Companies similar to Discord for topic-based groups?

If you mean companies/platforms that let people form communities around specific topics or interests, rather than workplace chat, these are the closest:

Current community-platform comparisons similarly put Geneva, Circle, Mighty Networks, Discord, Reddit, Slack, and Discourse in the same broad competitive landscape.

If you're thinking specifically about a business like Discord

I'd divide the market into:

• Closest Discord substitutes: Geneva, Slack
• Structured community platforms: Circle, Mighty Networks
• Topic/discovery networks: Reddit
• Discussion/knowledge communities: Discourse
• Paid niche communities: Whop, Skool

Geneva is probably the closest conceptual match if your idea is "people join a group centered on a topic, then have separate conversations/rooms within it." It combines text, audio, video, forums, and events around smaller communities.

If you're asking because you're researching competitors for a startup idea, I can also give you a list of 20 companies in this space, including newer startups, funding, business model, and what niche each targets.

Several platforms provide server structures, topic-based channels, or community group features similar to Discord , depending on whether you want gaming features, open-source privacy, structured workplace chats, or creator monetization.

Community & Gaming Clones

• Guilded : Closely mirrors Discord's server and channel layout, but adds built-in advanced community tools like robust calendars, scheduling, and integrated forums [0.7].
• Stoat (formerly Revolt): A free, open-source alternative designed to mimic Discord’s look and feel while focusing on user privacy without heavy ad tracking.
• TeamSpeak : A classic voice-first communication tool geared toward low-latency, high-performance voice comms for competitive gaming communities.

Threaded & Open-Source Messaging

• Slack : Uses a nearly identical channel-based organization format, though it is optimized for corporate productivity and professional workflows rather than public gaming or fan communities.
• Mattermost : An open-source, highly secure messaging platform featuring channels and calling, popular with technical and developer-focused groups.
• Zulip : Combines real-time chat with a unique topic-threaded conversation model, making dense, multi-topic discussions much easier to track than standard chat streams.
• Matrix / Element : A decentralized, open standard for secure and self-hosted communication where users can assemble custom rooms and topic-based spaces.

Large-Scale & Monetized Communities

• Telegram : Supports massive public or private groups split by specific topics and channels, allowing heavy bot automation and large media file sharing.
• Mighty Networks / Circle.io : Premium alternatives built specifically for creators, educators, and brands looking to host structured, topic-driven community forums alongside courses or paid memberships.

If you can tell me what specific features matter most to you—such as built-in voice channels, open-source data control , or paid membership tools —I can help you narrow down the best platform for your group.

Here are the top alternatives to Discord for building and participating in topic-based communities and groups , broken down by what they do best:

• Slack - Best for professional, academic, and highly structured topic communities. While famous as a workplace tool, its robust threading, organized channels, and rich app integrations make it a powerhouse for public tech, developer, and hobbyist communities.
• Matrix / Element - Best for privacy-focused, decentralized communication. An open-source, end-to-end encrypted standard where you can host your own server or join existing public rooms, making it popular among open-source and privacy-minded groups.
• Guilded - Best for gaming and heavy multimedia communities. Owned by Roblox, it offers a very similar layout to Discord (voice, video, text, and calendars) but with more powerful out-of-the-box organizational features like kanban boards and scheduling tools for free.
• Revolt - Best for an open-source, minimalist Discord clone. It mirrors Discord's classic UI and feature set almost entirely, but is fully open-source and privacy-respecting without the bloat or corporate monetization.
• Telegram - Best for large public broadcast channels and mobile-first communities. Supports massive group sizes (up to 200,000 members) with organized topics/forums inside groups, fast file sharing, and robust bot support.
• Discourse - Best for traditional, searchable forum-style discussions. If your "topic-based group" needs deep, long-form, searchable archives rather than rapid-fire chat, Discourse is the modern gold standard for web forums.
• Rye / Heartbeat / Circle - Best for creator-led, paid, or structured communities. These platforms bridge the gap between chat, courses, and events, making them popular for cohort-based learning and niche hobby groups.

If you'd like, I can:

Recommend the best option based on your specific community type (gaming, tech, professional, etc.)Compare Discord vs. Guilded in more detail Explain how to set up a self-hosted Matrix server

Yes. If by “similar to Discord” you mean communities organized around topics/interests, with multiple channels or discussion spaces, there are several good categories:

These are among the platforms commonly identified as Discord alternatives in 2026.

If you're looking for topic discovery, not just a Discord replacement

I'd separate them into:

Public communities organized by topic

• Reddit
• Discourse

Discord-like social communities

• Geneva
• Matrix
• Telegram

Professional/creator communities

• Circle
• Mighty Networks
• Slack

One important distinction: Discord is primarily a place where you already know the community you want to join, whereas Reddit and some forum platforms are much better at discovering communities by topic. Recent community discussions also suggest that smaller, focused communities often produce better engagement than enormous general-purpose servers.

If you're actually looking for companies/startups whose business model is “Discord for [specific niche]”—rather than alternatives to Discord—I can give you a list of those too.

If you mean platforms where people gather into communities and then organize conversations by topic/channel, there are quite a few alternatives to Discord:

The ones I'd look at first

Geneva — probably the closest conceptual match if you're thinking "Discord, but designed around clubs and communities rather than gaming." It combines chat rooms, forums, events, video rooms, and other group features.

Circle — better if you want a polished community with distinct topics/spaces, member profiles, events, courses, livestreams, etc. It's particularly aimed at creators and membership communities.

Discourse — excellent if the important part is organized, persistent topic discussions rather than real-time chat. Discussions are searchable and designed to remain useful over time, unlike Discord's more ephemeral chat.

Reddit — essentially the extreme version of the topic/community model: communities are organized around subjects, with individual posts and threaded discussions. It's much more public/discoverable than Discord.

Mighty Networks — worth considering if you're building an actual community business. It combines community, events, courses, memberships and monetization.

If you're actually looking for companies to study/compete with

The interesting competitive set is probably:

Discord → Geneva → Circle → Mighty Networks → Reddit → Discourse → Slack

Those cover slightly different interpretations of "topic-based groups." Discord emphasizes real-time community, Discourse emphasizes persistent knowledge/discussion, Circle/Mighty emphasize owned communities, and Reddit emphasizes network-wide discovery.

If you're asking because you're thinking about building a Discord-like product, I can also give you a list of 20 startups/companies in this space, including newer/smaller ones and what differentiates each.

• Slack - Best for professional, structured, or project-based communities, featuring deeply organized channels, rich integrations, and searchable message history (with tier limits).
• Microsoft Teams - Ideal for large organizations, schools, or corporate environments that require an ecosystem tightly integrated with Office documents, video conferencing, and structured team channels.
• Matrix / Element - Perfect for privacy-conscious users and tech enthusiasts looking for an open-source, decentralized protocol where rooms are organized by topics and data can be self-hosted.
• Rely or Guild - Tailored for professional networks, masterminds, and B2B communities that want a clean, mobile-first interface without the gaming-centric baggage of Discord.
• Discourse - A modern, forum-style platform that excels at long-form, deeply indexed, and archival topic-based discussions rather than rapid-fire live chat.
• Revolt - A closely matched open-source alternative that mirrors Discord's exact aesthetic and feature set (channels, voice, roles) but prioritizes user freedom and privacy.
• Telegram - Excellent for massive global interest groups, using Supergroups and Topics to break down one massive community into clean, separate sub-threads.

Would you like to narrow these down by pricing (free vs. paid), privacy requirements , or whether you need voice/video capability?

If you mean Discord-like platforms where people join topic-based groups/communities (not just workplace chat), these are the main alternatives:

Closest matches by use case:

• “Discord but less chaotic” → Geneva, Circle, Mighty Networks
• “Find communities by topic” → Reddit, Discourse
• “Professional groups” → Slack, Circle
• “Gaming / live chat / voice rooms” → Discord is still hard to beat; alternatives often trade away some of its real-time features.
• “Own the community and data” → Discourse, Matrix/Element

If you’re thinking about building a new Discord competitor, the biggest gaps people often point to are: better topic discovery, searchable long-term knowledge, less noisy chats, identity/trust, and better community monetization.

If you are looking for platforms similar to Discord that organize communication through topic-based channels, groups, or servers, several options cater to different community styles—ranging from direct visual clones to professional or creator-focused hubs.

• Circle - Best for creator, brand, and paid communities. It blends real-time chat rooms with structured forum discussions, member directories, and event scheduling. Check it out on Circle.
• Element / Matrix - Best for open-source, privacy-focused, and self-hosted communities. Matrix operates as a decentralized protocol, and Element acts as a feature-rich client with end-to-end encryption. You can explore the setup via Element.
• Guilded - Best direct gaming and streaming alternative. It heavily mirrors Discord's server layout while adding built-in event calendars, integrated rich forums, and scheduling tools tailored for clans and competitive teams. Learn more at Guilded.
• Mighty Networks - Best for an all-in-one community experience. It allows you to build private social networks organized into distinct "spaces" that can host chat, articles, courses, and virtual events. Find out more on Mighty Networks.
• Rocket.Chat - Best open-source, self-hosted collaboration choice. It provides a channel-based layout similar to Discord or Slack but gives organizations complete data sovereignty and ownership. Check the details at Rocket.Chat.
• Slack - Best for professional, technical, or project-based groups. While more corporate, its channel-based structure and robust thread sorting make it a powerful environment for structured topic-based dialogue. Visit Slack.
• Stoat (formerly Revolt) - Best open-source near-clone of Discord. It replicates the familiar server-and-channel architecture, role management, and reaction mechanics without the corporate tracking or strict verification hurdles. Take a look via Stoat.
• Telegram - Best for large-scale public and mobile-first interest groups. The platform supports massive group sizes and features like "Topics in Group" to segment conversations cleanly inside a single chat hub. Explore options on Telegram.

If you can share what type of community you are building (e.g., gaming, a professional network, a creator course, or a private group of friends) and whether you prefer hosted vs. self-hosted , I can help narrow down the ideal platform choice.

If you are looking for platforms similar to Discord that organize people into topic-based groups, servers, or channels , several distinct alternatives stand out depending on whether you want a direct clone, a forum-chat hybrid, or a self-hosted sovereign space.

• Stoat (formerly Revolt) — A free, open-source group chat platform designed as a direct, like-for-like aesthetic and functional alternative to Discord. It features servers, distinct channels, role management, and rich text/voice capabilities without corporate ad-tracking or heavy data mining.
• Matrix (with Element as the client) — An open-source, decentralized, and end-to-end encrypted communication protocol. Using a client like Element lets you join public or private topic-based rooms and spaces that feel very similar to Discord servers, with the added benefit that you aren't locked into a single corporate ecosystem.
• Guilded — Originally built heavily for gaming clans and esports, Guilded offers a deeply featured server structure with robust sub-channels, scheduling tools, rich text, and integrated calendars that out-parse Discord in pure organizational depth for specific hobbyist and topic groups.
• Zulip — A powerful chat-forum hybrid. Instead of a traditional free-flowing message scroll, Zulip forces every conversation to be strictly threaded by topic within a stream. If your topic-based group suffers from information getting lost in chat noise, Zulip's unique threading model keeps parallel discussions entirely organized.
• Slack — While widely known as a workplace tool, Slack's channel and thread architecture makes it exceptionally smooth for structured, topic-driven public or private communities that rely heavily on deep integrations (like GitHub, Google Drive, or specialized bots).
• Fluxer — An emerging, modern real-time chat application tailored to mirror the familiar server/channel layout of Discord, catching traction among communities looking for fresh, lightweight alternatives.

If you want to narrow this down, let me know:

• Are you looking for something public and hosted (easy for members to join) or self-hosted (for total privacy/control)?
• Do you heavily rely on voice/video channels , or is it primarily a text-and-topic community?

If you mean companies/platforms like Discord where people gather into topic-based groups (communities, servers, channels, forums, etc.), these are the main alternatives:

A rough positioning:

• Closest to Discord: Guilded, Matrix, Telegram, Slack
• Better for organized topic knowledge: Reddit, Discourse
• Better for paid/professional communities: Circle, Slack
• Better if you want ownership/control: Matrix, Mattermost

If you’re thinking about this from a startup/company opportunity angle, the interesting gaps are still around:

• Discord-like real-time chat + Reddit-like discoverability
• better onboarding for new members
• searchable long-term community knowledge
• AI summaries/moderation
• topic discovery across communities

Those are areas where existing platforms still have tradeoffs.