Revolt: Open-Source Alternative to Discord

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Visual Design and Identity

  • Many say Revolt looks like a near pixel-perfect Discord clone (“Walmart Discord”), wishing it had its own visual identity.
  • Others see copying as a feature: familiar UI reduces friction for migration and can be themed or re-skinned by alternative clients.
  • Some dislike inheriting Discord’s “noisy/gamer” aesthetic; others defend Discord’s original UX as genuinely good and still “good enough” despite bloat.

Centralization, Matrix, and Protocol Choices

  • Revolt is centralized by default; there is no federation and the FAQ explicitly says Matrix support is “unlikely,” calling Matrix “obtuse and unstable.”
  • This disappoints people who want a decentralized, enshittification‑resistant Discord replacement; some argue only federated systems (Matrix/XMPP/ActivityPub) can truly fix lock‑in.
  • Others counter that Matrix has significant UX and crypto complexity issues and isn’t the universal solution it’s marketed as.

Open Source, Stack, and Self‑Hosting

  • Code is AGPL and on GitHub, but several note the homepage doesn’t foreground the repo links clearly enough for a “FLOSS” product.
  • Backend is in Rust (praised for safety and single-binary deployment; some would have preferred Go). Frontend/electron-like stack draws criticism but Tauri is planned, though progress looks stalled.
  • There is a Docker-based self‑hosting setup; some find it straightforward, others think 8GB RAM and multiple services are heavy, and wish the official client had an obvious “custom server URL” field.

Moderation, Speech Rules, and Kids’ Safety

  • Revolt’s guidelines ban “misinformation & conspiracy theories.” Some see this as unnecessary, vague, or a virtue-signaling tool for selective enforcement; others say platforms can and should set their own speech boundaries.
  • Debate over who defines “credible” and whether this constitutes “censorship” versus normal property rights.
  • Since Discord is heavily used by minors, people question whether a volunteer FOSS project can match Discord’s safety tooling and trust & safety staffing.

Privacy, Encryption, and Jurisdiction

  • No clear end‑to‑end encryption story; some see that as a major gap versus Signal/Matrix.
  • Being UK‑based raises 5‑Eyes/Online Safety Act questions, though others note US giants are no better and emphasize that Revolt is open source and self‑hostable.

Comparisons to Discord and Broader Ecosystem

  • Revolt currently lacks full voice/video and screen sharing parity; voice exists but progress is slow, and screen sharing is only on the roadmap.
  • Major concern: Discord’s network effects and huge ecosystem (bots, game streaming, university hubs) are its real moat. Without bridges or migration tools, Revolt risks being “just another Mattermost/Matrix” with fewer communities.
  • Some hope Revolt arrives in time for Discord’s anticipated IPO‑driven “enshittification” and want an exit ramp ready.

Information Black Hole and Forums vs. Chat

  • Strong sentiment that Discord (and Slack) turned public, searchable forum knowledge into ephemeral, siloed chat that search engines can’t index.
  • Revolt, being another closed chat silo (no public, indexable browsing of servers), doesn’t yet solve this; some want forum‑like or federated, web‑visible modes.

Onboarding, Platform, and Miscellaneous

  • Requests for OAuth login (Google/GitHub/Discord) to reduce signup friction; a contribution toward this exists but isn’t finished.
  • Apple code‑signing costs and organizational overhead are seen as a barrier for small FOSS teams shipping macOS clients.
  • Language selector joke (“English (traditional)” vs “English (simplified)”) is widely noted; many like the playful tone, a few worry it could alienate thin‑skinned users.
  • Naming is considered confusing/derivative by some (“Revolt” vs “Discord”; also close to the UK fintech “Revolut”).