Discord is one of the popular communication apps that was initially designed for gamers, but today it is used by different users from doctors, and teachers to K-pop fans.
Discord saw an increase in several active users during the corona pandemic. The user base reached 100 million in 2020. For entrepreneurs who are inspired by Discord’s success, this blog would help them understand the VoIP app development to build an application like Discord along with features, monetization model, tech stack, and related mobile app development costs.
Discord- What Is It All About?
It is a VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol application that seems to be like a combination of Reddit and Slack with voice, text, and video messaging functions.
This platform supports multiple operating systems like Linux, macOS, and Windows along with different web browsers. You will find a Discord app for iOS and Android devices too.
Essential Features of a Voice Chat Application
Discord is one of the finest voice chat apps that connect people in public and private communities with interesting features. Here are some of the essential features you can consider during the mobile app development process.
Roles & Permissions
Discord offers nearly 30 permission options that users can merge in different ways.
Servers and Channels
Thousands of servers are owned by Discord which includes most of the imaginary topics. In case you don’t find one, you can build it on your own. You can change join settings within the app. The verification levels are set by the users to prevent bots and spammers.
Chatting
Discord app supports video and voice chats along with specific voice channels without messaging potential. Well, people can easily connect to the channels and start listening or speaking using a few clicks. In case you want to make a voice chat service, you would need premium audio.
Screen Sharing
This feature is quite helpful for programs related to instant messaging but is still not very popular. Business customers can benefit from this feature as they can share the screen with the speaker.
File Sharing
You will find this feature in most messaging apps.
Message History
If you are investing in Discord-like app development services, try to offer unlimited storage. This would be highly beneficial for businesses because it is tough to overstate the importance of messages received a couple of months before. So, if you provide unlimited or long storage history, make sure you provide a search feature too. It will offer a seamless search experience for users.
Notifications
Notifications are an integral part of every messaging tool. Also, a modern app should let users turn off the notifications completely or partially so that if you don’t want to hear the buzzing or ringing sound of incoming messages when busy in meetings, school, office, etc. you can turn it off.
Integration
Allow people to link their social media accounts with your app. Offer Steam or Twitch integration for gamers. For enterprises, offer integration with industry networks and apps.
Steps To Build Voice Chat App Like Discord
Let us have a look at the important steps that VoIP app development services would follow while working on your app project.
Research Target Market
The first thing you should focus on while building a voice chat app like Discord is the target audience. It is important to know the customer needs to proceed with the development process and create a better end product.
Pick A Monetization Model
Now, pick the relevant monetization model for the app. After you determine the user needs you can easily figure out what they would pay for.
Hire VoIP App Development Services
The next step is to search for VoIP app development services you would like to work on for your project. The steps involved in the development stage would be technical specification assessment, business analysis, app planning, and estimation of Voice chat app development costs to build an application like Discord. You can discuss with your team and create a structured development workflow, choose the main features and conceive the app.
Build an MVP
Creating a VoIP app like a Discord-like app is not easy. Hence, start by creating an MVP and test its performance. With an MVP, it would be easy for you to find out the likes and dislikes of people in the context of your app. The feedback gathered would help you improve your app.
Promote Your VoIP App
It is not enough to know how to build your voice chat app like Discord. Yes, you also need to know how to promote it for the users to know your app. Promotion of your app will help you reach your audience. Here are some ways to promote your VoIP app.
- Launch your marketing campaign
- Engage in influencer marketing
- Promote your app on social media
- Organize events
Test Your VoIP Application
Testing is important and the voice chat app development services you hire would test your app. Testing helps determine the possible issues with the app and resolve them before its launch.
Some other Popular Voice-Chat Applications like Discord
Are you planning to create an application likeDiscord? Some of the other similar and well-known apps that may inspire you like Discord are
- Slack
- Telegram
- Clubhouse
- TeamSpeak
How Does Voice App Like Discord Earns Money?
Just like many of its competitors, Discord earns money through ads. Some of the other ways of earning money adopted are :
Subscriptions
Discord has two subscription plans :
- Nitro Classic - $4.99/month and $49.99/year. Here the users are given rewards like they can upload a gif avatar or using custom emotes.
- Nitro - $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Here the users get features like high video quality, high upload limit, and server boosting
Game Store
Here developers can publish their games and once their game gets sold, they earn 90% of the total revenue and 10% is what Discord earns through developers on each sale.
Merchandise
Discord sells merchandise like hats, socks, scarves, and T-shirts which earns extra income.
Funding & Investment
It is not a method of monetization, but Discord raises constant funds from investors.
Estimated Costs To Create a Voice Chat App Like Discord
The estimated Voice chat app development costs to build an application likeDiscord depends on multiple factors like :
- Product design
- App design
- Hourly/fixed rate of the development team
- Size of the project
- The complexity of the project
- Deadline to build and launch
- Tech stack
Technology Stack To Use To Build a VoIP App Like Discord
- Front end - ReactJS, JavaScript
- Back-end – NestJS/NodeJS
- DevOps - AWS ECS, Docker
- Encryption – Voice over browser (DTLS), Text chats (TLS)
- API - WebSocket
Conclusion
Discord is one of the well-known messaging apps that offers impeccable user experience through its excellent features. The tech stack used by Discord may be robust and diverse, but you can still use similar technologies to create an application like Discord.
If you are thinking of building one, you need to invest in expert social media app development solutions to get the expected results.
X-Byte Enterprise Solutions a leading mobile app development company in the USA can help you get end-to-end voice and video chat app development services to launch your Discord-like VoIP app. Get in touch with us to explore our Android/ iOS app development solutions to enter the app market with a user-friendly voice chat app.