide to upgrade, Pumble’s PRO plan costs $2.49 per user per month (billed annually). It includes all the free features, plus:
- Group meetings,
- Screen sharing,
- 10 GB of storage per seat, and
- Additional integrations.
Pumble also offers two additional paid plans:
- BUSINESS — $3.99 per user per month (billed annually), which includes advanced administration features.
- ENTERPRISE — $6.99 per user per month (billed annually), designed for organizations that need greater control and enhanced security features.
When it comes to Discord pricing, the free plan includes:
- Unlimited users,
- Unlimited file storage,
- Up to 100 servers,
- Group voice calls, and
- Video calls for up to 25 people.
Its two paid plans are:
- Nitro Basic – $2.99 per user per month, and
- Nitro – $9.99 per user per month.
Aside from allowing larger file uploads, Discord’s paid plans offer limited functional upgrades for professional use. Most of the extra perks are cosmetic — things like custom stickers, emojis, and backgrounds.
It’s also worth noting that Discord’s prices vary by location and currency, so be sure to check the rates in your region before committing to an upgrade.
After comparing the pricing plans of both apps, I can safely say that Pumble and its work-focused features are a worthy investment for an improved workflow, giving you a lot more bang for your buck.
💡 PUMBLE PRO TIP
For a more thorough overview of Pumble’s pricing, check out the detailed pricing page:
Create your free professional workspace today — try Pumble!
Pumble vs Discord: Discord has a game-centric design, while Pumble’s interface is easier to navigate
From the moment you open Discord, it’s clear it was built for gamers. The design, marketing, and even the terms it uses — like servers and Nitro — all have a playful, game-like feel.
The layout includes:
- Sidebars,
- Notifications,
- User roles, and
- Channel categories.
But your direct messages are kept in a completely separate menu from your servers. So, if you’re switching between private chats and group channels, you have to jump back and forth. I found this particular feature confusing for work use.
When it comes to appearance, Discord offers one light theme and 3 dark themes. Paid plans unlock extra color themes, custom app icons, and decorative profile options. I appreciate the ability to adjust spacing and scaling in the interface, but that’s more of a nice-to-have than a must.
Unlike Discord, Pumble keeps everything in one place. Its clean, minimal design makes it easy for me to find what I need.
The sidebar houses all your channels, direct messages, mentions, drafts, files, and people in one view. You can also customize it — for example, you can group channels by project or hide sections you don’t use often. I find this helpful for keeping my workspace organized and making it easy to focus on my tasks.
Pumble also lets you choose your theme, whether you prefer light, dark, or one of 10 color combinations.
All in all, I much prefer Pumble’s interface over Discord’s for its sleek look and how easy it is to navigate without any distractions.
Pumble vs Discord: Pumble keeps professional communication organized, while Discord focuses on casual chats
Both Pumble and Discord offer strong communication tools, but they take different approaches.
Discord offers more casual, free options for video and voice calls, which work well for social chats.
Pumble, on the other hand, is designed to keep team conversations organized and easy to manage.
Let’s take a closer look at how each app handles text and video/voice communication.
Text communication
When it comes to text communication, both apps are robust, but Pumble offers a few advantages that make it better suited for professional use.
Pumble allows an unlimited number of channels, while Discord limits the number of servers to 500.
Both apps support unlimited users and unlimited message history, so you can access old conversations and files without restrictions — making your communication app double as a knowledge base.
Both Pumble and Discord include features like mentions and reactions and custom emojis, which add a fun touch to conversations.
Most importantly, both apps also offer threads to organize discussions. However, Discord threads on the free plan automatically archive after 3 days of inactivity. Even in boosted servers, threads can’t stay active for longer than 3 weeks.
In contrast, Pumble doesn’t archive any messages, making ongoing conversations easier to follow.
Pumble also supports more pinned messages — up to 100 compared to Discord’s 50 — allowing important information to stay visible and easily accessible.
Overall, Pumble’s approach to text communication keeps conversations more organized, professional, and easy to navigate.
Video/voice communication
Both Pumble and Discord offer ways to connect through voice and video.
In their free plans, Pumble allows 1-on-1 voice and video meetings, while Discord offers group voice calls and video calls for up to 25 participants.
This might seem enticing at first, but Discord’s video call limit doesn’t increase with paid plans, leaving you stuck with a maximum of 25 participants, which can be quite limiting.
Pumble, on the other hand, allows up to 100 participants in meetings, depending on the paid plan you choose.
Discord also provides voice channels for instant drop-in chats, but I think those are more suited for gamers than professional teams.
Both apps support voice messages, but Pumble goes further by enabling video messages. These are especially useful when you want to explain something in detail without having to jump on a call.
With these features, Pumble offers a more practical and professional approach to voice and video communication compared to Discord’s more casual, gamer-focused options.
Pumble vs Discord: Pumble has more advanced notification options
When I’m working, I need to stay focused without being pulled into a side quest with every ping or alert. Fine-tuning my notification preferences helps me block out distractions while still staying on top of important updates.
Both Pumble and Discord let you:
- Mute specific channels and users,
- Customize notifications for each channel,
- Set different notification preferences for desktop and mobile, and
- Use the Do Not Disturb mode to pause notifications when you need uninterrupted time.
Discord also lets you mute entire servers and even has the option of a robot voice to read your notifications to you — a fun extra for gamers, but not particularly relevant in most professional settings.
Pumble, on the other hand, offers features that feel tailor-made for workplace productivity.
You can create a custom notification schedule, which I find invaluable for maintaining my work-life balance. Simply set the times you want to receive notifications for each day, and they’ll stay paused outside of that window.
You can also customize notification sounds for messages, incoming calls, and outgoing calls, so you instantly know what’s coming in without checking your screen.
Limit distractions — set up your notification schedule in Pumble
Pumble vs Discord: Both apps have similar advanced search options
When catching up on older conversations or trying to track down an important file, I rely heavily on search filters to find what I need without wasting time scrolling.
For this, both Pumble and Discord offer unlimited message history and access to all your files. They let you filter results based on:
- The sender,
- The channel or conversation the message was sent in,
- The date range, and
- Whether it contains files, links, or reactions.
With these filters, I can quickly pull up exactly what I’m looking for and get back to work.
Pumble vs Discord: Both apps have unlimited storage, but Pumble allows much bigger file sharing for free
Both apps offering unlimited storage is a huge perk, but the real difference shows when you look at their file-sharing limits.
On Discord’s free plan, you can only send files up to 10 MB. If you pay for Nitro, the most expensive plan, that limit jumps to 500 MB.
Alternatively, without opting for Nitro, if multiple users boost your server, you can unlock Level 2 and Level 3 perks. This means everyone in the server can send files up to 50 MB and 100 MB, respectively — which is still less than Pumble’s free plan limit of 125 MB.
That extra space in Pumble makes a big difference when I’m sharing high-quality images, detailed PDFs, or video clips, since I don’t have to compress or split them.
Additionally, while Discord lets you access all files and messages you ever exchanged, it still doesn’t support video recording. This means there’s no cloud storage for meeting recordings, which can be frustrating if you need to keep important discussions on file for reference.
Share bigger files for free with Pumble
Pumble vs Discord: Pumble offers work-related integrations, while Discord keeps it niche with gaming apps
Discord doesn’t really integrate with any work-related tools. Instead, it focuses on connecting your personal account to gaming platforms like Twitch and Steam, as well as social media and entertainment services like Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube.
On the server side, you can connect with third-party apps via webhooks or add some of the many popular Discord bots to make your server more fun and interactive — but none of these are designed to support a professional workflow.
Meanwhile, Pumble integrates with popular work apps your team is probably already using, and its integration catalog keeps growing.
Additionally, with the CAKE.com Marketplace, you can build and publish custom Pumble add-ons to fit your team’s exact needs.
Pumble is a product of CAKE.com — the same team behind Clockify (a time tracking app) and Plaky (project management software). I use all 3 apps daily to keep communication, task management, and productivity running smoothly.
You can get access to the ENTERPRISE plan of each app by subscribing to the CAKE.com Bundle, which gives you the best version of all 3 tools at a fraction of the regular price.
Pumble vs Discord: Discord only has self-service resources, while Pumble offers 24/7 support for free
Support is another area where Pumble and Discord differ significantly.
Discord doesn’t provide direct support for any of its plans, free or paid. You’re left to rely on its Help Center, which is extensive, but that still means you’re on your own when trying to solve an issue, no matter how much you pay.
This was frustrating for me because I much prefer talking to a person to find a solution rather than rummaging through endless pages of information.
Pumble, on the other hand, offers 24/7 support, even on the free plan. You can reach support agents via phone, email, or chat at any time.
As you move to higher paid plans, support improves further. You get a dedicated success representative when your team exceeds:
- 200 seats on the PRO plan,
- 120 seats on the BUSINESS plan, or
- 70 seats on the ENTERPRISE plan.
With this level of support available around the clock and scaling with your team’s needs, Pumble clearly comes out ahead in this category.
Skip the guess work — contact support 24/7 for free with Pumble
Pumble vs Discord: Discord is less controlled, while Pumble has advanced and reliable security
Security is a critical factor when discussing sensitive business information, and it’s another area where these apps differ.
Discord encrypts data in transit but its setup is tailored for casual use, not corporate settings.
Direct messages require you to approve friend requests before someone can contact you, and communities rely on roles, reporting tools, and bots for moderation.
Pumble, in contrast, is built for professional teams with security as a top priority.
It is certified for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and SOC 2, following strict protocols for information security, risk management, and data privacy.
Pumble also includes advanced security features like:
- Multi-factor authentication,
- Data encryption,
- Granular admin roles and permissions,
- Single sign-on (SSO), and
- Custom data retention settings.
These safeguards make Pumble a far more secure platform for handling sensitive business communication, giving teams confidence that their information is protected.
Prioritize security for you and your team — choose Pumble
Looking for professional and secure communication? Opt for Pumble
Overall, Discord is great for communities, but growing businesses need a platform built for professional work.
Pumble delivers on that promise with:
- Advanced security,
- Work-focused features, and
- A clean, distraction-free interface.
From unlimited message history and large file sharing to 24/7 support and integrations with tools your team already uses, Pumble makes team communication organized, efficient, and secure.
If your goal is to keep your business communication professional and protected, Pumble is the platform to help your team level up.
Give your team a secure, organized workspace.
