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Key Takeaways

• Free Discord offers most basic functionality, making it great for casual users. However, there are limitations on servers, animated emojis, file uploads, and message length.
• Nitro Basic costs $2.99/month and offers more features than Free, including increased upload limit, custom emojis, Super Reactions, and Nitro badges. Nitro costs $9.99/month and provides even more customization options.
• Discord Nitro is worth considering if you use Discord frequently, need more server capacity, value customization, or if you moderate a large server. It also allows for higher quality streaming and video calls. Supporting Discord’s mission can be another reason to get Nitro.

Discord has been the choice platform for gamers as far back as 2016, and it’s free—for the most part. Over the years, Discord has had a few iterations to its pricing structure and what features it places behind its paywall. But now, you can get Nitro Basic or Nitro with a few differences besides price.

You might be wondering if it’s worth forking out the monthly sub to pay for an app that’s mostly free. Here, we’ll break down all the reasons why you should consider a Discord Nitro (or not) by answering some fundamental questions.

What Do You Get on Discord for Free?

You get pretty much all basic Discord functionality for free. You can join channels, create channels, edit your profile and channels, create roles, create group chats, hop on video calls in 720p for as long as you want, and so much more.

Free Discord is actually pretty great if you’re not a heavy user. There might be a limit on how many servers you can join, where you can use animated emojis, an 8MB file-upload limit, and a maximum of 2,000 characters per message. Still, these issues are minor if you only need Discord to communicate with your fellow gamer friends and not much else.

Additionally, if you are on a boosted server, you get to enjoy all theperks that come with boosting a Discord server . Some of these perks include 1080p/60FPS video quality and larger upload limits. You don’t need a Discord Nitro subscription to enjoy the perks of a boosted server.

Nitro Basic vs. Nitro: What’s the Difference?

First of all, Nitro Basic costs $2.99 a month, and Nitro costs $9.99 per month. While Basic is a lot cheaper than Nitro, it offers much less.

Here are what Nitro tiers offer:

• Nitro Basic gives you a 50MB limit for uploads, while Nitro will give you 500MB instead.

• They both let you use custom emojis and stickers on any server you like. But Discord Nitro lets you use custom sounds anywhere as well.

• Nitro Basic gives you two Super Reactions per week, while Nitro gives you five. Super Reactions add animations to your reaction emojis for more effect.

• They both offer Nitro badges you can add to your profile.

• They also both give you custom video backgrounds.

• Discord Nitro lets you stream in 4K/60FPS, but Nitro Basic doesn’t.

• You get two Discord Server Boosts (30% off future boosts, too) with a Nitro plan and none with Basic.

• With Nitro, you get an animated avatar, banner, profile theme, colored Discord themes, custom server profiles, and none with Basic.

• You can send up to 4,000 characters of message at once with Nitro, but you’re stuck with 2,000 if you use Basic or Free.

• Nitro lets you join up to 200 servers, but Basic and Free cap it at 100.

It’s clear that Nitro packs a lot more features than Basic, and it seems like the plan is specifically tailored for premium Discord users. All in all, for a multi-user server-oriented messaging platform,Discord’s prices are decent compared with Slack , for example.

How Often Do You Use Discord?

The first question you should ask yourself before paying for Discord is how often you use it. Of course, a heavy Discord user would probably own more than one server, be an active member of multiple servers, and find themselves streaming or messaging a lot.

If, for example, you use Discord as the primary way to talk to friends, family, and colleagues, it stands to reason that you would pay for it. The message character limitations, throttled video call quality, and upload limits will quickly get annoying. And this is especially true if you consider other messaging apps, like WhatsApp or Telegram, have upload limits of 2GB.

Also, a person that uses Discord a lot could find the number of servers they are in would steadily rise over the years. If you find this happening to you, it might be time to upgrade your plan to Nitro so you don’t have to sacrifice leaving any servers. Remember, you can be in only 100 servers on the Basic and Free plan but 200 with Nitro.

How Important Is Customization to You?

The main commodities Discord sells with its payment plans are customization and personalization. Even with a Basic plan, you can use custom emojis, stickers, sounds (for Nitro users), Super Reactions, and video backgrounds and wear a Nitro badge on your profile. It seems to prioritize making you stand out in any community you join.

Meanwhile, users with Nitro can create really cool themes andcustomize their Discord profiles with colors, banners , and animated images. These help you stand out and give your online visage more personality. And you can even create custom server profiles and wear different profiles depending on what server you’re in. Nitro also lets you change your general Discord color to a custom color instead of the default light or dark mode.

Let’s also not forget the server boosts that come with getting Nitro. They can make your server stand out with a custom profile, more emoji slots, a server banner, and an animated server icon.

Therefore, if you’re big on standing out in a crowd, Discord’s paid plans would be worth your money.

Do You Moderate a Large Server?

Discord moderators will find themselves active users of the app. Discord mods are responsible for ensuring their server functions without hitches, and it remains a fun, informative place.

Doing this job on a large server without paying for Discord could make your work a lot more tedious. For starters, if you’re a moderator that needs to make announcements and share files, upload limits and character limits will get in your way.

Secondly, you will get free boosts that your server would most likely need to get to higher levels and earn better perks. Not to mention how much prettier your server could be if you boosted it.

Mods, more than anyone, have a reason to stand out more than any other member of the server. If anyone needs to be easily identifiable through Discord’s profile customization options, it’s the moderators.

Also, Discord frequently rolls out server moderation features that might be limited to boosted servers or subscribers. You wouldn’t want to miss important new features, especially if they make your work easier.

Would You Like to Stream and Video Call in Higher Quality?

By default, all your video calls on Discord’s free plan have a 720p resolution, but paying for Nitro will let you stream in 1080p or 4K up to 60FPS. Boosting a server up to level three also unlocks these higher-quality settings for the boosted server.

As a standard feature, Discord allows users to enjoy audio bitrates ranging from 8 to 96kbps (kilobytes per second) while maintaining the default channel bitrate at 64kbps. Yet, for those partaking in a Discord server with ample Discord Nitro boosts, a delightful upgrade awaits, granting access to elevated bitrate options reaching up to 384kbps.

Get Nitro to Support Discord

Finally, even if you have no need to pay for Discord, you could do so to support Discord’s mission. If you’ve got the cash to spare and think that’s a really useful application, you could get a Basic plan to show you appreciate the work the devs are putting in. Once you’ve made up your mind to support it, you can easily buy a sub on a computer or phone.